I will throw out my two cents on this one. Although I am sure I will get some comments back about it, I am actually a pilot who has received tips. It only happened a few times, but when it did, I did not feel bad at all receiving the money. I took it as a compliment when the passengers thought that our service was good enough to deserve a tip. I should mention that I was flying 30 pax charter at the time though.

Long, but funny :)

"Should I tip the pilot?"

Travel Talk Forums

That's a good point. But couldn't they have DRIVEN there themselves. But I totally get what you are saying.

I hear ya on that. They are a bunch of turds. The good thing is we are smarter than them and we can manipulate them just like they do to their audience.

I've had a few corporate gigs and all but one of them tipped quite well. I always pride myself on my service to the clients but don't consider it a dog and pony show to get the tip. That little bit extra comes in handy around dinner time (kind of like perdiem?).

I love to fly, and if the folks appreciate my work with a tip, I will not complain.:)

Well said.

I have friends who cut their own hair. Not saying I can do it, but I've seen it done. Pretty well too. :)

Sure they could have driven from China to Germany, or swam from Miami to South Africa. We are doing something they can't. That is, move them (safely) at high speeds.

I shared this suggestion with several friends, all of us working for a regional, though not pilots, the one thing that will backfire this entire tipping idea is pax already being dogged throughout the flight for a soda, peanuts, extra leg room, etc. etc. The pax don't know enough about the efforts of the flight crew during that flight to consider tipping, they'll still be ****ed about paying for everything in addition to their seat.

I don't comment often, but when I started reading this thread I felt like I had to chime in. I don't like tipping, at all. In fact I hate it. Now, I am a great tipper and have worked for tips a lot in my life but I have to take the side that tipping is horrible idea for this industry. What little pride remains with this job would be out the window. The perception of our salaries does need to change and there are ways to do that, but please don't let it come to tips.

Haha! I love this one:

"Don't forget that if the person in front of you does NOT lean their seat back at all, you should give them a tip, too.

Likewise, if you don't lean YOUR seat back, you should expect a tip from the person behind you. Don't be shy about this - if the person behind you doesn't offer, just ask. Explain that you SPECIFICALLY did not recline your seat in order to make their experience more comfortable - in fact, more like a business class seat - and so therefore they should give you a tip. I have even used this money in the past to "finance" the rest of the tips for the pilot and stewards.

And don't forget to add 15% for any duty free items you may have purchased."

:D :D

If we got tips...we would NEVER see another pay raise.

Ok... I'll have to throw in a barber clause. Although I guess technically you could cut your own hair, it just wouldn't turn out as well :D