Austinites tend to be loose with their cash when it comes to rewarding all kinds of service workers -- from servers and bartenders, to folks who give them a ride across town.
Last year, Square, the mobile payments company, found Austin had the fifth-highest average tips in the nation, giving their servers a 16 percent tip on average.
Now, one year after Fasten launched its in-app tipping option in Austin, the company is releasing a few data insights based on $2 million in tips that show where drivers are finding the top tips.
A few things probably won't surprise you -- i.e., folks traveling late at night (who tend to be the drunk ones) often give bigger tips. Meanwhile, travelers who got dropped off at places like the Four Seasons Hotel and Jester King Brewery also tended to give their drivers a little extra.
Meanwhile, locals tipped a third more than visitors. That's logical, since drivers and riders are sort of neighbors and might have more common ground to chat about during the ride. And, of course, fans tend to tip a bit more after the University of Texas Longhorns football team wins.
There are also a few surprises. Pickup points that led to the top tips included hotels (of course), golf courses (or course) and shoe stores (what?). Drop off points that had big money tips included the airport, Irish pubs, arcade bars and art galleries.
Here are the other insights Fasten shared today:
- People going to and from East Side bars tipped 5 to 10 percent more than people going to and from West Side bars.
- Tips on weekends were only one percent higher than those on weekdays.
- Riders are more liberal with their giving after a fun night out. The biggest tips usually come late night on workdays -- and in the early mornings on weekends.
- The biggest tippers are picked up at Fonda San Miguel, Bender Bar and Grill and Sam’s Boat.
- The top tippers are dropped off at Canopy, Jester King Brewery, Four Seasons Hotel and Holiday Inn.
So, bottom line for drivers? Find a buzzed up rider at Bender Bar who just saw the Horns win and needs to get to the airport -- and needs to pick up a new pair of shoes or one more cocktail on the East Side on the way to the terminal.
