How Much to Tip on Overnight Trains

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Dangerous Johnny O'D

Train Attendant
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Dec 31, 2011
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20
Hi All,

I am hoping to take the Empire Builder West the Next Year from Chicago to Seattle, in a Superliner Roomette. What sort of gratuity should I give my sleeping car attendant? And is that calculated by room or by number of people in the room?

And while we are at it, what is the accepted protocol for tipping dining car attendants?

Thanks in advance for all advice and guidance.
 
You'll get as many different answers on this as you do responses. But here are my personal rules of thumb:

Sleeper Attendant: For minimum service...he puts your bed down at night, puts it back up in the morning, and keeps the car reasonably clean, the ice and bottled water stocked, and coffee available: $5 per room, per night. If you ask for any special services (fetching a purchase from the lounge car, or similar), double that. If he serves your dining car meals in your room, add on the tip you would give the dining car waiter.

Dining Car Waiter: Even though your meal is prepaid, tip in cash as you would if you purchased the same meal in a restaurant. That roughly works out to $3 per adult meal for breakfast and lunch, and $5 per adult meal for dinner.

Lounge Car Attendant: For a straightforward, simple purchase (you hand the man $2, he hands you a can of soda and a glass of ice), I generally don't tip. However, if he mixes you a Bloody Mary or similar, tip him as you would a bartender.

Redcap: $1 per piece of luggage, minimum $3.

The operating crew (conductor, assistant conductor, engineers) is never tipped.
 
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You'll get as many different answers on this as you do responses. But here are my personal rules of thumb:

Sleeper Attendant: For minimum service...he puts your bed down at night, puts it back up in the morning, and keeps the car reasonably clean, the ice and bottled water stocked, and coffee available: $5 per room, per night. If you ask for any special services (fetching a purchase from the lounge car, or similar), double that. If he serves your dining car meals in your room, add on the tip you would give the dining car waiter.

Dining Car Waiter: Even though your meal is prepaid, tip in cash as you would if you purchased the same meal in a restaurant. That roughly works out to $3 per adult meal for breakfast and lunch, and $5 per adult meal for dinner.

Lounge Car Attendant: For a straightforward, simple purchase (you hand the man $2, he hands you a can of soda and a glass of ice), I generally don't tip. However, if he mixes you a Bloody Mary or similar, tip him as you would a bartender.

Redcap: $1 per piece of luggage, minimum $3.

The operating crew (conductor, assistant conductor, engineers) is never tipped.
Thanks eH bowen.. that is good to know..

i never knew that Sleeping Car Attendants could bring you food from the dining car and the lounge car upon request
 
Hi All,

I am hoping to take the Empire Builder West the Next Year from Chicago to Seattle, in a Superliner Roomette. What sort of gratuity should I give my sleeping car attendant? And is that calculated by room or by number of people in the room?

And while we are at it, what is the accepted protocol for tipping dining car attendants?

Thanks in advance for all advice and guidance.
I tip $20 for a lomg trip.
 
As stated previously, you will get very divergent answers to this question.

Here is what I do:

I tip the SCA according to the level of service. If the SCA has a good attitude and does a great job I tip $20. Less for lesser service. I feel it is good to encourage good service...

For food service I always start off a trip tipping well. If the DC crew is not totally dysfunctional, it gets me noticed and I find that the level of service I get is often better than my fellow diners. So for example, I'll tip $6 or so if the first meal is dinner, or $5 if the first meal is lunch. If service at future meals is good, I continue being generous, if the DC crew seems indifferent, I cut back on the tips.

For the Cafe I tip the change from things like chips and a non-adult drink. If I'm buying an adult beverage I tip $1 per drink. If they 'nuke' me a meal I'll tip a buck or two depending on the total cost of my order.
 
