How is tipping done in a cash-less Amtrak world?

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flitcraft

Conductor
Joined
Jan 10, 2018
Messages
1,567
Now that traditional dining is coming back, are we allowed to leave cash as a tip in the dining car as before? And, if you're in the sleeper, there won't be a bill for the meal, so how can tips be added to a bill you don't get?

I am assuming that handing cash to the sleeping car attendant on leaving the train would be permitted, right?
 
I offer cash. If it bothers them to take it, then that's their choice but I don't use any form of electronic payment except for credit cards for anything except having personally having payments sent by ACH. It's the only one where I at least have an equal chance to fight in case of a problem. Everywhere else, the big guy has it stacked against you in case of a dispute.
 
me_little_me said:
I offer cash. If it bothers them to take it, then that's their choice but I don't use any form of electronic payment except for credit cards for anything except having personally having payments sent by ACH.
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That is what I have done and will do as well. If an Amtrak employee chooses not to accept my cash gratuity, that is to my benefit. My net worth increases by whatever I was going to give to another.
 
Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I didn't want to get anyone in trouble if they weren't allowed to take cash. Many years ago, when I was working at a McDonalds as a teenager, I helped a family clean up a big mess at their table, and the father tried to give me a 5 dollar tip as a thank you. My boss saw it and warned me that I'd get fired if I ever accepted money from a customer!
 
Amtrak attendants, IMHO, NEVER turn down a tip. A few, who did as little as possible for you in helping you board even if it was obvious you needed help and did as little as possible onboard, are there offering to help you get down from the train when you leave just to get a tip.
Once, when deboarding, I went over to the attendant from the next car and gave HIM the tip because he did more for my than my own attendant including helping me up onto the train with my luggage while my own attendant just stood there doing nothing.
 
me_little_me said:
Amtrak attendants, IMHO, NEVER turn down a tip. A few, who did as little as possible for you in helping you board even if it was obvious you needed help and did as little as possible onboard, are there offering to help you get down from the train when you leave just to get a tip.
Once, when deboarding, I went over to the attendant from the next car and gave HIM the tip because he did more for my than my own attendant including helping me up onto the train with my luggage while my own attendant just stood there doing nothing.
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Yeah, I've noticed how paralyzed they can get if it looks like you may struggle with baggage boarding. It takes quite a bit to move them into action.
As far as cash for tips, it's easy, but I'm not opposed to PayPal. They helped me when I made a serious mistake with a purchasing transaction is Italy. I got refunded without a question.
 
I suspect a cash tip is preferred by train crew.
A cash tip leaves no record.
A cash tip may not be shared with others.
A cash tip can be spent immediately.
A. cash tip is specific to the relationship between that passenger and that crew memeber.
 
I generally carry cash only for emergency use these days, at least in the US. So most of the tipping I do is via credit card for LSAs. There is no convenient way to do that for SCAs so I have to remember to take some extra cash to take care of them.

There are certain other countries that I go to which are primarily cash economies. There I carry wads of cash in the money belt. :)
 
I usually carry some cash but if I can't break a bill because there is no way to spend it then I'm not going to replace a $5 tip with $50 just because Amtrak has unilaterally restricted my payment options. Nor am I going to swipe a card on an SCA's personal phone or wire money through a third party app. If Amtrak wants to operate like an airline then perhaps we should tip like we're flying.
 
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jis said:
I generally carry cash only for emergency use these days, at least in the US. So most of the tipping I do is via credit card for LSAs. There is no convenient way to do that for SCAs so I have to remember to take some extra cash to take care of them.
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Yeah, but if you're traveling by sleeper, the meals are paid for, so no need to use a credit card (unless you're buying wine or beer). Thus, I also bring enough cash for the LSA tips as well as the SCA. And when I collect my emergency cash reserve before the trip, I always make sure to break up at least one big bill into ones and fives for tips. (And the largest bills I carry are 20's.
 
MARC Rider said:
Yeah, but if you're traveling by sleeper, the meals are paid for, so no need to use a credit card (unless you're buying wine or beer). Thus, I also bring enough cash for the LSA tips as well as the SCA. And when I collect my emergency cash reserve before the trip, I always make sure to break up at least one big bill into ones and fives for tips. (And the largest bills I carry are 20's.
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I usually have at least one alcoholic beverage and pile on the tips for the entire trip on the credit card payment for it 😏. It has been a while even before COVID that I paid a cash tip to an LSA. I have my Alan Memorial Chard every time 😬
 
Devil's Advocate said:
I do not use them as a workaround for tipping when my cash is being refused for everything else.
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Oh I see! I was saying I would prefer they would accept tips that way.

It seems to me, if it’s dangerous to use cash because of covid, it should be prohibited to use it all.

If Amtrak is using covid as an excuse to go cashless that is fine, but just come out and say it.
 
crescent-zephyr said:
Oh I see! I was saying I would prefer they would accept tips that way.

It seems to me, if it’s dangerous to use cash because of covid, it should be prohibited to use it all.

If Amtrak is using covid as an excuse to go cashless that is fine, but just come out and say it.
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Although, since the tip is a private transaction in some sense between two individuals, Amtrak really does not have much control over how it is carried out, unless the money flows through a transaction in which Amtrak is involved, e.g. a credit card transaction through the Amtrak POS terminal.

When I tip an SCA Amtrak has no involvement in that, and for all I and the SCA cares we could do it in Bitcoins or Zlotys too. 🤪
 
jis said:
Although, since the tip is a private transaction in some sense between two individuals, Amtrak really does not have much control over how it is carried out, unless the money flows through a transaction in which Amtrak is involved, e.g. a credit card transaction through the Amtrak POS terminal.
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It’s not a private transaction when one of you is on company time and on company property.
 
crescent-zephyr said:
It’s not a private transaction when one of you is on company time and on company property.
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Whatever 🤷‍♂️ I don't see Amtrak having the capability to enforce such things when they can't even get their SCAs to carry out major functions described in their job description.

MARC Rider said:
I think the SCA might be a little miffed if he got a tip in Zlotys. :)
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Not if he is about to go on a Polish vacation :D
 
How about on the Acela, in first class? The on-board staff is great. All I do is get a drink when I board and then I work the rest of the trip; I've had more than my fair share of Flexible Dining on the Crescent so I don't bother with food. And I don't need refills.

Shamefully, I've now taken 3 trips with the same crew and didn't have cash with me any of those times.

Next time, do I just hand each of them a $20 when I get off?

Unless I knew that I should tip based on this board and other online sources, I wouldn't expect to tip (being in the mindset of an airline passenger). But I will gladly tip- I just need to do it right next time.

Thanks.
 
I suspect we are going to a cashless economy sooner than later. The airlines have long since gone there. No card, no purchase.

Other countries are much less cash friendly than we are. My last international trip in the Before Times was to Copenhagen, where the cozy little bar across the street from my hotel and the ramen shop nearby were both completely cashless. China is going that way too. Even the little mom and pop vegetable stand in my neighborhood wanted Alipay rather than cash, and a street busker waved away my 50 yuan bill and asked if I could use my phone instead. Of course, there is a downside to a cash based economy, as I found out some years back in China, when my airfare and hotel expenses were reimbursed the day I was returning home with a box containing literally stacks of 100 yuan notes. I was worried that customs coming back to the US was going to profile me as a drug dealer or money launderer...
 

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