V-Flyer

I tip in the clubhouse. I get to eat a free meal, drink wine, be waited on hand and foot, by people doing less well than I, so... I always leave a modest something on the table when its done.

To my surprise I don't always see others do it. Where do we all stand on this? It seems blindingly obvious to me that you should tip in this situation, but others seem to walk off like they never would dream of it.

Who are we if we don't think of others in our moment of luxury and good fortune?

I do if I get a treatment, but never for the day-to-day service as I have served by a different person every time.

I agree with Darren, the amount of servers we have had during our visits has been vast, so not only would it not be practical to tip everyone, quite often the level of service of delivering one drink doesn't warrant one in my opinion.

As for free food and drink, I'm pretty certain that is covered is the much larger fare charged for flying UC, which isn't paid for with luck or good fortune but by me and t'other half working and saving bloody hard.

I hadn't even given any thought to tipping. I was served by so many different people and the service was excellent by all - no single person stood out and it would be rather expensive to tip all.

I would always base it on the service and if it exceeded expectations then i'd tip. As the bar is set pretty high in the CH, the service was consistent by all staff so I didn't tip.

However, it was my 1st visit to who knows!

I agree with Darren - I tip for treatments but not for service since it is delivered by a myriad of staff. In any case I feel it is covered by the higher fare.

It could also be because tipping is not part of the culture in the UK the way it is in the US.

Of course there is then the question "If you tip in the Clubhouse, would you tip the pilot or the cabin crew?"

Darren Wheeler wrote:Of course there is then the question "If you tip in the Clubhouse, would you tip the pilot or the cabin crew?"

I suppose it depends what they do for you lol

I tip after I've received a treatment irrespective of whether or not it is a free treatment.

I don't leave a tip at the table after a meal.

R-P

goodness what a lot of twaddle

1: I was talking about the restaurant, not the bar, the haircut, the treatment, the IFC or the pilot (...) Just the restaurant in the lounge.

2: You tip in 99% of sit-down-and-waited-upon restaurants in the UK, so why not this one?

3: You tip at an expensive restaurant, you don't say "my meal was expensive enough, I'm not tipping" so a $3000-$5000 UC ticket doesn't excuse you from tipping wait staff, who make a pittance. Quite the opposite.

4: There's always lots of staff 'behind the scenes' in every establishment who pool tips, or "tip-out" to ensure everyone gets a fair cut. Saying: "I don't know who to tip" is a poor excuse.

5: You are doing well - you are getting a free multi-course meal, endless wine/champagne, and in most cases about to have a luxury long haul flight, with every whim catered for. Give those less well off a hand with a few pounds left on the table.

6: Share the love!

ok rant over - but please people - think again. You should be leaving some $ on the table when you walk away. Its good karma.

narikin wrote:goodness what a lot of twaddle

1: I was talking about the restaurant, not the bar, the haircut, the treatment, the IFC or the pilot (...) Just the restaurant in the lounge.

99karma.

If you were only talking about the restaurant it would have been useful to say in your OP there are a lot of tables etc and food/drink consumed throughout the CH.

I do disagree though, the clubhouse is not comparable to a restaurant. It is sold as a part of the overall upper class experience. I wouldn't tip the cabin crew for serving me my three course meal and waiting on me, no matter how good the service, as this is what I've paid £1000's for. However, I would thank them personally.

What I would say is that, as above, if a specific individual in the CH went above and beyond I would tip them directly.

Luke

narikin wrote:goodness what a lot of twaddle

2: You tip in 99% of sit-down-and-waited-upon restaurants in the UK, so why not this one?

Er, I thought the service charge was to eliminate the need for tipping. As Tinks said, it really isn't part of the culture for that very reason.

As for saying our replies are a lot of twaddle, reading your initial post did sound like you were advocating tipping at every hand's turn, especially as that is part of the American culture.

What service charge? I see no 'service charge' in the clubhouse.

Yes, I completely agree, if there's a set service charge in a restaurant, you don't tip as well. But when there isn't a fixed % added to your restaurant bill, you tip. (I am British so 'part of our culture' includes me too!)

