Survey: Tipping on Amtrak

[PerRock]

Since opinions vary greatly on the topic of tipping. I thought I'd run a survey to find out how people actually tip when on board (and Red Caps). So if you've taken Amtrak before (I presume the bulk of you have) please take my survey, even if you don't tip! I'll post the responses here once they start coming in.

https://goo.gl/forms/1CQgjK7RXWoRFn2q2

Maybe we can clear up some of the tipping discussion!

peter

Ok folks; here are the response analytics; this page will automatically update with new responses (you might need to refresh).

https://goo.gl/zANW7J

Here is a better representation of the State demographics:

https://goo.gl/K9UBN5

And Nationality demographics (this one isn't quite working right... not really sure why Huzzah! helps when you spell things correctly.)

https://goo.gl/kOvst6

 

[the_traveler]

I like your poll.

However, when describing Red Caps, you say "... drive around in carts". This is not always true. At stations like LAX, CHI, WAS and others, carts are used. But at stations like NYP, PHL, BOS and others, they are no carts used.

 

[PerRock]

I like your poll.

However, when describing Red Caps, you say "... drive around in carts". This is not always true. At stations like LAX, CHI, WAS and others, carts are used. But at stations like NYP, PHL, BOS and others, they are no carts used.

Thanks for the tip, I'll tweak the wording; I've really only experienced them in Chicago.


Responses should now be view-able after filling out the survey.

peter

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Thanks for the tip, I'll ....

peter

:giggle:

 

[Lonestar648]

Great survey. I hope it provides some good data.

 

[Texan Eagle]

My biggest takeaway from poll results- so many seniors (60+) here! I feel out of place :wacko:

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

My biggest takeaway from poll results- so many seniors (60+) here! I feel out of place :wacko:

Almost all of the pole takers are male.

 

[Rockymtnchris]

And Nationality demographics (this one isn't quite working right... not really sure why)

https://goo.gl/kOvst6

I suspect this could be due to inconsistency with keyed in responses. For example, I spelled out "United States" while some others abbreviated "US" or "USA". I'm guessing the computer programme can't differentiate.

 

[ehbowen]

My biggest takeaway from poll results- so many seniors (60+) here! I feel out of place :wacko:

Almost all of the pole takers are male.

As opposed to the pole dancers?

 

[PerRock]

And Nationality demographics (this one isn't quite working right... not really sure why)

https://goo.gl/kOvst6

I suspect this could be due to inconsistency with keyed in responses. For example, I spelled out "United States" while some others abbreviated "US" or "USA". I'm guessing the computer programme can't differentiate.

I've taken that into account, there's a column you guys can't see in the results that looks at whatever you guys wrote & if the response is any permeation of our country's name then it converts it to "United States" (I've tried a couple different names for our country). I've got one for the states as well.

peter

 

[keelhauled]

My biggest takeaway from poll results- so many seniors (60+) here! I feel out of place :wacko:

I was surprised by how many people primarily traveled on long distance trains as opposed to corridor. Just more evidence that all the discussion here doesn't necessarily correspond to what the typical Amtrak customer experiences.

 

[seat38a]

And Nationality demographics (this one isn't quite working right... not really sure why)

https://goo.gl/kOvst6

I suspect this could be due to inconsistency with keyed in responses. For example, I spelled out "United States" while some others abbreviated "US" or "USA". I'm guessing the computer programme can't differentiate.

That is because, for a Survey such as this, the inputs should not have been a fill in but a dropdown with a list to choose from. Same for the states. Computer's don't think (yet), PEOPLE have to anticipate these things and tell the computer what to do or prevent people from entering whatever they want.

 

[seat38a]

My biggest takeaway from poll results- so many seniors (60+) here! I feel out of place :wacko:

Well come one, you could have figured that out without a survey by all of the pre Amtrak day stories and the the posts that start with "back in the days, when they still shoveled coal into the burner." If this was a aviation forum, we would be hearing about when everyone used to fly on a 707 on PanAm and TWA.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

1. Why would Red Caps be included with the rest of the staff in the first question? They're entirely optional and they actually work for tips. Going out of your way to request a Red Cap and then intentionally withholding even a minimal tip is borderline confrontational.

Also, if you're only going to have three possible answers then make them Y/N/Varies. Don't make them Y/N/Not-usually-but-on-occasion. That's just bad design and it needlessly complicates the wording for no reason.

2. Special Notes? What is supposed to go there? How is any of this supposed to be aggregated into meaningful information? If this must be included at all it should be at the end of the survey. Otherwise just let the thread hold any free form content.

3. What class to [sic] you normally travel under? If I travel in Coach am I "under" sleeper class? Would a hobo stowaway travel "under" Coach? This survey reminds me of a coworker who writes full sized paragraphs inside spreadsheet cells. Every tool has a purpose and every project has an appropriate tool. Mixing and matching indiscriminately rarely leads to productive results.

That is because, for a Survey such as this, the inputs should not have been a fill in but a dropdown with a list to choose from. Same for the states. Computer's don't think (yet), PEOPLE have to anticipate these things and tell the computer what to do or prevent people from entering whatever they want.

Exactly.

 

[jis]

My biggest takeaway from poll results- so many seniors (60+) here! I feel out of place :wacko:

Almost all of the pole takers are male.

That's because males tend to like to see pole dancing?

