Tipping Bell Services - when and how much?

[dbragas]

I know I've seen this thread somewhere before, but can't find it. My DH tips upon arrival when someone stores our bags because we can't check in yet, tips again when someone delivers our bags to our room, tips again when someone picks up our bags to store until we're ready to depart and then tips again when someone takes our bags out of storage when we're ready to head to the airport. Is there too much tipping going on??

When do you tip and how much per bag? Thanks.

 

[murcor]

We tip each time too, Im hoping people will say it is too much

 

[hellerjw]

My opinion is that if each time the bags are handled you are dealing with a different person then it would be appropriate to tip each time. The problem is going to be that most likely you will never know who will be showing up to pick up or drop off the luggage so tipping in each instance is probably the right thing to do.

 

[Joey7295]

How much each time?

 

[capecoddisneyfamily]

I know I've seen this thread somewhere before, but can't find it. My DH tips upon arrival when someone stores our bags because we can't check in yet, tips again when someone delivers our bags to our room, tips again when someone picks up our bags to store until we're ready to depart and then tips again when someone takes our bags out of storage when we're ready to head to the airport. Is there too much tipping going on??

When do you tip and how much per bag? Thanks.

Must be a Massachusetts thing my DH does the same thing.

 

[edk35]

We tip less when we arrive and they store the luggage and tip more for when they bring it to the room/resort. I feel that the bags being grabbed from vehicle put on a cart inches from car and then stored a few feet away is not as hard as loading it on a golf cart, hauling it up to an into your room. We do the same on the return...more for pickup but less for when it is stored and then put in the vehicle on the departure. Now.....we tip 4 or 5 bucks for the stored baggage handling and we tip a few dollars more on the others. Hope this helps.

 

[photobob]

I usely tip three or four bucks to the person who unloads my vehicle. I usually tip ten to twelve or so for the person who brings it to the room. We usually have a cart full since we drive and bring alot of stuff with us. It has taken two carts. I think the general rule has been a dollar a bag but I'm not really sure. I worked in a former life as a bellman for a short while. The hourly wage was almost non-existent, tips made up 90% of our income.

 

[brianm27]

Last year at SSR, we had just missed the call from Garden Grocer after check-in so they left 5 bags (plastic handle ones) with bell services. I decided after all the sitting on the plane and riding to the resort on DME I would take my daughters stroller and pick up the bags.

I talked to the bellman and said I had 5 bags of groceries in location xxx. He brought them out and saw me put the first one in the stroller and proceeded to put the rest in there. As he started to walk away, I thanked him and gave him $5. He then turned back and said "That's a lot to push - let me give you a ride back to your room." I didn't turn him down. He must have appreciated the amount of the tip enough to take the 5-10 minutes round trip to drive me back to the Paddock.

 

[jlieblaw]

I have questions about this too, even with valet parking. I've been told you tip with service is complete. Does that mean you only tip once your luggage has been taken to your room and your car has been brought to you? Do you tip the guy who takes your car to park it? It somewhat annoys me to tip the guy who gets my luggage out of the car since me or my dh usually unload the majority of it and put it on the cart. Also, most of the times I've stayed at the resorts and used bell services, the luggage comes up at the same time we get to the room. If it's going to be that quick, it should be the same bellman unloading the car and taking the luggage to the room which would give him all the tip for doing all the work. But, since we're not sure, we usually tip at every step.

 

[edk35]

Tipping tipping tipping. You know in the grand scheme of things ....a trip at WDW cost a lot of money..... so tipping is really not that big a deal. IF we get good service....we tip well. We tip our driver from airport well, he actually takes our suitcases out of his vehicle and so the bellman taking it and placing it on the cart doesn't do a whole lot but we do tip a few dollars. Then once it is brought to our room...we tip more. TO us...tipping is just part of life....we pay x amt. for sodas/snacks/meals and all the loot we buy while at Disney...tipping shouldn't really stress us out.

 

[gracelrm]

We are a family of five and we drive to WDW, so we have a lot of stuff. We tend to give the guy who unloads the van $8 to $10 and the guy who brings it to the room and unloads it and actually puts it in different rooms usually $20. As for the comment about them not making much money, I think they must do pretty well. I talked with a guy delivering our stuff once and he commented that he graduated from college in our state. I asked what his degree was and he had a business/marketing major. I asked how long he'd worked at Disney, he told me 10 years. I assumed he must make decent money or he wouldn't have stayed so long or certainly had the background to find a job that paid well if he wasn't making money at Disney!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I have known many people that work in the following situations and can tell you that the following guidelines are all that they are expecting. But if they can get more, they'll take it!!!! It isn't considered "necessary" to tip the person who gets your bag out of the car, but it's certainly at your discretion if you would like to.

Valet Parking - $1 to $2 per car is usually appropriate, given when the car is returned to you. However, if you think that you may need to leave in a rush, you should also give the attendant a tip on the front end and request that your car be placed somewhere that it can be retrieved quickly.

Taxi – 10% to 15% of the total fare.

Limos – 15% to 20% of the total bill.

Maid - $1 - $10 per night, depending on how expensive the room is, and how messy you are.

Room Service – 10% to 15% of total bill. Many hotels add the gratuity to your bill automatically, so be sure to check your bill when the food is delivered.

Bell Desk - $2 - $3 per bag for delivering bags to your room; $1 - $2 per bag for retrieving your bags from storage.

 

[tiaquessa]

I have known many people that work in the following situations and can tell you that the following guidelines are all that they are expecting. But if they can get more, they'll take it!!!! It isn't considered "necessary" to tip the person who gets your bag out of the car, but it's certainly at your discretion if you would like to.

Valet Parking - $1 to $2 per car is usually appropriate, given when the car is returned to you. However, if you think that you may need to leave in a rush, you should also give the attendant a tip on the front end and request that your car be placed somewhere that it can be retrieved quickly.

Taxi – 10% to 15% of the total fare.

Limos – 15% to 20% of the total bill.

Maid - $1 - $10 per night, depending on how expensive the room is, and how messy you are.

Room Service – 10% to 15% of total bill. Many hotels add the gratuity to your bill automatically, so be sure to check your bill when the food is delivered.

Bell Desk - $2 - $3 per bag for delivering bags to your room; $1 - $2 per bag for retrieving your bags from storage.

Yeah- this seems like a fair amount.

 

[Dean]

You can look online for tipping etiquette. If you do, you'll find that most sites say $1-2 per bag and essentially all will say AT THE FINAL DESTINATION. ALL systems have a way of "sharing" tips for this type of service (including valet parking where the recommendation is on pickup only). They will either pool tips OR rotate the staff doing so to give the potential access to tips. Certainly if someone is more deserving or you simply want to direct an additional tip to a given individual, that is certainly your option.

 

[jekjones1558]

The problem with the new valet/bell service system at the hotel DVCs is that the folks unloading your car and the folks bringing your bags to your room now have different employers, I believe. It would seem necessary for us to tip separately. So "final destination" doesn't really work in this case. It is my understanding from bell service people (Disney employees) that they are not allowed to touch the luggage outside the hotel. That has to be the contracted-out valet people.

 

[MinnieVanMom]

We stayed at POR with a split to OKW. We tipped the guy who came for our bags. Then the guy who put them in the van, the van driver, the guy who unloaded them and the then the guy who brought them to our room.

We were out about $50 in tips but it was better than having to move it ourselves. I think if someone does a job well and it makes my life easier, I should tip.