I don't understand the reluctance to err on the side of being generous/ doing the right thing. Seemed obvious to me, but it appears I'm the only one who thinks so, which is a big surprise.

I disagree about the meals in the clubhouse being 'free'. They are included within the package of an upper class flight or as part of being a frequent flyer. I also disagree about LHR and US staff being paid a pittance, compared to here waiting staff are well paid.

I find tipping a little alien, it's not customary to tip a paramedic who saved my life, but someone who brought me a drink across a room does? It takes exceptional service for me to tip.

You really do need to be more specific with your points, there is no indication you were just referring to the restaurant in the CH, backed up by the fact we all replied in a similar manner.

Why just tip the restaurant staff? I get more service from the staff member giving me my treatment, than someone putting a plate of food on my table. Also I agree with the others, surely with your basis, you should really tip the CC member that looks after you for 10 hours?

I hate the whole tipping culture, especially in the US and I certainly will only tip when I receive service that warrants one, it should never be a given.

I suggest you read my OP again. It is pretty darn specific:

narikin wrote:I tip in the clubhouse. I get to eat a free meal, drink wine, be waited on hand and foot, by people doing less well than I, so... I always leave a modest something on the table when its done.

it refers to "leave something on the table" "eat a meal, drink wine", "be waited on" do you eat a meal while having your shoes shined? or have a waiter attending to you while having a massage? - no - so obviously I was talking about eating a sit down meal in the Lounge restaurant, which is a perfectly normal situation you would tip in any other case...

Yes there are oddities in tipping culture. I didn't make them or invent the established order. You tip in restaurants (and taxis, and barbers) but not in other situations. It's weird, irrational, but... we all know these conventions.

The defensiveness here, and semantic nit-picking, seems like a case of 'shooting the piano player'. Its ok, if you didn't do the right thing before, just do it in the future. That's all. Peace

narikin wrote:What service charge? I see no 'service charge' in the clubhouse.

Yes, I completely agree, if there's a set service charge in a restaurant, you don't tip as well. But when there isn't a fixed % added to your restaurant bill, you tip. (I am British so 'part of our culture' includes me too!)

I don't understand the reluctance to err on the side of being generous/ doing the right thing. Seemed obvious to me, but it appears I'm the only one who thinks so, which is a big surprise.

Sorry, but you are not comparing like with like. We are not getting a bill in the Clubhouse. If we were, then we would see if there was a service charge or not. Instead we are receiving a service which we have already paid for and I have no doubt but the service charge percentage has already been factored in.

I'm sorry but there is generous and generous. I go into the CH and sit down at a table and a meal is put in front of me. On one of my last occasions in the LHR CH when sitting in the bistro area I had to go over and request service and I am supposed to tip when I have paid over the odds for all the perks of UC? I equally don't think it's "doing the right thing". If it were doing the right thing then I should be tipping everyone who serves me and not just the staff who serve my meal. I have had some superlative service in the CH from the lady who insisted on topping up my champagne glass every time she passed even if I had only taken one sip from it down to the person who looked at me with sheer affront when I asked for a glass of champagne I had ordered ten minutes previously. And then by extension, the cabin crew, most of whom have been superlative.

I'm sorry but you have been "Americanised". It annoys me when I haul my bags into my car and drive to the airport and then haul the said bags to check-in. As I am generally on separate tickets I have to collect them and then haul them over to my VS flight. On arrival I haul them off the carousel and into a waiting taxi but when I arrive in my US hotel the staff try to take it from me to take it to the few feet to Registration and expect a tip. If I can haul it across the Atlantic I can haul those last few feet and also to my room v(

Oh, and I'm not British, I'm Irish

Err no , it's not blindingly obvious to me?? ?| ?| I too hate the "tipping culture" that seems to be spreading from the US.
In the CH I've "paid" (be it by miles or cash) for each and every service I receive. My ticket icludes all the benefits of the CH (and as a Au holder I use the CH when not in UC too, the same as many other Au holders).
I've never felt the need to tip in any other airline lounge either, even when travelling in First .
DL

narikin wrote:I suggest you read my OP again. It is pretty specificcific:

narikin wrote:I tip in the clubhouse. I get to eat a free meal, drink wine, be waited on hand and foot, by people doing less well than I, so... I always leave a modest something on the table when its done.

it refers to "leave something on the table" "eat a meal, drink wine", "be waited on" do you eat a meal while.

