Tipping on Amtrak

[eric2011]

Mrs eric and I are travelling on the 2 night, 2 day Amtrak train from New Orleans to los Angeles in a couple of weeks time. We have a sleeper berth and from what I understand the porter and our room attendants etc are with the train on the whole journey.

My questions to members who have done these long journeys, regarding tipping are:

1. How much do you tip
2. Do you tip each day, or at the start of the trip ( to get good service all the way ) or do you tip at the finish ( depending on the quality of service )

The food and bar service I guess will be tipped when you leave the table or bar when settling the bill.

Thanks for anyone who has done these trips and any other tips you may have.

 

[codash1099]

I did Chicago to Los Angeles earlier this year. Service was outstanding, especially since I was ill for most of the trip. For the few meals I had, I tipped at the table. I tipped the car attendant at the end of the journey but at a higher rate than I usually would, because of the outstanding assistance. I think from memory that the recommendation is a minimum of $5 per night.

You may find this useful.

 

[eric2011]

I did Chicago to Los Angeles earlier this year. Service was outstanding, especially since I was ill for most of the trip. For the few meals I had, I tipped at the table. I tipped the car attendant at the end of the journey but at a higher rate than I usually would, because of the outstanding assistance. I think from memory that the recommendation is a minimum of $5 per night.

You may find this useful.

Thanks codash, I had found that article but it was a few years old ( 2012 I think ) so was just checking to see if anyone has been recently. If you did a trip at the start of this year and tipped @ $5-$7 per night, that is fairly consistent with what I am thinking.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Why tip at all? Haven't you already paid for your ticket?

 

[eric2011]

Why tip at all? Haven't you already paid for your ticket?

There was a quite lengthy discussion here in the past month or so about tipping while in the states and how much to tip. I appreciate that tipping is a personal thing and whilst you may not subscribe to the tipping thing, I do. The purpose of my post was to find other persons who have,
A. Done this type of trip
& B. how much they tipped
The receiver of the tip, in this instance, is the room attendant who will be with me for 2 days, 24 hours a day who will make up my room to a sleeper at night when I go to dinner and will change it back to a sitting room the next morning when I go to breakfast, will answer my beck and call at anytime and will ensure that I have bottled water and pretty much anything else if I ask him, whenever I want it. My understanding is that the service on this train is pretty damn good.

I didn't really want my post to be reduced to another lengthy thing about the pros and cons of tipping.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Interesting. I was wondering if it was the same cabin attendant that stays with you the whole journey. Seems like it is. In that case, tip at the end?

 

[BettyB]

I'm currently in the US and haven't tipped anyone yet.

It is possible to avoid it without offending anyone.

 

[eric2011]

Interesting. I was wondering if it was the same cabin attendant that stays with you the whole journey. Seems like it is. In that case, tip at the end?

From what I understand, the crews for this train are based in Los Angeles. The train departs LA at 10.00pm on Sunday night and arrives into New Orleans at 9.40pm on Tuesday. They then turn it around and depart New Orleans at 9.00am on Wednesday getting home to LA at 5.35am on Fridays.

 

[sausagefingers]

I'm currently in the US and haven't tipped anyone yet.

It is possible to avoid it without offending anyone.

Please do tell,

 

[Fifa]

I'm currently in the US and haven't tipped anyone yet.

It is possible to avoid it without offending anyone.

Interesting, you are game - what about "when in Rome?"

We did the Amtrak Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago a few years ago and tipped the waitress after our last meal and the two cabin attendants as we were leaving the train.

I do not tip in Australia but just resign myself to the fact that tipping is part of travelling in the US so I factor the extra cost into the trip.

 

[stoneman]

Interesting, you are game - what about "when in Rome?"

We did the Amtrak Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago a few years ago and tipped the waitress after our last meal and the two cabin attendants as we were leaving the train.

I do not tip in Australia but just resign myself to the fact that tipping is part of travelling in the US so I factor the extra cost into the trip.

We did the Silver Meteor from New York to Florida, and tipped waitress and attendants on leaving as well.
Great service and all part of the US experience...

 

[N860CR]

I took the Amtrak years ago from NY to DC. this was the basic economy seat service. Went and bought a beer at the kiosk (which was difficult as the attendant initially refused to accept anything that wasn't "from this country") and took my $5 change without even thinking and the smartarse remarked "Thanks... not!" I'm guessing a tip was expected. Surprised me given it was a fast food style kiosk.

Tipping is a painful art

 

[amaroo]

The Red Caps are worth tipping.

 

[dajop]

Please do tell,

Eat at fast food restaurants. Don't use shuttles or taxis - just public transport. Stay at cheaper hotels where no-one around to grab your luggage to help you. Don't imbibe at bars. Avoid getting a haircut. Pretty easy really to avoid tipping in U.S. But may miss out on some good experiences (eating and or drinking - the other stuff doesn't really matter that much).

 

[sausagefingers]

Eat at fast food restaurants. Don't use shuttles or taxis - just public transport. Stay at cheaper hotels where no-one around to grab your luggage to help you. Don't imbibe at bars. Avoid getting a haircut. Pretty easy really to avoid tipping in U.S. But may miss out on some good experiences (eating and or drinking - the other stuff doesn't really matter that much).

Sure, but who goes on a trip to the US trying to avoid paying tips ?
I hate tipping in the US, but not enough to avoid all of the great restaurants and experiences while over there.

 

[bPeteb]

Eat at fast food restaurants. Don't use shuttles or taxis - just public transport. Stay at cheaper hotels where no-one around to grab your luggage to help you. Don't imbibe at bars. Avoid getting a haircut. Pretty easy really to avoid tipping in U.S. But may miss out on some good experiences (eating and or drinking - the other stuff doesn't really matter that much).

Haha, well said dajop! Who needs to eat and drink when they are on holidays We tipped the server behind the counter of the 'cafe' car on our trip from Montreal to NYC. Good on you Eric for asking!!

 

[ellen10]

The Red Caps are worth tipping.

We used the Red Caps for a trip from Boston to NYC.
Well worth it as the train was completely full and we had early access to our choice of seats and didn't have to haul our luggage.
There were 4 of us we tipped him $20.

Having just spent 7 weeks in the USA, the tipping was awkward, but we decided to just tip 20% for all restaurant meals. Made our life easier.

 

[JohnK]

I'm currently in the US and haven't tipped anyone yet.

It is possible to avoid it without offending anyone.

It's quite possible. As soon as they hear your accent they don't expect a tip and if you do tip they are surprised.

 

[codash1099]

It's quite possible. As soon as they hear your accent they don't expect a tip and if you do tip they are surprised.

You are assigning far too much knowledge of the outside world to the LOTFAP inhabitants. They don't know one accent from another!

 

[UP4014]

I tip on trains in the US, they are hotels effectively.

Matt