"Should You Tip Your Ski Instructor? If So, How Much?"

[ThomasH]

Nice to see some attention being paid in the general snow sports media to the plight of ski instructors*:

Should You Tip Your Ski Instructor? If So, How Much? - SnowBrains

It's always a good idea to tip your ski instructor with inflation and unlivable wages, especially in mountain towns.

snowbrains.com

*(other than here)

 

[fatbob]

There are of course many more underlying issues involved here that this superficial article fails to address, not least the failure of instructors to collectively bargain with their employers for an appropriate wage as "professionals".

My opinion is it's fine to tip for great service but it shouldn't be an expected norm. PS I won't take a lesson in the US anymore because inter alia of the perceived tip requirement on top of what is already costly per time unit on snow.

 

[dbostedo]

*(other than here)

Just for folks reference, here are a few instructor tipping discussions on here:

Tipping Ski Instructors?

Hey. I had a group lesson today at Big Sky. My first lesson in at least 35 years. Good time. Helpful. At the end, I saw a member of the group passing a tip to the instructor. Definitely a surprise. I don’t remember my Dad tipping my ski instructor when I was a kid. I have no problem with...

www.skitalk.com

Tipping instructors

hi there. search function didn't turn anything up so i'm posting here. i'm going to aspen soon and will have a private lesson for a day to shore up mogul work. i keep hearing conflicting info about tipping instructors. some say that they are "well paid" and that an extra $100/day is sufficient...

www.skitalk.com

Tipping Amount for Private Lesson

Heading to Copper this weekend and looking at a private lesson to learn to ski moguls better. Choking a bit on the price though as a half-day in the afternoon is $449. I assume a 20% tip is standard, but that takes the total price to $538, which is a bit of a budget breaker. Just wanted to...

www.skitalk.com

 

[mister moose]

Nice to see some attention being paid in the general snow sports media to the plight of ski instructors*:

There is no "plight". The wages are well known and have been at that level for decades. If you take the job at that pay, the choice is yours. There are other jobs that pay much more..

I have been through several various other industry weakness job contractions. Each time I had to either suck it up, or move on elsewhere. It's not a plight, it's a compromise, and while many make that choice, being a ski instructor is a choice.

 

[crosscountry]

My opinion is it's fine to tip for great service but it shouldn't be an expected norm. PS I won't take a lesson in the US anymore because inter alia of the perceived tip requirement on top of what is already costly per time unit on snow.

There's no "requirement" to tip. I don't know about now. But when I was taking lessons years ago, majority of students didn't tip.

As for the cost of the lessons, it's worth it when you get a good instructor. Years of better enjoyment of skiing for a few hundred dollars! In the era of hundred dollar lift tickets? It's a no brainer. Tips are just an aberration.

But indifferent instructions? Never mind tips, I wouldn't take any random lessons any more. Of course, no lesson, no tips.

 

[Bill Miles]

I didn't tip in Jr. and Sr. High School.

 

[Turoa Kiwi]

Do you tip your plumber or electrician after he completes a job he quoted on ? Do you pay your home builder 15-20 % more than he quoted?
Why are ski instructors different?
But then again I don’t understand the whole “My boss doesn’t pay me enough to live so you need to top it up by giving me a tip “ set up.

 

[jt10000]

Do you tip your plumber or electrician after he completes a job he quoted on ? Do you pay your home builder 15-20 % more than he quoted?
Why are ski instructors different?

Because they are typically paid a lot less for their time.

(PS - I actually have tipped a couple plumbers recently when they were not the owners of the company they worked for and they did a great job).

But then again I don’t understand the whole “My boss doesn’t pay me enough to live so you need to top it up by giving me a tip “ set up.

Right. You don't.

I don't fully understand it either, but recognize that that is the current reality exists in the US. So I tip. If that context does not exist where you are, don't tip. Here, it's appropriate. And I'd urge not using what should be or could be (better wages in making tipping less important) as a reason now to not tip while wages are not so good.

 

[fatbob]

I don't fully understand it either, but recognize that that is the current reality exists in the US so I tip. If that context does not exist where you are, don't tip. Here, it's appropriate. And I'd urge not using what should be (better wages in making tipping less important) as a reason to not tip while wages are not so good.

But ski instruction is a very strange edge case where one is already paying for the service at a hourly rate much higher than other services which don't expect tips, but tips are still "expected". The infamous Rob Katz solution to lack of a living wage for instructors being to put up signs at ski school desks telling customers a 20 percent tip was customary was absolute shithousery at the highest level.

Wages will never get better while resorts push the burden of paying their staff onto customers while creaming off almost all the income and the staff passively take it. Why would they?

A longer term view is that by tipping customers are deferring a breaking point in the labour market where there are no longer enough instructors willing to work for a crappy wage and therefore wages need to increase. I suspect in the meantime though resorts* will have no problem in raising lesson prices by above inflationary increases.

 

[Rich_Ease_3051]

Tipping is one of those American things were pushing back hard Down Under.

America is great. Ushered the age of revolution and spread all sorts of freedoms for the rest of the world like freedom of speech, voting, etc.