You'll get as many different answers on this as you do responses. But here are my personal rules of thumb:

Sleeper Attendant: For minimum service...he puts your bed down at night, puts it back up in the morning, and keeps the car reasonably clean, the ice and bottled water stocked, and coffee available: $5 per room, per night. If you ask for any special services (fetching a purchase from the lounge car, or similar), double that. If he serves your dining car meals in your room, add on the tip you would give the dining car waiter.

Dining Car Waiter: Even though your meal is prepaid, tip in cash as you would if you purchased the same meal in a restaurant. That roughly works out to $3 per adult meal for breakfast and lunch, and $5 per adult meal for dinner.

Lounge Car Attendant: For a straightforward, simple purchase (you hand the man $2, he hands you a can of soda and a glass of ice), I generally don't tip. However, if he mixes you a Bloody Mary or similar, tip him as you would a bartender.

Redcap: $1 per piece of luggage, minimum $3.

The operating crew (conductor, assistant conductor, engineers) is never tipped.
I would slightly disagree, as one who has worked these jobs over the years. I'd say for "decent" service (car reasonably clean and stocked, bed done, coffee made, etc.), ten dollars per night, more if they go out of their way. I would tip LESS than this poster in the diner: one or two dollars per person for breakfast and lunch (unless you have wine or get extraordinary service), three per person for dinner (more as mentioned).
 
My general rule is $10 per night for the sleeping car attendent and if he helps us off the train I throw him another $2.

As for meals; I look up the menu prices add them together and the usual 15-20% tip applies. Dinner for two usually adds up to between 50-$65 so that's anywhere from $8 to $13 in tips. Red caps about $3 is fine unles you have more than the usual amount of luggage.

I am inclined to tip according to the service received. We've had some SCA's like Darrell on the CL that have been courteous, pleasant and helpful we have encountered disinterested SCA's on the Autotrain (and also on the CL), and some just barely sarisfactory SCA'sas we saw on the Crescent last Year. Tip according to how they treat you.
 
Most of my trips are single-nighters between CHI and the Northeast, and I'll tip the SCA between $10 and $20. The level of service and friendliness varies greatly, but I'll almost never tip less than $10. (If I'm in the 12 car on the Lake Shore, I'll likely tip a little bit more than if I'm in the 11 car. If anything special is done—like the time an SCA helped me store pieces of a drum kit and an amplifier—I'll tip accordingly.

In the diner, I usually tip $5 per meal. The diner isn't a restaurant, and if I'm in sleeper, I don't tip based on the "cost" of my meal. The amount I tip changes based on how good the service is and, to a lesser degree, how good the food is.

When I tip in the diner, I make sure to hand the tip to someone who will remember my face. In a single-level diner on 48/49, it's usually the LSA, who I know has seen me already during the meal. In a Superliner diner, it's whomever my table's primary wait person is.
 
Being a new employee training on 4 of the long distance lines, I want to add a point of which I have become (painfully) aware. The Lake Shore Limited -- while only an overnighter one-way -- requires the same amount of work from a sleeper attendant but in a much shortened period of time. For example, we we roll into Boston we have to ensure that all of the beds are made for the return trip the next morning before we can leave the car. We have already make the beds before we boarded our guests in Chicago.

As folks detrain on the return trip, we make the beds in the middle of the night, but want to ensure there is little disturbance to the passengers in the adjoining cars. If we have passengers boarding and detraining throughout the night, there is little time for necessary rest and frankly, by the time we roll into South Bend some of my muscles are giving way due to the heft of the upper bunks.

When I worked on the longer distance trains, i.e. the Texas Eagle, people would often keep the same room for the entire trip. In some ways it was easier physically, as the beds are freshly made but the sheets are not necessarily changed. The position of service attendant in the sleeper is not easy, and the very best work hard to ensure that you, our Amtrak guests, are valued. When the tasks are done, the best attendants' skills of finesse, insight, and anticipation of our guests' needs jump to the forefront. The hidden skills of constant vigilance to passengers' safety are not seen but are as important as attending to customers' comfort preferences. The whole package that comprises a great service attendant makes this one honorable and responsible position. We glady do so, and monetary appreciation surely will help over the years to avoid becoming jaded and cynical.
 
