Tipping Amount for Private Lesson

[ATLSkier]

Heading to Copper this weekend and looking at a private lesson to learn to ski moguls better. Choking a bit on the price though as a half-day in the afternoon is $449. I assume a 20% tip is standard, but that takes the total price to $538, which is a bit of a budget breaker. Just wanted to confirm what standard tipping is for lessons. (BTW, no one else on my trip is interested in this lesson, so no one to split the price with). I'm sure there is a lot of value in there even at this price but just not sure I can swing this much right now.

 

[peterm]

I haven't taken a private lesson for ages because I found group lessons are much better value. I also enjoy skiing with a few more people, and can find a private lesson a little too intense. Sometimes I need time to process stuff so having the other people there to distract the instructor for a while is good.

The only reason I'd take a private lesson now would be to get a particular instructor, e.g. if I discovered one I really clicked with in a group lesson. But yes, I think a tip in the 15-20% range is fairly standard.

In my experience, if you do a group lesson and say that you want to work on moguls there's a good chance the rest of the group will be up for it. Actually, in my experience there's a non trivial chance that a group lesson turns into a (cheaper) private lesson if no other skiers of your level turn up.

 

[Coach13]

I tip all lessons around 20%, more if the instructor really deserves it. Some will say tip group lessons less because there are multiple people who should be tipping. Most of the time though I don’t see that happening when I’ve been in a group. Many times it’s just me I see tipping in that situation.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

We keep our group lessons small at my 2 mountains. I taught one lesson saturday am and while it was a group lesson it was just the student and me so she got a private for the cost of a group. If you can do a group lesson mid week I think you stand a good chance of it winding up a private and a fraction of the cost.

 

[SkiSchoolPros]

From Vail:
"Gratuities for coaches are not a requirement but an appropriate and appreciated gesture. A 15-20% gratuity based on the cost of the lesson will make your coach feel very appreciated and valued."

Not sure if you have a pass, but I think Copper still discounts lift tix for private guests.

 

[mdf]

I don't like to do a percentage based tip. Instead my goal, for groups or privates, is for the total tip to work out to about $20/hour. Multiply by the number of hours and divide by the number of students to get your share.

I've been doing that for a while, maybe it is time for a cost-of-living adjustment. Maybe $25? $30?

 

[Coach13]

I don't like to do a percentage based tip. Instead my goal, for groups or privates, is for the total tip to work out to about $20/hour. Multiply by the number of hours and divide by the number of students to get your share.

I've been doing that for a while, maybe it is time for a cost-of-living adjustment. Maybe $25? $30?

That’s probably not a bad approach. One twist of the % of lesson price I deal with is with lesson plans. At my local resorts (who share a pass) I pay a $40 upcharge on my pass price and can get a group lesson ever visit. The group lesson price at the window is also $40/group lesson. Despite my lessons being basically free after the upcharge I usually tip about $20 per lesson. The instructors always seems to be appreciative so I hope I’m in the ballpark of what’s appropriate.

 

[cantunamunch]

I've been doing that for a while, maybe it is time for a cost-of-living adjustment. Maybe $25? $30?

Add $10 for OP's outrageous french accent.

 

[Skitechniek]

Maybe I am too European, but if you don't want to or simply cannot afford it ... don't tip...

Funny story, I was instructing 2 weeks ago (in Austria) and I had a private with a couple of Americans (german descent though) and we were talking about the crazy prices of privates and skiing in general in the US. I found it completely ridiculous to give a tip when you paid 500+ for your private.. Where I was teaching 600 bucks probably gets you 10 hours worth of privates lol. No wonder why for them it was cheaper to fly to Europe and ski here than it was to ski in America. Completely bonkers.

Oh, and I didn't get a tip and I couldn't care less. I had fun teaching them and I hope they learned something.

EDIT:
Love this clip btw, call me Mr. Pink LOL!

 

[crgildart]

Add $10 for OP's outrageous french accent.

It the lesson costs too much they will be forced to taunt the instructor a second time...

Seriously though, it depends on the region and area. When my kids were starting out, I'd put them in a private, or a group that usually ended up being a private or at least semi private here in the mid atlantic. Lessons were a lot cheaper here, at least back then around 2010ish. After $50 ski shop charge for a 1.5 hour lesson I'd hand them a $20 and they'd look at me like they'd never seen a tip before. Same respponse when being given a $10 for a group lesson. "Oh wow, thanks! You really didn't have to do that.." Should have seen the other kids parents standing there collecting their kids looking at eachother.. "we're supposed to tip???"" LOL

 

[udailey]

Just a suggestion here. Don't go to copper that day. Drive to ABasin and get your lesson. Here is how:
Call them up cuz this is confusing to do online.
Buy, for $30, the snow huggers club membership. It gives you one half off lesson.
Buy for half of $150 your group lesson.
Your lesson includes your lift ticket. You just got a group lesson for $105.
Now go stand in line for your lesson to start. When they start asking the "getting to know you" questions what is really going on is they are taking the pulse of the people in the group to break them up into skill appropriate groups. You say confident and honest things like " I confidently ski groomed blacks and would love to learn better how to ski bumps all day today." Nobody, NOBODY, who normally skis ABasin needs a lesson so it's just you and a few people who have skied a few blues. If you can differentiate yourself as being significantly better than them and convince the other lesson takers that you really want to learn some advanced stuff today you will find yourself in a private lesson. You don't want to work on your turns or learn how to make it down their harder blues. None of the other lesson takers will be interested in the bumps and the instructors will not force them to be in the bumps class. They always break the lesson up into a beginner blue group and an advanced blue or black lesson. So, you just want to be the advanced. My wife and I got our private lesson this way and my kids almost always get a private lesson this way. Just be firm that you're not a beginner and you're not interested in beginner blue lessons. It's not getting away with something it just feels like it.

