A WOMAN was left stunned after she was asked to tip an airport baggage handler – and people are divided.
Addysen Drake, 24, was travelling home for Christmas when she was checking in her for her flight.
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Drake – who said she works in the service industry herself – expressed confusion about the need to tip someone after shelling out hundreds of dollars for a flight.
She posted a video on TikTok, saying: “Y’all, this tipping situation has got totally out of hand.
“Tell me why I get to the airport, after paying $400 (£331) for a flight, and I’m going to pay for my $35 (£29) checked bag.
“The guy says to me ‘you have to pay in credit card but you can tip in cash’.
She said she got out her credit card, only for the staff member to ask how much she would like to leave for a tip.
She ended by saying he was rude to her anyway so didn’t want to give any tip, and said: “What am I tipping that man for? What do I pay all this money for?”
The video has been watched more than 250,000 times, with people able to see both sides.
One person said: “Literally EVERYONE wants a tip now, it’s crazy.”
A second said: “Outside yes. It’s a convenience. Now, inside, that’s another story.”
Someone who said they worked in the industry explained asked: “If this was an agent at the TKT counter, big no-no.
“Curbside are contracted (diff ID badge) are allowed, but shouldn’t be asking.
In a follow-up video, Drake said she was unaware of this custom.
She said: “Before I made the video, I did not know that you tip skycaps [airport porters].”
“But from what I understood, it was a pre-9/11 thing, and then it’s kind of been changed after 9/11, but it’s still customary to tip, especially If you have a lot of luggage.”
According to USA Today, the practice of tipping curbside luggage handlers is quite common with experts suggest giving $1 or $2 per bag.
However, tipping is much more common in the US than the UK.
Here is a £10 bag that travellers rave about when travelling with just hand luggage.
And a traveller has revealed how to pack everything into a hand luggage suitcase for a three-week holiday.
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A version of this article was originally published by New York Post and has been reproduced with permission
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