I give the car attendant $20 per night because I take my meals in my room. When the trip starts I mention (mumble actually) that I prefer to eat in my room and if they don't mind bringing it to me I'd rather give them the tip anyway. I've always had good service and I travel often. Some people have run into attendants who weren't helpful but I've never had that happen. I'm quiet and not demanding but they always look after me. Could be because I'm a lil old lady now-but it works for me and I thank them for taking good care of me.
 
As usual, Ill give a "lawyer" answer: It depends! :lol: Ive tipped between $0 and $50 for SCA service, and between $0 and $10 in the Diner! THe $0 goes to the Invisible SCA, and in the Diner the Surly, Slow ,Disinterested, even Untruthful Server takes the Booby Prize! Id say that 90% of my trips have had good to Excellent Service from the OBS, the 10% that have been Unsatifactory to Horrible were all on the Texas Eagle and the Lake Shore Ltd. Something about those CHI crews, must be the water! :rolleyes:
 
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As usual, Ill give a "lawyer" answer: It depends! :lol: Ive tipped between $0 and $50 for SCA service, and between $0 and $10 in the Diner! THe $0 goes to the Invisible SCA, and in the Diner the Surly, Slow ,Disinterested, even Untruthful Server takes the Booby Prize! Id say that 90% of my trips have had good to Excellent Service from the OBS, the 10% that have been Unsatifactory to Horrible were all on the Texas Eagle and the Lake Shore Ltd. Something about those CHI crews, must be the water! :rolleyes:

There's one server on the TE I can think of that fits the 10% description to a tee. I won't mention Miss Polly's name or anything........ :lol:
 
Being a new employee training on 4 of the long distance lines, I want to add a point of which I have become (painfully) aware. The Lake Shore Limited -- while only an overnighter one-way -- requires the same amount of work from a sleeper attendant but in a much shortened period of time. For example, we we roll into Boston we have to ensure that all of the beds are made for the return trip the next morning before we can leave the car. We have already make the beds before we boarded our guests in Chicago.

As folks detrain on the return trip, we make the beds in the middle of the night, but want to ensure there is little disturbance to the passengers in the adjoining cars. If we have passengers boarding and detraining throughout the night, there is little time for necessary rest and frankly, by the time we roll into South Bend some of my muscles are giving way due to the heft of the upper bunks.

When I worked on the longer distance trains, i.e. the Texas Eagle, people would often keep the same room for the entire trip. In some ways it was easier physically, as the beds are freshly made but the sheets are not necessarily changed. The position of service attendant in the sleeper is not easy, and the very best work hard to ensure that you, our Amtrak guests, are valued. When the tasks are done, the best attendants' skills of finesse, insight, and anticipation of our guests' needs jump to the forefront. The hidden skills of constant vigilance to passengers' safety are not seen but are as important as attending to customers' comfort preferences. The whole package that comprises a great service attendant makes this one honorable and responsible position. We glady do so, and monetary appreciation surely will help over the years to avoid becoming jaded and cynical.

Journey, has Amtrak eliminated the "Ready Crew" that worked in the 14th street Coach Yard. They would supply trains and work a "cold car", that is one that is just out of Periodic Maintenance or Bad Order repair. On those cars the ready crew would make up the beds and prep the car for service. This was done by a crew of On Board Service employees, which also a way to do the job without FRA required Blue Signal Protection.
 
When you do give the SCA a tip, do you give it to him or her as you get off the train, leave it in the room or what? Sometimes your trip may end in the middle of the night or early AM so it may not be as easy to give the person their tip. Just wondering...

Dan
 
At the risk of sounding somewhat ignorant, what is the convention for where and when to leave a tip for the SCA. If there is a shift change sometime during the route, I would want to make sure that both SCA s are propperly tipped!
 
