[TN_Steve]

Hey Gang,

Curious about tipping your instructor. How do you feel about it, if yes, how much? If not... Why?

Steve

[NMERider]

[Wingspan34]

Share a beer with them after a day's flying maybe. Or you might 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.

[notjj]

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.

[CHassan]

[knumbknuts]

[pjwings]

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.

[bagbgone]

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.

[DanTuck]

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.

[red]

[CHassan]

[phantomflier]

I hooked my instructor up with a girl I worked with....so I guess it was SHE who received the tip!!

[hiflioz]

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.

[fly,surf,&ski]

Always buy beer for your instructor.
(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


good luck with your lessons.

[FormerFF]

Always. They don't get paid a lot.

[knumbknuts]

[AIRTHUG]

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

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

[CAL]

[edisurfer]

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

Instructors keep on rockin'

EDIT: Just realized how many bad puns I could be making ... apologies for the smilies.

[dayhead]

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.