Tips are about as Predictable as the Weather on Denali

Tips are an interesting thing, as a driver. Some runs we get generally do better for tips, while others generally do not do so well. Having said that though, they really are completely unpredictable. To illustrate this, let me explain a few of the trips we do.

We operate some runs from Denali to Seward and from Seward to Denali, on Sundays. They are for Holland America guests either getting on the ship directly from Denali, or getting off and heading directly to Denali. It is about a 10-hour trip, with stops, so it is a long day, and we tour for the majority of the trip. Usually this is a pretty high tipping run, although we find that the southbound one usually does a little better than the northbound. The first time I did this run, I went north, and I made about $80 in tips, even with a tour director. The very next week, I did the exact same run. The weather was the same, we ran a little late actually, but other than that, it was almost exactly the same. I figured I wouldn't get a dime though, because the whole coach was from other countries, where tipping is not customary. On that run, I made nearly $200 in tips. It is such a fickle thing, tips, they are impossible to predict. This run had fewer people than the first too!

Just this past week, I had a seven hour tour to Portage Glacier, which I thought went well. As far as Portage tours go, it was not my best, but mother nature helped a lot, which usually increases tips. We saw a moose as we were leaving town, right in the road in fact. Everyone got a great view of it. On the glacier cruise, we are lucky if the glacier calves for us once. Usually the best we get is a couple small pieces falling unnoticed into the water. On this trip, we got two major calves. I have never seen that much at once. The trip went quite well, I thought. At the end of the trip, I got $19, from about a dozen people. Yesterday I was assigned to do airport shuttles. Usually you can expect to make less than $5 all day on those, because they are only about 15 to 20 minutes from downtown to the airport, and there really is not a lot of touring to be done. I did not tour at all yesterday on shuttles, yet I ended the day with an additional $30 in my pocket, including $10 from a group of four! It makes no sense to me, but I'll take the cash!

I had someone ask me yesterday if this job was really worth it, or if it was just a fun vacation job. As far as our hourly rate goes, the job is not worth it at all. Drivers here start at just $10.50 per hour. Transit drivers here make more than twice that, and the level of guest services in transit is minimal. The only that really makes this job worth it is the overtime and the tips. Working 60-70 hours a week makes the pay better, and adding tips to that helps too.