At the risk of sounding somewhat ignorant, what is the convention for where and when to leave a tip for the SCA. If there is a shift change sometime during the route, I would want to make sure that both SCA s are propperly tipped!
SCAs do not currently "change shifts" on any Amtrak train except the Texas Eagle. On that train, one SCA works Los Angeles-San Antonio and then a new SCA takes over from San Antonio to Chicago and vice versa on the westbound trains. So tip your outgoing SCA just before arrival in San Antonio. On all other Amtrak overnight trains, the on-board service crew works the train "bumper to bumper".

ETA: On all long-distance trains the operating crew (Engineers, Conductor, Assistant Conductors) changes out regularly every 6-10 hours (12 absolute max; there's a federal law). However, it is not now and never has been the custom to tip these employees.
 
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On an overnight trip, I'll usually hand the SCA at least $10 as he or she drops by my roomette to show me where things are. The rest of the tip I hand to them as I disembark at the end of my journey. In only one instance in the past five years have I not given an additional tip to an SCA; all of the folks have been pretty good by me. The additional tip generally is about $15 to $20 per night, depending upon level of service.

In the lounge car, I'll almost always leave a dollar tip on a purchase. If the guy or gal has done me an added favor (like setting aside something they always run out of like a Jack Daniel's minature), then it's a $5 tip.

As others have mentioned, I tip in the dining car as if I were tipping in a restaurant -- and I hand the tip to my server as I leave at the end of my meal. I do this because too often I have noticed other passengers not only not leaving tips, but rearranging the cash left by others to make it appear as if they left something.

I've ridden the Southwest Chief, Texas Eagle and Empire Builder all within the past year and I'd estimate that often as much a third of passengers do not leave tips.

When I can't afford a sleeper, at the end of the trip I will also tip my coach attendant, $5 to $10 per night depending upon the nature of the trip. If the attendant was kept hopping the entire journey dealing with difficult passengers and managed to keep things quiet and orderly and still asked how I was doing, I'm impressed.

How much any Amtrak employee makes as regular salary and whether he or she belongs to a union is never part of the equation for me in deciding how much to tip. Tipping is purely a matter of a temporary business relationship between the crewmember and me.
 
These tips all sound in line with mine. 15-20% in the DC, and do it obviously so the other passengers will follow suit (peer pressure works!). And talk with DC folks, let them know you're interested in what they do and the choices they have to make and problems they have to solve, On 3-day trip it pays off immensely in both level of service and everybody's enjoyment of the trip. SCA get $10-20, maybe I'll up that based on what others here are saying. But I enjoy making up my own roomette bed, both evening and morning so I figure I'm lower maintenance than most.

.A recent SCA on CZ #8 went way beyond what most seem to consider their job description. He kept the bathrooms clean, stocked with towels and TP, and even emptied the trash cans. And twice a day he swept the corridor. Not the most warm/fuzzy sort of guy - hates trains and can't wait to retire - 6 more years. But by god while he's still working, he's going to do his job and do it right! I tipped him well.
 
Where is the best place to leave the tip if you detrain in the middle of the night? On the CS, the SCA is asleep when I get off. I usually leave the tip on the bed, but worry that it won't be there when the SCA gets there in the morning.
 
For meals and lounge service, I tip as if I was in a restaurant.

For the SCA, I'll tip $5.00 per night for basic service and move up from there. I've tipped $20.00 per night for exceptional SCAs.
 
Where is the best place to leave the tip if you detrain in the middle of the night? On the CS, the SCA is asleep when I get off. I usually leave the tip on the bed, but worry that it won't be there when the SCA gets there in the morning.
Probably the best place to leave it is in their hand when they come to setup your beds for the night.

Failing that, I'd try to leave it some place that the SCA will see it when they do up the room, yet someplace not visible to those passing down the hall. In a roomette, that could be on the stepa with the curtain still closed to the window on the hall. In a Bedroom, you could leave it on the single seat.
 
