First off, I tip often and generously. Valet, bartender, waiters, housekeeping etc. that said, I get a little confused with bell service. I always travel to Vegas by car, valet, and have my bag sent up via bell service. There is a bellman that takes them from your car, and a different bell man that takes the bags up. I usually have 4-5 bags, cases of beer, and a cooler. This results in 7+ items. The standard tip for bell service is 1-2 dollars an item. Does that mean I tip $14 for the guy that grabs from the car, and another $14 for the guy that brings it up? Or do I hit the guy that just brings it from the car to the bell desk with a $5 and give the guy that brings it all the way up the full $14?

Just take care of the guy that brings it up. I always just give them 5, 14 seems a bit excessive to me...

if you're going to tip well, tip the guy who has to bring it all the way up to your room.

What do you guys tip when just dropping off and picking up your bags?

$3-$5 depending on how generous you're feeling and how much stuff you're putting on the cart

literally all they're doing is just wheeling your crap to their storage room

This was basically my question, I just made it more complicated. I feel like a few bucks for the guy that takes it from the car to the bell desk is sufficient. Then tipping the guy that brings it to the room heavier is appropriate.

I mean not having them bring it anywhere.more like using it as a bag check.

$5/$5

If they ask if there is anything else they can do, I'll ask them to fill the laundry bag with ice

They are chopping it up anyways, but you are tipping more than most so I'd split it in two so you get moved to the front of the line if they are backed up. The guy dropping the bags off at the room will know you got them on the front end. They will write it down on their copy of the ticket so they can prioritize and so the guy dropping the bags off is aware.

I just tip the guy on the back end who is bringing it to the room. How else will you be able to adjust the amount for the quality of service?

That's obv. a valid point but that practice presents the same problem as tipping the maid only on the day of your departure. Ideally, you want to have your tip work two ways: Reward people for their service and encourage them to provide you with their best effort. Tipping them only in the end misses the second point.

The bellman that brings up your luggage knows if and how much you tipped the guy that took the stuff from your car. Tipping well at that first point will get your stuff faster to your room because they assume another decent tip for that.

At Vdara, the maids put two small bottles of water on your desk after cleaning up the room. If you leave them a couple of bucks on your pillow every other day, you can expect 4 -6 of those water bottles every day. You wouldn't get that extra water if you only left them a tip on the day of your departure.

The only time I typically use a bellman is when we arrive at our hotel before check-in and want to drop off our bags. We usually stay at MGM, Mandalay Bay, or Aria.

My wife and I each have one small-medium piece of luggage. I tip $5 for both bags when I drop them off, and another $5 for both bags when I pick them up.

Each time I give them $5 for the two small bags, they seem genuinely happy with the amount.

I'm sure some high rollers give them $20 per bag, but I bet many give them $0-$1..

rule of thumb is $1 per bag

[QUOTE=madlex;51910542]

The bellman that brings up your luggage knows if and how much you tipped the guy that took the stuff from your car. Tipping well at that first point will get your stuff faster to your room because they assume another decent tip for that.
/QUOTE]

I didn't know this, that is valuable info. What I was getting at was it seems a little expensive to tip $2 a bag both at the car, and when they bring it up. Do we think $1 a bag at the car, and $2 a bag for room delivery is enough to receive priority service?

Usually $2 but I typically only have 1 backpack. I tip both on the way in and on the way out, is this standard?

About as standard as tipping the valet both in and out, which is to say that some people do it and some don't. The only sin is not tipping on the back half.

And I've got a $5 max for bellmen unless I'm unloading a U-Haul.