I've seen people eating a meal, drinking wine and being waited on in the study, various seating areas around the CH and i myself had a meal on a small table out in the "galley" area behind the bar.

If a number of people interpreted your OP as anywhere in the CH then it clearly wasn't specific enough.

People will become defensive when their posts are referred to as "twaddle" when they've simply provided a point of view or opinion based on your OP ( as it was understood).

In response to the American vs. British thoughts on tipping....

As an American, I understand that many waitstaff make below minimum wage (as their "expected" tips are calculated as making up for that). For example, a waiter in Georgia is only required to be paid $2.13 an hour, despite the fact that the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. So if someone doesn't tip them, they barely make enough money in an hour to pay the taxes let alone to eat.

However, when traveling I also know that tipping customs vary between countries, and I try to make myself aware of the local customs before traveling.

My personal view is that I would not and in fact did not tip the staff in the CH for my drinks/food. However, I did tip the manicurist as she provided a great service.

narikin wrote:I suggest you read my OP again. It is pretty darn specific:

All I'm going to say is:

It wasn't.

narikin wrote:I don't understand the reluctance to err on the side of being generous/ doing the right thing. Seemed obvious to me, but it appears I'm the only one who thinks so, which is a big surprise.

You're very one sided on this, are you a disgruntled former clubhouse staff member?

It isn't blindingly obvious, and tipping is quite a complex thing. One that is usually associated with an exchange of money for service, which you do not do in the clubhouse.

What I would suggest is that it is blindingly obvious to me that tipping is not expected in the clubhouse (it is part of a package of services, and I like the comparison with in the air), but if you do, I am sure the staff will appreciate it. I have never witnessed tipping in any airline lounge - AA, CA, BA, CO, DL, UA, SQ, and others I have been in from Asia to the US - apart from the spa services in the VS clubhouse. So I'd also suggest that this is the norm, not otherwise.

All staff in the LHR clubhouse earn the minimum wage or above, it's no longer allowed in the UK for tips to make up the minimum wage. In the US it would also be hard for them to prove that tipping makes up their wage to the minimum level. We wouldn't want to give them ideas by starting tipping would we?

'Doing the right thing' is donating the charity for people who cannot afford clean water or treatment for basic illnesses in developing countries. It doesn't cover someone waiting tables in the clubhouse.

narikin wrote:Its ok, if you didn't do the right thing before, just do it in the future.

Oh well, now you've said so, that's really put me in my place and I must crave your forgiveness for not doing "the right thing" in the past ii) ii) ii) Despite your instruction, I won't be doing what you think is "the right thing" in the future either.

IMHO, anything provided free of charge in the CH is included in the price paid for an UC ticket (or the price & loyalty paid gaining status) and no tipping is required.

If you want to tip, equate it as "doing the right thing" and believe it gets you further up the altruistic path, then that's entirely your right and opinion. All I would say is don't try and force that opinion as definitively correct and the way that everyone should be.

Presenting your view as you have and dismissing replies as "twaddle" isn't going to gain you any points in the "How to win friends and influence people" stakes.

Cheers
Michael

@OP Really? I'm amazed you have such a strong opinion on this, I would hate for the tipping culture in the US to start spreading over here. Like most I find the whole tipping thing rather alien and somewhat awkward. Even just eating and drinking in the CH, I get served by several different staff. To me, a tip is only warranted if somebody really goes out of their way to do something that is not expected of them, it's not as if the CH staff don't have a salary.

One thing I would say is that their service is consistently excellent (mostly fly ex-LGW) and I think they find a genuine smile and thank you as meaningful as a few extra quid with no words at all.