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Tipping Instructors

Never tipped my instructor
31
46%
Sometimes but not always
25
37%
After each lesson
11
16%
Only when I found one that I really Clicked with
1
1%
User avatar
By NMERider
#147808
TN_Steve wrote:............... Curious about tipping your instructor. How do you feel about it, if yes, how much? If not... Why?..............
It saddens me to think my hang gliding instructor would have to wait tables in order to make ends meet. So of course I'd tip them as long as they kept my glass full and the food arrived hot. :goodidea:
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But seriously, the way I'd show my gratitude towards my instructor is by buying equipment from them if they're a dealer and by referring new students. :thumbsup:
Last edited by NMERider on Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
By notjj
#147810
Never tipped mine directly... but he runs the company, so the check effectively goes toward overhead and then the rest to him. I did buy lunch a few times, and definitely owe him a few beers next time we are at the same bar.

If he were just an instructor working for someone else's school then I'd tip him (assuming the lesson was of good quality) since the majority of that check probably wouldn't be going to him.
User avatar
By CHassan
#147812
Wingspan34 wrote:Share a beer with them after a day's flying maybe. Or maybe treat them to dinner after a few lessons. Otherwise, the closest I've come to having a student tip me is that one became my girl friend. :mrgreen:
You tipped her ehh!

Just like a waitress, if the service is good, why not add in a tip. Doesn't have to be 15% or anything set in stone. If he didn't have change that day, I didn't worry about it. In the end my instructor provided the best "gift" anyone could have given me. Hell I'd sign him over my paycheck if I could!
User avatar
By knumbknuts
#147814
NMERider wrote: But seriously, the way I'd show my gratitude towards my instructor is by buying equipment from them.
I've been showing Rob too much gratitude in this department in the last year. I think I'll just toss an extra lincoln or two on the days he does special shuttle runs just to accommodate those of us anxious to go up. He went up early because of my request and it led directly to my best flight yet (in the video I did recently). That was worth a small gesture o' gratitude.

I also try to take into account current gas prices for such shuttle runs.
User avatar
By pjwings
#147819
I tipped all of my instructors during my first few days of training. Not talking luxuriously... just enough for a couple of beers to say thanks. I'm pretty sure I got each of the LMFP instructors at least once. Once I became more serious and was out on the hills more frequently I realized that I just couldn't keep it up so I stopped tipping.
User avatar
By bagbgone
#147820
I tried to tip a meaningful amount when I was able. I went to a large school though. My instructor was not the owner.

I was a river guide, I got tips.
I was a bartender, I got tips.

The way I see it HG instructors are both guides and pushers of one of the best drugs, so tip em'!

When you tip, it affects your service the next time. Lots of people miss that point.
User avatar
By DanTuck
#147821
It is appropriate but not required. Most students don't think to tip their instructor. I didn't until I saw someone else do it and then I thought, well, you know he is busting his ass out here for me in the heat, the cold, or whatever on every single weekend that's flyable and his rate is extremely reasonable. And he doesn't have to. I didn't tip every lesson after that but most, and every equipment purchase was rounded up to some even number. It was never a real high percentage just a little extra to show my appreciation for his hard efforts and good deals.
User avatar
By red
#147823
TN_Steve wrote:Hey Gang,
Curious about tipping your instructor. How do you feel about it, if yes, how much? If not... Why?
Steve
Never in money. I would certainly refer students to a good instructor, and I was happy to lend a hand with set-up and tear-down chores, before and after lessons. I learned a lot, just doing that, while talking more with the instructor.

I might buy lunch on some days, depending on my progress, if I felt that my improvements were things which the instructor could rightly claim credit for (as opposed to my own efforts or study).
:mrgreen:
User avatar
By CHassan
#147824
bagbgone wrote:The way I see it HG instructors are both guides and pushers of one of the best drugs, so tip em'!
I once asked my dealer about a tip. He thought I was wired and tried to put a clip in my ............ uhhh, No Mike never tried to hurt anybo........... No I mean Steve isn't a de........Oh Shii..... :run:
User avatar
By phantomflier
#147834
I hooked my instructor up with a girl I worked with....so I guess it was SHE who received the tip!! :lol:
User avatar
By hiflioz
#147837
Although increasing, tipping's not prevalent in Oz, as our wait staff have a minimum wage and our culture's different. Some of us do tip for exceptional service.

However, I always bought my instructors a beer or two after flying, because unlike for wait staff there is no minimum wage for HG instructors!

I buy drinks/meals/petrol for drivers/car owners etc as requested or appropriate (it varies) when flying XC.

When I was learning and other pilots mentored me, helping carry or flying my glider back up the hill so I could refly, or stayed on the hill while I flew, then those pilots got beers too and, most importantly, a big thank you at the end of the day, to let them know just how much I appreciated them.

If I wasn't flying, I also helped them pack up or set up, helped carry gliders, did pick-ups etc - anything to show my appreciation and give back a little in the limited capacity available to me as a new pilot.

