Why are Las Vegas cabbies so weird about tips?

[Your Mom]

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does anyone know if vegas cabbies keep the whole fare or if they have to give a percentage back to the cab companies?

in nyc cabs pay a fixed rate for the day to the company for rental of the car/medallion. so every dollar they earn in fares they keep.

i am under the impression that this is not the way it works in every city, so please correct me if i'm wrong.

it seems to me that if drivers only keep a small percentage of their fair (or are even earning an hourly), tipping a larger amount makes more sense.

for example, in a city where cabbies don't pay a flat fee for the day and instead kick up 75% or so of fares, when i get an $8 ride, tipping $2 instead of $1 increases what they earn on the trip by 33%. in nyc that extra dollar makes much less of a difference to the driver (11%).

at least in nyc, drivers would do ok still without tips.

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The way the system works should be irrelevant as far as tipping goes.