 

[PerRock]

And Nationality demographics (this one isn't quite working right... not really sure why)

https://goo.gl/kOvst6

I suspect this could be due to inconsistency with keyed in responses. For example, I spelled out "United States" while some others abbreviated "US" or "USA". I'm guessing the computer programme can't differentiate.

That is because, for a Survey such as this, the inputs should not have been a fill in but a dropdown with a list to choose from. Same for the states. Computer's don't think (yet), PEOPLE have to anticipate these things and tell the computer what to do or prevent people from entering whatever they want.

I totally agree, but Google doesn't provide a simple way of doing this. And I for one, am not going to site an manually type out all 196 countries & 50 states. I did submit a feature request to Google on that issue.

peter

 

[amamba]

Did I miss the area to put in how much I tip the attendants on the FC car on Acela?

 

[PerRock]

1. Why would Red Caps be included with the rest of the staff in the first question? They're entirely optional and they actually work for tips. Going out of your way to request a Red Cap and then intentionally withholding even a minimal tip is borderline confrontational.

Also, if you're only going to have three possible answers then make them Y/N/Varies. Don't make them Y/N/Not-usually-but-on-occasion. That's just bad design and it needlessly complicates the wording for no reason.

2. Special Notes? What is supposed to go there? How is any of this supposed to be aggregated into meaningful information? If this must be included at all it should be at the end of the survey. Otherwise just let the thread hold any free form content.

3. What class to [sic] you normally travel under? If I travel in Coach am I "under" sleeper class? Would a hobo stowaway travel "under" Coach? This survey reminds me of a coworker who writes full sized paragraphs inside spreadsheet cells. Every tool has a purpose and every project has an appropriate tool. Mixing and matching indiscriminately rarely leads to productive results.

That is because, for a Survey such as this, the inputs should not have been a fill in but a dropdown with a list to choose from. Same for the states. Computer's don't think (yet), PEOPLE have to anticipate these things and tell the computer what to do or prevent people from entering whatever they want.

Exactly.

1. It's a listing of all Amtrak staff that are normally tipped by passengers. Using the dining car is optional, using the cafe car is optional. I actually ran the wording by a professional technical write, the types of folks who write stuff like this for a living, it was originally "varies" and we elected to be more clear as to what "varies" means. You want to write public documents like this in such a way that the majority of people reading it regardless of age, education, or native language can understand it.

2. It's a bloody comments section. It's divided up similarly to the option-based questions above so that it can be easily parsed into useful information. Demographics are always either first or last in surveys; this is because you don't want to distract the survey taker by making them think about one question then switch to answering about themselves, then back to more survey questions. The whole section is optional anyways, don't like it, move on.

As to the type of data, well it depends on what people put in it. In my head, I was expecting to see mainly comments like "$2 for Breakfast & Lunch, 15% for Dinner."

3. I don't know many hobos that tip the dining car staff after their meals...

4. See previous post.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I actually ran the wording by a professional technical write, the types of folks who write stuff like this for a living, it was originally "varies" and we elected to be more clear as to what "varies" means. You want to write public documents like this in such a way that the majority of people reading it regardless of age, education, or native language can understand it.

Practical form design begins with the basics. Options like Yes/No/Maybe/Unknown are a bit like North/South/East/West. The options are simple and easy to comprehend. On the other hand if you were to combine North, South, and West-Southwest it can get confusing because those three options have differing weights and do not fit inside of a logical grouping. "Not usually but on occasion" is not the same answer as "Usually but not on occasion" even though both answers are perfectly valid and both would fall under a more inclusive option like "varies."

It's a bloody comments section. It's divided up similarly to the option-based questions above so that it can be easily parsed into useful information.

In my experience there is nothing easy about repeatedly parsing freeform human generated content. We've had to deal with crap like that when some consultant or contractor failed to design their forms correctly and depending on how poorly conceived it was the fix could take a long time and a lot of effort to resolve after the fact.

I for one, am not going to site an manually type out all 196 countries & 50 states.

No need to include every country on Earth. If it were me I'd probably limit it to English speaking countries and industrialized democracies. That should cover 90% of the places people interested in Amtrak would likely hail from. The other 10% would simply select "Other."

 

[ScouseAndy]

Are red caps on the payroll or do they solely depend on tips for their income?

 

[caravanman]

I don't imagine they just work for tips, but I may be wrong, it's been known to happen.

As they drive carts to move the less able, at some stations, I don't know how that tricky area of insurance/responsibility for an accident injuring an amtrak ticketed passenger, with a cart, would work if they were not on the payroll?

Yay! my longest sentence ever!

Ed.

 

[Railroad Bill]

My biggest takeaway from poll results- so many seniors (60+) here! I feel out of place :wacko:

Someday you will be old too,.

 

[the_traveler]

Nah, I plan to stay young! :giggle:

 

[Cho Cho Charlie]

My biggest takeaway from poll results- so many seniors (60+) here! I feel out of place :wacko:

Almost all of the pole takers are male.

As opposed to the pole dancers?

You'll need to talk with Google about that one.

 

[AG1]

Are red caps on the payroll or do they solely depend on tips for their income?

I have seen RedCaps wearing years of service pins ,for example 10,15, 20 years ,so I believe they are Amtrak employees . Perhaps one of the Amtrak employees on this forum could comment if the RedCaps are union employees with benefits.