I'd also point out that I didn't realise until I began mentoring new pilots myself, just how much my own mentors had done for me - staying on the ground while I flew, choosing beginner flying sites that were appropriate for me instead of advanced sites they might have preferred to fly themselves, keeping an eye on me or flying nearby in changeable conditions, so that they could alert me. New pilots are generally completely unaware of these things and that's as it should be. As I wrote in my article, no good mentor begrudges these things.
User avatar
By flysurfski
#147841
Always buy beer for your instructor. :thumbsup:
(if they don't drink it their friends will)

If you want to really stoke him/her out: Offer to drive for them for one day :mosh:


good luck with your lessons.
User avatar
By FormerFF
#147842
Always. They don't get paid a lot.
User avatar
By knumbknuts
#147846
phantomflier wrote:I hooked my instructor up with a girl I worked with....so I guess it was SHE who received the tip!! :lol:
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Just the tip? Was he a PG instructor? French?
User avatar
By AIRTHUG
#147847
I never tipped my instructor... but then again my dad was my instructor, so I would have had to ask for money from him so that I could hand it back as a tip :lol:

I receive tips from time to time... obviously they are greatly appreciated, but NEVER expected. Personally, I do what I do for the love of the sport, and charge as little as possible so that I can continue doing it. As such I'm always walking the fine line of economic demise...

To me, you pay the rate asked and if you get what you expected for that money, no need to tip. If you feel like your instructor, waiter, whoever went above and beyond and did an extraordinarily good job, then maybe you should tip them. Again, not expected, but always appreciated...

As others have already said, a little loyalty can go a long ways... anyone in the business knows they can't always be the cheapest source for everything, especially with direct-from-manufacturer internet pricing on some products... going through your dealer when you might not otherwise IS a bit of a tip (granted, they are doing more work to earn it... but it's still income they wouldn't have gotten otherwise)...

I'm sure Cal is going to jump in here and say he's tried to tip me and I wouldn't have it... however I didn't go above and beyond for Cal, I just did my job and he tried to over-pay me for it :rofl:
User avatar
By CAL
#147857
flyhigh013 wrote:I never tipped my instructor... but then again my dad was my instructor, so I would have had to ask for money from him so that I could hand it back as a tip :lol:

I receive tips from time to time... obviously they are greatly appreciated, but NEVER expected. Personally, I do what I do for the love of the sport, and charge as little as possible so that I can continue doing it. As such I'm always walking the fine line of economic demise...

To me, you pay the rate asked and if you get what you expected for that money, no need to tip. If you feel like your instructor, waiter, whoever went above and beyond and did an extraordinarily good job, then maybe you should tip them. Again, not expected, but always appreciated...

As others have already said, a little loyalty can go a long ways... anyone in the business knows they can't always be the cheapest source for everything, especially with direct-from-manufacturer internet pricing on some products... going through your dealer when you might not otherwise IS a bit of a tip (granted, they are doing more work to earn it... but it's still income they wouldn't have gotten otherwise)...

I'm sure Cal is going to jump in here and say he's tried to tip me and I wouldn't have it... however I didn't go above and beyond for Cal, I just did my job and he tried to over-pay me for it :rofl:


That's so funny Ryan, i was just going to write exactly that :lol: i have always tipped my instructors . but then again all of them have been great ! If Ryan won't let me tip i hope he will accept my appreciation to him !

i think i know why he won't accept my tips , when ever we go out to eat, he only tips the hot looken waitresses, maybe he thinks that's the only reason people tip :lol:

just kidden , he doesn't even look at the waitresses, Des is his one and only :lol:
User avatar
By edisurfer
#147889
I don't tip my instructor - I buy him lunch and/or dinner, depending on what time of day (or all day) when we fly.

Even now that I'm passed taking lessons every time we're out, and we're just hanging :) I'm ALWAYS learning., even if he thinks he's not teaching. So I buy him a meal every time I can.

I know my instructor is NOT living the high-life :wink: with his handful of students each month, and I know that his rates for other stuff (repacks, glider checks, etc.) are not crazy high :P. So, the least I could do is buy him a meal whenever I see him.

Instructors keep on rockin' :thumbsup:

EDIT: Just realized how many bad puns I could be making ... apologies for the smilies.
User avatar
By dayhead
#147896
When I was instructing full time I got tipped, although not always directly in the form of cash.
I was introduced to women, taken for a weekend on a yacht, offered all types of "vitamins", and quite a few meals and beers.
Without exception my students enjoyed a higher standard of living than I did. They knew it, and when they saw how hard I was willing to work to make sure they got their moneys' worth and then some, they tried to show appreciation.
My instructor days were the high point of my life, tips or no tips.
The look on faces after that first successful flight was all the tip I really needed.
It was hard work but very enjoyable.
By mwhitmire
#147921
I tipped every time...the way I see it they were putting a lot of time and effort into teaching me what could potentially save my airborne a$$ one day so what is $10??? Granted all my instructors were A+...if I'd gotten a bad apple I might not have done so.