Tipping with QR Codes: Cool or Crass?

My family and I recently stayed at a Marriott Courtyard in suburban Baltimore. On something resembling a postcard was a note from our “room attendant” (read: housekeeper).

The card had a QR code printed on it, allowing us to tip our housekeeper electronically through methods such as Apple Pay, PayPal, or credit card. We could select a set amount ($5, $10… etc.) or enter a custom figure.

I don’t carry much cash on me anymore, so the QR code tipping platform can be helpful.

But some people and their employers expect you to tip — regardless of how well they perform their jobs. And they’ll shove a QR code in your face faster than you can say “Venmo.”

Minding Yours Ps and QRs

Here’s the postcard from our Marriott stay.

I’m not one of these people who automatically tips housekeepers (or anyone). I like to leave a few bucks on my first day — more if I request more towels, pillows, etc. — and I go from there. As someone who worked for tips (I was a hotel bellman and also drove the airport shuttle), I’m happy to show my appreciation for a job well done.

But it’s not my responsibility to pay someone else’s employees. It’s the employer’s.

Even when I redeem points for an award stay, the hotel still makes money.

Here’s another example.

Just the other day, a Redditor posted this about their LAX Delta One Lounge experience.

Just left Delta One lounge at LAX. We have been to the Delta One Lounge a few times in NYC, but this was the first time at LAX. Unlike NYC lounge every thing in LAX club is ordered from a small menu and brought by staff. Before we left, the server gave us a laminated card with his personal Venmo Account so we could give him a tip. It had the Delta One logo on the bottom.

I must admit, it took some of the fun out of the experience. I wonder if this is part of the Delta One Lounge program or a rogue employees. I have a picture of the card but for obvious reasons I will not post.

I find this especially interesting because it involves an employee using Delta branding as if to suggest that the airline has sanctioned this.

Here’s what a Delta spokesperson told us:

Employees in Delta Sky Clubs and Delta One Lounges may accept tips from customers, but are not permitted to solicit them in any case. Our service partners, Compass and Sodexo, have specific policies for whether their employees are permitted to offer a QR code for tipping when prompted by a customer and we’d defer comment to them on that policy. Any situation where an employee solicits a tip, whether it is with a paper card or verbally, is not allowed.

In many ways, I like the ability to give gratuities electronically. It’s convenient for those of us who carry less cash than we used to. Heck, you can sometimes earn points on your credit card, depending on which methods you use to pay.

(Although, René got me into the practice of tipping $2 bills. A lot of people get a kick out of receiving them!)

It’s also nice because sometimes I might have a $100 bill and a pair of singles on me. I might want to tip more than a couple of bucks, but there’s no way I’m giving someone $100 for a couple of Heineken 0.0s.

Here’s the rub: I don’t necessarily appreciate being solicited or pressured to tip.

When I visited the Capital One Landing in Washington, D.C., recently, we tipped our server for bringing us food and drinks that we ordered on our phones. Our gratuity was paid in cash — because there wasn’t a QR code handy. And, call me old fashioned, there’s part of me that still likes tipping cash. (I’m sure the Comments section will include people condemning me for being so inconsiderate by tipping cash when we’re an increasingly cashless society.)

But the servers never asked us for tips. If they expected it, they never let on.

What’s the solution?

Moving away from “ridiculous mandatory tipping” (as one of my European friends calls it) would be nice. But that’s not going to happen.

And I genuinely enjoy rewarding great work.

I think it’s all in the presentation. The employee needs to be somewhat direct yet polite and not pushy.

Like, “I hope you think my service today was exceptional. If you’d like to provide direct feedback and/or any gratuity, please scan this QR code.” Or something.

Or should no one present a QR code for tipping until a guest requests it?

What do you think about QR code tipping in airport lounges?