Wouldn't it be great if you could leave a tip for a hotel worker? There's no problem.
There are signs that more could be in the works after a major hotel company introduced a mobile tipping platform.
There are some doubts in the industry as to how much more tech-savvy the job will be compared to just leaving a few dollars on the bureau.
Guests at participating U.S. and Canadian hotels will be able to tip a team member via mobile device. The service accepts multiple forms of payment, including credit cards and Apple Pay.
One of the first major hotel companies to offer something like this is Wyndham.
It wasn't that long ago when Marriott and Maria Shriver faced backlash for their campaign encouraging hotel guests to tip their maids. The people wondered why the hotel conglomerate doesn't pay its workers a living wage.
As a result of outreach to hotel owners during the H1N1 epidemic, the mobile tipping platform grew as a result.
"Because some of the housekeepers left during the Pandemic, and they went to non-hospitality jobs, we formed a group with them where we laid out a lot of different things that we could do for them on property." One of the top priorities was this.
The mobile tipping feature is only available at a small number of hotels, but it is expected to be available at many more by the end of the year.
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There is a lot of sense in the service. According to McKinsey & Company, in the year 2021, 80% of Americans used digital payments, including for in-store checkouts on their phones. It was up from 80% in 2020 and 75% in 2016
I give props to the person who did this. "If we don't find technology solutions to some of the traditional people services, we're in trouble." It's a win-WIN if we can show employees satisfaction and gratitude.
During the Pandemic, hotels used more tech features to give guests more options. Digital room keys replaced plastic key cards when it came to check-in and check-out.
Frequent travelers were the only ones who were allowed to check in with a mobile key. If you don't offer it to everyone, you're not competitive. All this stuff will become standard.
The major hotel companies were contacted by the company to see if there was anything similar. It looked like Hilton was the furthest along in offering a similar product.
As more stays become completely cashless and provide the right services to meet changing needs, the company is evaluating ways to support both its guests and team members. Various app-based solutions are being tested in select hotels to assess how to most effectively address the opportunity.
With the mobile tipping options, hotels have to consider tax issues and make sure tips are going to the right people. Team members can either have their tips deposited into their bank account daily or they can have them distributed with their regular paychecks.
If a hotel owner decides to give tips with regular paychecks, taxes will not be taken out. A team member would get a tax form at the end of the year to file their taxes.
There are questions about how many people will use the service.
The codes are still an extra platform for guests at hotels. The guests might prefer integration directly into the app.
The National Bureau of Economic Research analyzed the data from more than 40 million trips and found that almost half of riders never tipped.
When you can tip on your mobile device, the idea of being ashamed for not tipping is gone. You have that kind of social pressure to tip in the real world because they don't see it on your mobile device.
People are five times more likely to tip if they have a mobile platform, according to a Ben stat.
Adding a team member photo next to each staff member's correspondingQR code is one of the changes the company has made. Guests were more likely to tip when there was a picture of the person receiving the money.
The company believes that the easy way to get tips is by using theQR offering. Not every hotel guest has the Wyndham app downloaded on their phone, but they are all using the same code.
It isn't the first shift on the tipping front. Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group eliminated tipping in 2015.
The company chose to raise prices in a "hospitality included" policy despite the fact that tipping led to equal pay. The no-tip policy boosted hourly wages, but USHG reversed course as restaurants reopened after the Pandemic.
tipping is still a vital source of income in the sector and this reminder serves as a reminder.
I don't know how unions would respond to that change. I don't know how employees would respond to that, I don't know what they'd think of it. It is a very difficult question.
There is a feature photo by Getty Images.
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