At the risk of sounding somewhat ignorant, what is the convention for where and when to leave a tip for the SCA. If there is a shift change sometime during the route, I would want to make sure that both SCA s are propperly tipped!
SCAs do not currently "change shifts" on any Amtrak train except the Texas Eagle. On that train, one SCA works Los Angeles-San Antonio and then a new SCA takes over from San Antonio to Chicago and vice versa on the westbound trains. So tip your outgoing SCA just before arrival in San Antonio. On all other Amtrak overnight trains, the on-board service crew works the train "bumper to bumper".

ETA: On all long-distance trains the operating crew (Engineers, Conductor, Assistant Conductors) changes out regularly every 6-10 hours (12 absolute max; there's a federal law). However, it is not now and never has been the custom to tip these employees.
Thanks For the info. This forum is great and full of friendly helpful hints.
 
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This might be heresy to some, but I usually tip $20 per trip but I give them the money at the beginning. The obvious risk is that they take the money and run. I always receive good service this way. I have seen other Sleeping Car neighbors get less than first class treatment compared to me, most likely because most SCAs feel like they owe you just a little bit more (and frankly some SCAs were flat out rude to others and I believe the early tip was the only thing between a bad SCA and a decent one). If the SCA makes my trip better, I usually tip more when I leave. If I have meals delivered to the room, I usually tip a little more than if I was in the Dining Car.

The Dining Car is another story. One person here mentioned tipping well on the first meal, which is similar to my sleeping car strategy. The drawback is that you might look like a crazy person trying to make sure the staff sees you leave the tip. Reminds me of a funny Seinfeld episode where George wants the staff to see him tip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svWjtDhGQFg). I have actually had more bad experiences in the diner than good. Seems like I am almost always treated like they are doing me a favor so I tip accordingly. If it wasn't for the desire to have the dining car experience, I would eat anywhere but there.
 
Being a new employee training on 4 of the long distance lines, I want to add a point of which I have become (painfully) aware. The Lake Shore Limited -- while only an overnighter one-way -- requires the same amount of work from a sleeper attendant but in a much shortened period of time. For example, we we roll into Boston we have to ensure that all of the beds are made for the return trip the next morning before we can leave the car. We have already make the beds before we boarded our guests in Chicago.

As folks detrain on the return trip, we make the beds in the middle of the night, but want to ensure there is little disturbance to the passengers in the adjoining cars. If we have passengers boarding and detraining throughout the night, there is little time for necessary rest and frankly, by the time we roll into South Bend some of my muscles are giving way due to the heft of the upper bunks.

When I worked on the longer distance trains, i.e. the Texas Eagle, people would often keep the same room for the entire trip. In some ways it was easier physically, as the beds are freshly made but the sheets are not necessarily changed. The position of service attendant in the sleeper is not easy, and the very best work hard to ensure that you, our Amtrak guests, are valued. When the tasks are done, the best attendants' skills of finesse, insight, and anticipation of our guests' needs jump to the forefront. The hidden skills of constant vigilance to passengers' safety are not seen but are as important as attending to customers' comfort preferences. The whole package that comprises a great service attendant makes this one honorable and responsible position. We glady do so, and monetary appreciation surely will help over the years to avoid becoming jaded and cynical.
with that "get it done right" attitude and work ethic, you will do well.

you can take care of my sleeper anytime, and i'll tip you very well.
 
When you do give the SCA a tip, do you give it to him or her as you get off the train, leave it in the room or what? Sometimes your trip may end in the middle of the night or early AM so it may not be as easy to give the person their tip. Just wondering...

Dan
As far as I am aware, at least on a Superliner sleeper, the SCA will always be at the door to open it for you. So I give them the tip as I step out.

I don't even know if passengers are allowed to open those doors by themselves, and I've never been in a situation where I needed to.
 
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