We're not so keen on other American imports though like Halloween (a hit with the 20 something female demographic and infecting the child demographic but were pushing back), privatised health care (we like our universal but doctors like the private so it's slowly shifting on the latter's favour), fast food (McDonald's and Domino's and KFC have won but Starbucks has lost) and tipping of course.

Tipping is not gaining traction here at all especially on the skiing side, hard as the tourist and restaurant industry might try.

I'm curious about European, Japanese, and other non American ski countries if tipping is catching on.

If you're an Aussie or a tourist to our ski resorts, please don't partake in this tipping nonsense.

 

[Philpug]

The infamous Rob Katz solution to lack of a living wage for instructors being to put up signs at ski school desks telling customers a 20 percent tip was customary was absolute shithousery at the highest level.

It is on their website too...

Vail: We don't pay them enough to feel appreciated and valued, so you should.

 

[Jerez]

Tipping is stupid for all jobs that currently solicit tips. If waitstaff had a living wage we wouldn't need to tip and people could make a reasonable career at it. Upfront prices would go up but wouldn't be hidden the way they are now. And being a creep who doesn't tip would not be rewarded.

It only works where tipping doesn't happen across the board. In Norway for example, all staff, from waiter to tour guide, refused tips. They said we are professionals and make a decent living and do not need tips. They considered it insulting.

 

[chilehed]

...Starbucks has lost...

Y'all obviously have a much lower tolerance for shitty coffee than we Yanks do.

 

[silverback]

Years of better enjoyment of skiing for a few hundred dollars! In the era of hundred dollar lift tickets? It's a no brainer. Tips are just an aberration.

Around here is more like $1100+ for a full day private.

 

[silverback]

Tipping is stupid for all jobs that currently solicit tips. If waitstaff had a living wage we wouldn't need to tip and people could make a reasonable career at it. Upfront prices would go up but wouldn't be hidden the way they are now. And being a creep who doesn't tip would not be rewarded.

It only works where tipping doesn't happen across the board. In Norway for example, all staff, from waiter to tour guide, refused tips. They said we are professionals and make a decent living and do not need tips. They considered it insulting.

When restaurants here try to go with a no-tip policy (with higher wages and prices), the staff revolts. Seems they don't like paying income and other payroll taxes on all thier earnings. IRS requires them to claim that they may only 8% of their sales when it is usually closer to 20%.

 

[crosscountry]

When restaurants here try to go with a no-tip policy (with higher wages and prices), the staff revolts. Seems they don't like paying income and other payroll taxes on all thier earnings. IRS requires them to claim that they may only 8% of their sales when it is usually closer to 20%.

Actually, restaurant wait staff get good enough tips (many times of minimum wage). That's why they prefer it that way. It's a fixture of American dinning scene that everybody understands.

That said, buffet places are caught between the tipping vs no tipping no-mans-land. I saw a waiter chasing a dinner down the street demanding tips because he didn't get paid a salary. But the dinner felt since he's getting the food himself, the waiter is no waiter but a bus boy.

These days, too many businesses are catching on to the minimum-wage-tip-beggar modal for their customer facing employees. Now, just about everywhere you turn, you see a tip jar! Personally, I felt if you want to support that business modal, by all means. But for everyone else, just remember tipping is optional outside of restaurants.

Around here is more like $1100+ for a full day private.

Is private the only way to take lessons now?

 

[Rich_Ease_3051]

Y'all obviously have a much lower tolerance for shitty coffee than we Yanks do.

There are still a few Starbucks here in Sydney. Young people mostly patronise them for their sugary drinks like frappes, but not the traditional coffees like flat whites and lattes. They're like the new milk bar milkshakes.

Actually American style drip coffee is gaining traction here I've seen a few hip and quirky cafes offering them. I've yet to try it but I hear it's good!

 

[geepers]

Y'all obviously have a much lower tolerance for shitty coffee than we Yanks do.

QFT. Can still get shitty coffee in Oz but need to work it.

But the real problems are the North American concepts of cheese (no, that's not cheese) and bacon (no, that's not bacon).

Actually American style drip coffee is gaining traction here I've seen a few hip and quirky cafes offering them. I've yet to try it but I hear it's good!

No, it's not. It's merely fast and hot.

 

[Rich_Ease_3051]

No, it's not. It's merely fast and hot.

Really? Hm maybe I'll finally try it this weekend and give my verdict.

I can see it being the coffee equivalent of a session beer where you can drink plenty of it throughout the day and not get heart palpitations from caffeine overdose.

For both beers and coffee there's a balance and spectrum where, if you want more flavours, you have to go higher ABV or caffeine content.

There are low ABV session beers that can get to that flavoury spectrum without the ABV but it's very hard and expensive to buy and acquire them.

I imagine drip coffee to be on the same spectrum where it takes much more work to get to the low caffeine but still high flavour. You have to be like a genius barista to get there maybe.

 

[crgildart]

Name one other profession where you pay over $500 for a day's service and then are expected to tip the same person who delivered that service?

I'll wait..

Ya you can rack up a $500 bar tab or restaurant meal but that is pretty rare.