Tipping at the Qantas First Lounges

[Chris_Leo]

Hi there,

Ok, so this may seem like a really trivial question, but what is the custom for tipping at the Qantas First Lounges (i.e. for dining and spa treatments)?

The only reason I ask is because I was called out at an AA lounge about two years into my time working in the U.S. for not tipping at the bar (even though I had been comped a couple of drinks as a QFF member).

Thanks in advance
C

 

[v8Statesman]

I have never Tipped in the "Australian" lounges.

My (personal) justification for this is, Australia wages are some what higher than for the same job in America. Tipping is not in Australian culture (some restaurants want you to believe otherwise!) Service staff in Australia do not require tips to put food on the table.

 

[simongr]

I would never think of tipping in the lounge. As much as the staff would appreciate it - I think a lot of them would be confused by it...

 

[serfty]

Tipping is always optional; it's hard for us Oz residents at the A/C's when we have a complimentary drink voucher in their mits to add to it.

Two way's I find:

1. Order in you biggest Aussie Drawl, most A/C bar staff have enough experience with Australian QP members that they don't always expect to get a tip.
2. Slide a USD1 note under the voucher when 'paying' (I still think there's no coincidence that they are both almost exactly the same size.)

 

[Chris_Leo]

Ok - i trust your sound judgments. So generally the rule is tip at AA lounges in accordance with U.S. customs (a buck a drink), and do not tip back home!!!

Cheers then,
Chris

 

[NM]

There is no expectation for tipping at any Qantas lounges. The only time I have tipped in any airline lounge is in the USA where I tip US$1 for drinks. I have never seen anyone tip at a Qantas lounge in Australia, for food, beverages, upgrades, spa treatments, seat assignments or anything.

A heart-felt thank you is generally appropriate and well accepted and appreciated by the staff.

 

[Keith009]

I've never tipped anyone, anywhere outside the US....

In the US i tip USD1 for each drink at the ACs. Same thing outside the ACs, unless it's a v complex coughtail, good service or someone easy on the eye in which case i tip a little more. OT: Also the general rule is that for each USD5 you pay at the bar, you ought to tip USD1. Or at least what I've been told by mates.

 

[coolumbla]

am currently in the Sydney F lounge

No-one looks like tipping
The staff don't seem to expect it

The service has actually been ok but not outstanding

I tip for really good above and beyond service ,not what i regard as standard

The scarborough 2005 is VERY nice!

 

[Hvr]

I would never think of tipping in the lounge. As much as the staff would appreciate it - I think a lot of them would be confused by it...

Definitely concur. The best staff appreciate the thank you etc and I feel would be insulted by a tip.

 

[drron]

Isnt it true that anyone proven to have tried introducing this pernicious US custom to our shores will be taken outside and flogged?

 

[oz_mark]

Isnt it true that anyone proven to have tried introducing this pernicious US custom to our shores will be taken outside and flogged?

Hung, drawn and quartered I believe was the appropriate punishment

 

[straitman]

Hung, drawn and quartered I believe was the appropriate punishment

Before or after the public flogging :?:

 

[Skyring]

Get bucked!

Hung, drawn and quartered I believe was the appropriate punishment

A quarter isn't much of a tip...

 

[Skyring]

Definitely concur. The best staff appreciate the thank you etc and I feel would be insulted by a tip.

As a cabbie, I work in a service industry. I occasionally get tips, but it's not something I expect, or even work at very hard. Tips are nice, but what is even better is a smile from a happy passenger. If I've made someone happy, that makes me happy.

So I always try to reward good service with as broad a smile as I can muster. And if there's a tip jar on a cafe counter, I might drop in the loose change from my purchase.

For Qantas Clubs in Australia, there is no cash changing hands, therefore no real opportunity for tipping. I'd feel a complete idiot just handing some guy a dollar coin for doing his job.

OTOH, I'm reasonably out of my depth in America for these sorts of transactions. I know enough to leave a dollar a day on the bedside table when I leave a hotel room, and to slip the porter a bill when he grabs my bags out of my competent hands. But how many anxious eyes note my passage and go unnoticed and unpaid?

It's news to me that I should pay a dollar for a free drink in the AC, for example.

 

[NM]

It's news to me that I should pay a dollar for a free drink in the AC, for example.

For me, this one really depends on what the bar tender actually does. If pouring a draft beer, then I'll tip a dollar. If he grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and plonks it on the bar, then all he gets is a smile and a "thanks mate" in exchange for the voucher.

 

[JohnK]

I have never Tipped in the "Australian" lounges.

I have never tipped in any lounge. I have enough problems with my finances without worrying about someone else being "underpaid"....

 

[straitman]

As a cabbie, I work in a service industry. I occasionally get tips, but it's not something I expect, or even work at very hard. Tips are nice, but what is even better is a smile from a happy passenger. If I've made someone happy, that makes me happy.

About the only tipping I do in Oz is to round of Cab fares. (For the good ones)

 

[dajop]

Too be honest, I hardly ever tip in the Admirals Clubs, unless I'm there for a long stay. I've not noticed too many tips with vouchers either, but perhaps because they're hidden beneath the voucher.

The exception being the Flagship Lounges (ORD, LAX), where the person serving the drink gets a nice tip(ple) ...

 

[Keith009]

OTOH, I'm reasonably out of my depth in America for these sorts of transactions. I know enough to leave a dollar a day on the bedside table when I leave a hotel room...

It depends on the hotel but at a lot of hotels, the housekeeping staff can only pick up cash as tips if it's been left on the pillows. At such hotels, they are not allowed to pick up cash left anywhere else as tips. So the best place to leave tips is actually on the pillows. Other hotels provide little envelopes for this purpose.

 

[Skyring]

It depends on the hotel but at a lot of hotels, the housekeeping staff can only pick up cash as tips if it's been left on the pillows. At such hotels, they are not allowed to pick up cash left anywhere else as tips. So the best place to leave tips is actually on the pillows. Other hotels provide little envelopes for this purpose.

Thanks!

I'll be a pillow-tipper from now on...