I remember when I was a kid, my parents had to plan out cash when going on vacation. My dad would go to the bank and withdraw the amount they had budgeted, having it broken up into certain denominations, including some small bills for tipping.
It’s wild to think that just a couple of decades later, I rarely have cash on me, and I literally can pay for almost anything with Apple Pay on my phone without ever reaching for my wallet.
That certainly has made traveling easier, but it’s made one big aspect of it harder — TIPPING. I’m usually have a few bucks on me I can scrape up to give to a porter at a cruise terminal, or the bell stand at a hotel for help with handling my luggage.
But then I get up to my room, cashless, and remember that I need to leave something for Mousekeeping! Maybe you’re better prepared than me, but this has happened to me way too often.
Recently I stayed at a hotel in the Midwest and was met with a new innovation, though! A QR code allowed me to tip my hotel housekeeper online!
After scanning the code, I was presented with a screen asking which department I would like to tip — I also had the option of tipping the folks who serve the hotel’s complimentary evening happy hour and morning breakfast.
Then I could enter an amount and choose to pay through Apple Pay (which you KNOW is what I used), or a credit card.
Now these tips are split among the workers in the department, so if you want to tip one person in particular, it’s still best to do that through cash. I liked being able to tip the housekeeping department in general, because when you stay multiple nights, you could have multiple housekeepers and this still allows you to tip just once, rather than day by day — which is what I often do with cash.
This took me all of 30 seconds and was so simple! I would love to see more hotels — including Disney World hotels — add this feature. It takes one less thing (having cash and in appropriate denominations) off my list of things to worry about on a trip. And I’m guessing it could increase the tips housekeepers receive, as well!
If you’re wondering how much you should tip your hotel housekeeper, here’s a guide from the American Hotel and Lodging Association:
- For a standard room, you should tip $1 to $5 per night, depending on the location and the number of people in your room.
- If you’re staying in a suite or villa with multiple rooms and bathrooms to clean, your tip should increase to $10 to $20 per night.
- And if you’ve got a messy toddler or a furry friend who sheds with you, consider tipping a little more.
We hope we see the ability to tip like this coming to Disney World hotels soon. Keep following us here at All Ears for more Disney World news!
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Would you use online tipping for hotel housekeepers? Let us know in the comments!
I’m british and we are not used to this tipping process in everyday life, I leave a when I go out for a meal – but only if the food and service was good. I recently stayed at Disney and was asked by a franchise restaurant if I’d like to give a tip before I’d sampled the food or the service- to which I replied NO!!
Just FYI, in the USA, in most states servers are paid $2.17/hr. I have never heard of any establishment bringing up tips prior to your meal, unless you were part of a group/with multiple couples or families, in which case it simply may be a matter of logistics.
I mention the non existent pay for servers to say that your tip should always be based on the service…kitchen staff makes much bigger pay, chefs are salaried… tips do not affect them at all. If your food is subpar, give your server the heads up and the opportunity to remedy. Even if you don’t like food, it would be deplorable to not tip your server.
Also, I could care less about your customs back home. In this country, if you aren’t tipping your valet/bell/housekeeping in an American hotel, then you’re just a truly terrible person. You’re a very privileged person to be able to travel internationally to Disney world, use empathy, be kind and support those low wage workers that work back breaking jobs to ensure you’re vacation is perfect. I’ll never understand people that complain about showing your appreciation for the little guys and gals. Those are generally the type of people who’ve not worked a day in their lives, expect everything to be handed to them and are universally despised. Don’t be those people.
Yes, I think that it is a great idea.