Question for Part 135 Pilots, do you ever get Tipped?
Posted by Individual_Leading84@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 71 comments
Do the passengers you fly ever tip you? How often does it happen, and is it considered normal or appreciated in your experience? I’ve heard mixed things and wanted to hear directly from those doing it.
Unlucky_Geologist@reddit
Averaged 200 per full trip for pax.
3Green1974@reddit
I’ve flown 135 4 separate times. Out of OH, IN, and KY tips were rare. Maybe I’d get $200 a month. Flying out of South Florida though (on a Challenger 604), $100/trip was very common. I’d bring home $1500-$2000 a month in cash sometimes. Most of the trips that tipped were back and forth to the islands.
ApatheticSkyentist@reddit
I haven’t flown 135 in ages but back when I did we would get tips sometimes. Maybe 1 in 15.
Sometimes $20, $100 probably most common, most I ever got was $1000 to each pilot from a Russia guy named Dan.
Purple_Willow_3432@reddit
Fuckin' A.
BabiesatemydingoNSW@reddit
Who paid to steam clean his seat?
ApatheticSkyentist@reddit
We charged the broker for the smoking. I assume they passed that onto Dan 🤷🏻♂️
Accurate-Ad1710@reddit
Stickiest thousand bucks you’ve ever made…
PGpilot@reddit
I would have first bumped that hand....
jabbs72@reddit
We like Dan
k8sfr@reddit
Yes, I’ve gotten 2 $800 tips which were my biggest. My first year in 135 I probably made $6k in tips alone
PetesBrotherPaul@reddit
My biggest tip was $1500 from a famous author for 5 days of a book tour
jabbs72@reddit
Flew 135 for a year and it seemed like about 1/3rd of the time they tipped. Generally about $50-$100, although one guy tipped $600 ($300 each leg), that was nice. Never assumed they'd tip so whenever it happens it was always a nice surprise. The funny times were when pax would tip the rampers while I loaded/unloaded their bags.
Sad_Fruit_2348@reddit
But also, ramper is making 15/hour. You’re making a bit more.
jabbs72@reddit
I was salaried making $40,000 that year.
Embarrassed_Spirit_1@reddit
Yeah but you're flying jet which costs $4000/hr to operate so really your total compensation is more like $1,000,000 a year /s
jabbs72@reddit
Honestly some would even say CE500 SIC time is worth over $1,000,000,000.69 a year
packardrod44@reddit
69...nice.... /s
Sad_Fruit_2348@reddit
Hey that flight hour is worth something too. But tbh I forgot pilots used to not make much. I bet tampers weren’t making 15/hour when you were making 40k though.
jabbs72@reddit
I didn't see an option on Nelnet to pay with flight time 🤷🏻♂️
Sad_Fruit_2348@reddit
Sure helps getting the next job though!
GMTMaster_II@reddit
I generally do 200-300 for each pilot. The right thing to do
v1_rt8@reddit
Highest tipper was $2000. He gave a thicc envelope to the captain while I was loading luggage, and when we got to the hotel the CA told me my half was $2000. I didn't count or verify.
Lowest was $1. He gave the CA $1000 and gave me $1. Told us to figure out how we wanted to split it. CA said he'd give me my half later. Then next week. Then next month. Then he told me he wasn't give it to me.
skywagonman@reddit
I’ve had some good tips, and some awful tips.
One guy stole all of the stock off the airplane, and then gave me two dollars to split with the “other guy”
I seriously considered telling him to keep it to help pay for his grocery expenses.
2_Shoesy@reddit
Very rare but when it does happen it’s usually a $10 gift card and the entire crew gets one. Canada.
lnxguy@reddit
Flew glacier tours in Alaska. Got lots of tips and one hundred dollar handshake.
Corbec023@reddit
The patients never tip.
21MPH21@reddit
"Wake up! Take out your wallet!"
FightingIlliteracy@reddit
The organs and lab tests never tipped either. Probably due to the fact that they had no wallets
21MPH21@reddit
Donor probably wouldn't mind if you went thru their wallet so you could guarantee 5 star service.
/s
mottledmirror@reddit
America is truly warped! I know pilots that flew for Middle East royal families that occassionally got a Rolex and they had to do a lot of demeaning things for that. But thanks mate, here's a tenner,ffs.
Have some respect for your profession.
Horror-River-3861@reddit
Jesse what the fuck are you talking about
Sad_Fruit_2348@reddit
Huh?
Wild_Development6093@reddit
Haven’t flown 135 for 5 years or so, but had a decade of experience before that. Tips were pretty frequent on my birds (800XP, 400XP, and King Air 350), and $50 or $100 was not uncommon. Best tips I ever got were a challenge coin from a former Sec Def, and a $1,000 tip from a famous musician for flying him from SFO-MRY in a 350 😂
Necessary_Topic_1656@reddit
Used to get tips flying part 91 glider sightseeing rides.
A few dollars, $5/10/20. Whatever.
