Gratuity

[eUrNiCc 0]

The best tip that I ever got was 5 pounds of fresh shrimp from an IAF student who lived at the beach. I'd much rather get some neat personal (or edible/drinkable) gift from an appreciative student than a couple of bucks.

Egad, A BASE life defiles a bad age.

[taylor.freefall 0]

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Any more it seems like it. So many people come and go with 100, 200, 500 jumps that it seems like someone who is a skydiver sticks around for at least 1000 jumps. Others come and go sometimes come back then go again. I wish they would stay.

To be fair it's bloody expensive to jump continuously. What with bills, mortgage, wife etc. It's cost me an arm and a leg just to get to A license level, and for me that's all my savings gone. It's going to be another few months before I scrape enough together to get more jumps in, I'm sure it's that way for a lot of people.

[AggieDave 6]

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To be fair it's bloody expensive to jump continuously. What with bills, mortgage, wife etc. It's cost me an arm and a leg just to get to A license level, and for me that's all my savings gone. It's going to be another few months before I scrape enough together to get more jumps in, I'm sure it's that way for a lot of people.

Sure its expensive. So is every other hobby or sport I've ever been apart of that's worth a damn.

I started jumping as a sophomore in college. I had very little money. I was averaging about one jump a month until I got my license. It took me two years to get 100 jumps. After that I decided to get serious about jumping and rearranged my priorities in what I spent what little money I had. Then I decided to spend my time at the DZ doing what I could to earn a jump. Everything from packing canopies for money (tandems and all) to sweeping the floors, etc. Eventually I built the jump numbers to become a coach and then a TI. So then I was able to do what I love, which is teach and instruct AND help subsidize my jumping.

If you want to be a skydiver, if you want to accomplish any goals beyond "just goofing around" in the sport, then you're going to have to make the commitment to make the jumps.

Some people hunt, some people are into cars, some people spend the money collecting worthless nick-nacks that collect dust in their house. Personally, I would much rather leave an airplane.

The choice is yours. If you want it to happen, you'll find a way to make it happen without compromising your life commitments (family).

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[JohnDeere 0]

Some people hunt, some people are into cars, some people spend the money collecting guns, skydive and go on vacations.. Personally, I would much rather do them all.

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There i fixxed it for you!!! Oh and some of us like to do it all

Nothing opens like a Deere!

You ignorant fool! Checks are for workers!

[210_zoom 0]

I believe alot was said about the instructors. But dont forget about the little guys Packing the chutes in the backround.

Do any of the instructors who received tips share it with any of your Packers? I mean if they were packing your Tandem chute or as an AFFI having your personal rig packed?

Pizza, Beer, Soda, Tip, Return for the class are all good answers and will not be turned away if you brought any of the above. I hope you stick with it.

[peregrinerose 0]

I was a packer for 3 years, and a couple of the TMs would share tips with us. Most of the time though, if the tips wer e fairly big, they'd just buy food and drink and the entire DZ would benefit.

As packers, we put our tips in a jar and saved them all summer, at the end of the summer, we bought steaks, drinks, seafood and had one hell of a party on us. We even bought the DZ a $400 grill out of it one summer.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[JohnMitchell 16]

That's a cool thing to do.
Me, I got 3 kids in college. I hang on to all my tips. Also, we pack our own tandems at our DZ, so no packer to tip. I also work a little more to entertain and add value to the tandem passenger's experience. So if I do get tipped, I feel I've earned it.

[skydiver30960 0]

They way I've always looked at it:

Tandem skydives are, for instructors, a way to pay the bills or at least help offset the cost of skydiving (in addition to being fun). They are, for sport jumpers, a way to keep the planes flying and the dropzones open. But they are, for the people coming to make their first (and probably only) jump, a really expensive proposition.

I work at a DZ that charges a premium for its services: of the three DZs I've worked at, this one is charging more for just about everything than anywhere I've ever worked. Now, I also think what they charge is worth it to the customer since we also have the best of everything compared to my past DZs: best plane, best equipment, best packers, best instructors (hey, that's me!)

But regardless, it's expensive. I love the fact that the person came out to spend the day with me and make a skydive. Here's this poor guy who just shelled out for his first tandem and video (God forbid if he had to pay for his girlfriend too!) and now he sees that well-known sign that says "your instructors are paid for their services, but gratuities are always appreciated" which is a thinly-veiled way of saying "give us MORE of your money!". Financially, I always felt like it was kicking someone when they're down.

To make a short story long: the times I receive a tip, I accept it gracefully and make sure to give the tip-giver a strong handshake and even stronger thank-you. But whenever the discussion of putting up signs or pushing for tips has come up, I've always fought it with everything I had.


Elvisio "I don't mind cheap beer" Rodriguez

[JohnMitchell 16]

As much as I like a tip, I surely don't mind not getting one. I remember taking this very nice, very pretty college student on a tandem. Afterward, she tipped me $20. I almost wanted to give it back, and tell her to save up for AFF. But refusing a tip would be awkward, unless it was a close friend.

We have a sign at our DZ, but I think it's fairly discrete.

[rehmwa 2]

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But whenever the discussion of putting up signs or pushing for tips has come up, I've always fought it with everything I had.

any place with a sign - discrete or otherwise - does not get tips of any kind from me

it's completely classless

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Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants