A Word Concerning Chauffeur Gratuities Or Service Charges
We occasionally get questions regarding our chauffeurs and whether to ‘tip’. Our chauffeurs are expected to earn their gratuities from our clients each and every time. We do ask that when you are considering your offering that you remember that our chauffeurs DO work for gratuities and these tips are an integral part in making sure that we have the happiest, friendliest, and most helpful and professional chauffeurs in the area!
Suggested Minimum Gratuities: We currently collect a minimum suggested gratuity on most trips strictly for the convenience of you, our traveling client. This practice ensures that you are never out a lot of “out-of-pocket” cash during your travels and simplifies your company expense reporting process as it provides a documented receipt for the gratuity paid to the chauffeur. Many companies also prefer this to ensure that their guests are not out any expense for their transportation for business or hospitality purposes. The dollar amount may vary from trip to trip depending upon the actual rate charged for the trip and the gratuity the paying client has allotted. All gratuity is at the paying client’s discretion. The suggested minimum gratuity is optional and may be adjusted up or down at the paying clients request.
Additional Gratuities: Many clients feel that our chauffeurs provide service and value beyond what our minimum suggested gratuity implies. If you find that this is the case, too, there are several options.
- You can call, email, or even text us with your reservation number and change the gratuity percentage (on an individual trip, or globally for all your trips).
- You may add a specific additional dollar amount to a specific trip.
- You can even tip in cash at the point of service if you wish. Whatever works best for you!
Service Charges: In some instances, a service charge may be assessed in lieu of gratuity. This may occur due to compliance issues on out of area and international trips where gratuity amount may not be exactly the same between affiliate partners. In this instance, the minimum suggested gratuity will be paid by Elite per our specific agreements with our affiliate companies.
Please note that any undocumented payments or cash given to the chauffeur is considered a gratuity and cannot otherwise be credited or adjusted toward the payment of a trip fare.