JPAV8R@reddit
I used to on occasion and sometimes you’d get a regular that was great with a tip. I stopped 135 around 2015 though.
BabiesatemydingoNSW@reddit
A bunch of times. Best tip ever for a 5 hour sit & wait was $300
EpicDude007@reddit
Always appreciated. Never expected. When I was 135 it would happen a few times per month.
CharlieMurphay@reddit
Occasionally. Not terribly often but there are certain regulars who tip everytime. Never expected always appreciated lol.
Glad-Length-2468@reddit
Probably 1/15 passengers will tip.
$100 is most common. Had one passenger that tipped $300 each leg. 4 legs in one month.
Another passenger tipped $1000.
didimentionimapilot@reddit
We fly 2-3 passenger legs per day, receive tips 2-3 times per week.
didimentionimapilot@reddit
And by that I mean no we don’t receive cash financial compensation, thanks for asking IRS
copirate01@reddit
There’s no tax on tips now, you’re safe lol.
rayman3325@reddit
I know it's intended as a joke. But for those who are incompetent or naive. Tips are only not taxed for specific business spelled out by the IRS. Pilots are not included. And further claimed tips are also taxed like normal but just a deduction when filling your taxes. Up to 25k and only under 150k income.
Sad_Fruit_2348@reddit
Unironically, tax on tips might only actually benefit people like pilots who get tips. Tax reduction is actually helpful when you’re making 6 figures lol
Pilot0160@reddit
At my normal job, rarely. On my contract trips, almost all the time.
skyHawk3613@reddit
Yep! About 1/3 of the time
Over_Cake9611@reddit
Yes. Not all the time, but occasionally
rickmaz@reddit
Retired Delta here, but I had a friend in Atlanta who flew G5’s for CocaCola around the world, and he showed off a gorgeous Rolex that a distributor gave him in Asia, for example.
ThepilotGP@reddit
When I flew 135 in smaller stuff (turboprops/piston) it seemed I’d get tipped more than my friends flying jets, my assumption was because I was sitting right next to them/in very close proximity the entire time.
Aggravating_Sun4435@reddit
honestly i think aviation people think a jet pilot is more of a professional career than someone who flies small planes. And there is some truth to that
ThepilotGP@reddit
Yea maybe they felt bad for me too haha
Friendly_City_3321@reddit
Sometimes it happens, but I never accept the tip. No issue with the pilots that do, but it's not congruent with my view of myself.
KITTYONFYRE@reddit
can you give it to me
CaptainsPrerogative@reddit
Yes, when I flew 135 charter, sometimes the customers tipped, but infrequently. It was nice when they did tip, but it is not expected, not customary.
Greenbench27@reddit
I get tipped most flights. $100 seems to be the average. Every now and then I get more.
MLZ005@reddit
Yes, small 135 flying on the east coast mostly and got $700 over a 2-week Christmas rotation. Uncommon still still get tips here and there outside of holidays
twistenstein@reddit
I got a piece of cardboard, the lizards were feeling generous after getting out of the pet store.
554TangoAlpha@reddit
Only when I flew flight tours in Alaska. Best I ever did was $1000. Funniest tip I ever got was $3 from a European couple. I think they just felt bad cause everyone else was tipping and that’s all they had.
redditburner_5000@reddit
I was a few times. I generally appreciate free money. It's not expected, though.
There are folks who seem to think that pilots accepting tips is a bad thing, but pax are going to do what pax are going to do. If a guy chartering a plane wants to tip, fine with me.
FyrPilot86@reddit
Tip $$ on occasion, personally I just enjoyed the extras from catered meals.
AIMIF@reddit
I watch the line guys get tipped all the time, which I’m 100% for. But for pilots it’s very occasional maybe once a week on a 7 day rotation. I’m always grateful for it, but it’s not something I ever expect.
x4457@reddit
On rare occasion, yes. Definitely not an expectation but a nice surprise when it happens (though I haven't flown charter full time in ~4 years).
DefundTheHOA_@reddit
I’d give you at least $2. So you can get yourself a sodie pop and some bubblegum
beastboy4246@reddit
In this economy? That's a half drank soda and gum from under the the desk in the FBO
DefundTheHOA_@reddit
Yes, that’s called diet soda and sugar free gum
ndem763@reddit
One time I was flying FO with the owner of the charter company as CA. When we landed I saw the passenger give the owner two $100 bills. The owner kept both of them lol
TheShellCorp@reddit
Nice try, IRS.
TemporaryAmbassador1@reddit
Super rare, but yes
ThePyramid16@reddit
1-2x a week is average
JaxyKun@reddit
It’s pretty rare it seems these days compared to in the past (from what I’m told I’ve only been doing it for 2 years) but I have been tipped some cash and a box of chocolates on a 135 trip before
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
Do the passengers you fly ever tip you? How often does it happen, and is it considered normal or appreciated in your experience? I’ve heard mixed things and wanted to hear directly from those doing it.
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