On an upcoming trip to the USA, I've booked a ~$300 shuttle to take us from the airport to a city two hours away. I've prepaid it, if that has any bearing.
A few days later I'm using the same shuttle service for a second leg, roughly the same price and distance. Booked but not paid yet.
As always when travelling to the US, I'm uncertain when and how much to tip. Would I be expected to tip around 20% per leg = $60 each time? Upon arrival?
It all depends on the company. In the US it is customary to tip taxi drivers, however some shuttle companies have no tip policies. The difference between the two are that taxi drivers lease their cab from the company they drive for and rely on tips. Shuttle drivers usually get paid by the hour and tips are an added bonus.
If this is a private shuttle 20% is more than enough.
20% = Great 15% = Average 10% = You're a jerk
I drive people 100 miles from ski resorts to the airport. Tips are a large part of our compensation(we make little more than minimum wage). When I started driving I expected 10 to 20% or more. It is not uncommon to get Zero, $2 or $3 for driving people 100 miles in bad weather. This is an insult, we have to smile and take it. We load, drive them safely, unload and get little from many people. I think people confuse the tip expected by a shuttle driver that only drives A FEW MILES from a airport hotel to the airport and our shuttle service that drives over mountains and in city traffic 100 plus miles.
For me it depends on the driver. I've seen very dedicated drivers who'd help me to load and unload my luggage and that's something that I consider worth tipping - prepaid or not. An entertaining trip, exchanging a few jokes might also do the trick.
