Passenger Trains > Tipping on VIA's Canadian

I'm taking the Canadian from Vancouver to Toronto next week, and I'm not clear about what tipping is expected. The other time that I took it (eleven years ago) I tipped at meals at the beginning (guessing at the amount because there were no prices in the menus because only sleeping car passengers ate in the diner) but noticed that few other people did so. As I remember, I gradually stopped tipping for that reason. A waiter who I asked about it wasn't very helpful (and he probably couldn't have been expected to be). I don't clearly remember whether I or the other passengers tipped the sleeping car attendants (they changed at Winnipeg, as I remember). Anyway, I want to get it right this time, so I'd appreciate knowing both whether tipping is customary on this train and, if so, what are the guidelines. (I'm familiar with Amtrak tipping, but it's not clear to me that it has any relationship to VIA.)

Tip accordingly.

The service is usually top notch. I always tip sleeping car and diner staff.

Tipping on the Canadian is customary but, unlike aboard ships, there are no guidelines. Passengers can consult the Service Manager, as they would consult a ship's purser, for advice according to one VIA brochure. Passengers on package tours have their tips looked after by their guide. I have noticed that some passengers don't tip at all, either in the dining car or to sleeping car attendants. But most do tip and 99% of the VIA staff deserve it.

From my many trips, I would say that an "average" tip to a sleeping car attendant is $5.00 per night per passenger - and certainly more if special attention is requested, such as frequent refills of the ice bucket. There appears to be no consistent method of tipping in the dining car. Some people leave something after each meal and others tip at the last meal of the trip and/or at Winnipeg where the crews change. I generally do what my travelling companions or other passengers around me do. On my most recent trip on the Canadian (just last week when new menus were introduced) there were prices on some of the menus because coach passengers are permitted at the third sitting until the coach-class Skyline car is used as a diner (which is customary from May to October.) Breakfast meals were in the $10 to $12 range, lunches about $15 and dinners from $23 to $30. Tipping for wine and bar service is the easiest to calculate, of course.

Dining car staff pool their tips, but sleeping car staff are tipped individually.

When I rode the Canadian in December, our 1st Dining Car steward was rude as hell, but we tipped anyway the first night. Never got a thank you or any acknowledgement from the guy about it. Then we saw we were the only ones who tipped. So from there on out we didn't anymore, and not many other folks did either.

The first attendant we had from Vancouver to Winnepeg was great. He deserved a tip. However, we didn't know the crews changed in Winnepeg, and didn't get the opportunity to tip him. The 2nd attended we got from Winnepeg to Toronto was lazy and did everything half assed. But it was still better than most service on Amtrak so we gave him 5 big ones. The second Dining Car Steward was a little more friendly than the first guy. We did tip him a few times though.

Just remember that the ENTIRE onboard crew turns over at Winnipeg! When I ride the Canadian, I tip at each meal and then tip my sleeping car attendant who was on the trip from Toronto to Winnipeg (on arrival into Winnipeg) and then tip the second sleeping car attendant who was on the trip from Winnipeg to Vancouver (on arrival into Vancouver)

Thanks for the help; I'll follow your advice, which is pretty much consistent with the way that I tip on Amtrak.

Tipping is probably unnecessary since these are highly-compensated employees.

Greetings All,

I use a tipping method that my father used successfully on several overnight train trips during my childhood. Upon departure, the sleeping car attendant gets $5 when he comes to introduce himself. I make sure to mention that if he or she takes very good care of us, there will be more at the end of the trip. Then, at that time, I'll give another $5 or $10 depending upon how well we've been looked after. This incentive has worked well on all my trips. In one instance, on the Lake Shore in the early '90s, I tipped our female attendant $20 in Chicago for truly outstanding service and attitude.

Cheers

I don't feel the need to mention any compensation but do tip according to service, you never know when one of these "highly-compensated employees" ... might need to get their Mercedes waxed ...
Meals and sleeping car attendant, lounge attendant too.


TCS - they know how it works, so do i

reindeerflame Wrote:
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> Tipping is probably unnecessary since these are
> highly-compensated employees.

I quit tipping on Amtrak and VIA 20 years ago when, after numerous trips, I noticed that the crews didn't seem to care if you tipped them or not. Cruise trains are a different deal.

Bob