 

[udailey]

PS I met a guy that works at Breckenridge ski school. He told me that ABasin had the best ski school around. He said that the lady who runs the Breck school sends her kids to ABasin (this was three years ago maybe four). The lessons we have got there have been superb.

 

[karlo]

Tip what you can afford to no higher than you think it was worth. So, 20% is a good high end. But, if you can’t afford that, tip less. Or, if you cant afford it at all, don’t tip. Maybe a little gift from your home mountain. The very most important thing is a thanks for a job well done.

Don’t know how Copper works, but instructors at my mountain get paid a percentage of a private, and a low hourly for a group. Something new this season is a per-head supplement for each head in a group. So, your instructor might be getting paid more anyway, plus the pleasure of skiing just with you and not managing a larger group.

Another thing is, some schools pay the instructor more of the instructor is requested. So, if you can get a recommendation and book that instructor, you’ve done two runs with one ski (or was that two..., whatever), you have an instructor for which you have a reference and the instructor might get paid more

 

[Steve]

Private lessons are $95 for an hour at my school. So yes the $20 tip I often get is 20%. However if someone gave me $10 I would be quite happy. Many people don't tip at all (probably don't know it's common.) They paid for a lift ticket(s) and the lesson(s) that's a ton of money, giving the Instructor something is a sign of respect and appreciation. It's not like a waitress where a small tip is considered an insult.

 

[Scruffy]

Maybe I am too European, but if you don't want to or simply cannot afford it ... don't tip...

Funny story, I was instructing 2 weeks ago (in Austria) and I had a private with a couple of Americans (german descent though) and we were talking about the crazy prices of privates and skiing in general in the US. I found it completely ridiculous to give a tip when you paid 500+ for your private.. Where I was teaching 600 bucks probably gets you 10 hours worth of privates lol. No wonder why for them it was cheaper to fly to Europe and ski here than it was to ski in America. Completely bonkers.

Oh, and I didn't get a tip and I couldn't care less. I had fun teaching them and I hope they learned something.

When I was in Chamonix we had guide for an expert level group for a week. The guide was excellent and the entire group agreed that we wanted to give him a good tip. One of our group members had spent a lot of time in Cham climbing and knew some of the other guides/instructors in the area and asked them what we should do for a tip. Basically the answer was our guide would be happy with something like $50 US dollars, which would be appallingly low for a weeks worth of guiding for 9 people in the USA market. Of course we being Americans, we tipped him an American sized tip, but the thing is, in Europe, the guides and instructors are paid more and treated better than our American counterparts. I wish that was the case for our Instructors, but right now it's not, so we feel compelled to tip generously.

 

[Ice Queen]

Two of us took a 2-hour private at Alta and tipped the guy $40. He was surprised and actually said that might be too much! The lesson was just shy of $300 if I remember correctly. I did think of it as a per-hour thing rather than a percentage. Assuming they're making at least $15 an hour for a private (and he was a level 3 so I hope he's making more), add 20 per hour to that and you get $35 per hour. Then ask youself whether you think that's fair pay for the work.

 

[Chris V.]

Two of us took a 2-hour private at Alta and tipped the guy $40. He was surprised and actually said that might be too much!

LOL! Alta, still a refuge for dirtbag skiers (that's not an insult), so maybe the instructor doesn't see that kind of money often. That tip wouldn't be the least bit out line at a fancy resort.

 

[Chris V.]

I don't like to do a percentage based tip. Instead my goal, for groups or privates, is for the total tip to work out to about $20/hour. Multiply by the number of hours and divide by the number of students to get your share.

That seems a very reasonable rule of thumb. Most instructors would be quite happy to get $100 in tips in a day. (I'm already ducking in case anyone is getting ready to throw tomatoes and rotten eggs.)

 

[SkiSchoolPros]

Tip what you can afford to no higher than you think it was worth. So, 20% is a good high end. But, if you can’t afford that, tip less. Or, if you cant afford it at all, don’t tip. Maybe a little gift from your home mountain. The very most important thing is a thanks for a job well done.

Don’t know how Copper works, but instructors at my mountain get paid a percentage of a private, and a low hourly for a group. Something new this season is a per-head supplement for each head in a group. So, your instructor might be getting paid more anyway, plus the pleasure of skiing just with you and not managing a larger group.

Another thing is, some schools pay the instructor more of the instructor is requested. So, if you can get a recommendation and book that instructor, you’ve done two runs with one ski (or was that two..., whatever), you have an instructor for which you have a reference and the instructor might get paid more

IIRC, when I was at Copper, same hourly for groups and assigned privates, but 1.5 x for requests. Copper tended to pay fewer hours and lower rate for similar cert/experience than VR (as of 4-5 years ago). John Lawson, Todd Casey and Doug Sakata would all be solid choices as a request private.

Not a ton of adults taking upper level bump lessons at Copper, so the Abasin trick might work there also.

 

[Skitechniek]

When I was in Chamonix we had guide for an expert level group for a week. The guide was excellent and the entire group agreed that we wanted to give him a good tip. One of our group members had spent a lot of time in Cham climbing and knew some of the other guides/instructors in the area and asked them what we should do for a tip. Basically the answer was our guide would be happy with something like $50 US dollars, which would be appallingly low for a weeks worth of guiding for 9 people in the USA market. Of course we being Americans, we tipped him an American sized tip, but the thing is, in Europe, the guides and instructors are paid more and treated better than our American counterparts. I wish that was the case for our Instructors, but right now it's not, so we feel compelled to tip generously.

I made 12,50 an hour, lodging included (there is plenty of instructors making less). How much lower can it get? You guys have minimum wage too right...