My Experience Working as a Valet Driver

What is it like to be a Valet Parking Attendant?

One of the jobs I picked up when I was out of college was being a Valet Parking Attendant. I friend of mine told me he makes 200 dollars a night in tips working as Valet at an expensive hotel on the Las Vegas strip. This sounded great to me so I applied. Here are a couple of interesting things I learning while being a Valet Driver. 

Is being a Valet hard?

It depends on the location you are working at. Some are slow where I’ve seen other Valet Parking Attendants listen to music, watch Netflix, and do homework while they wait around for someone to pull up. Other locations have heavy traffic, where you are always on your feet. Driving really expensive cars can also be stressful if you let it. You are expected to work both fast and safe. 

Do you have to be a good driver to be a Valet?

The company that hired me only looked at your 3-year driving record to see if you had no accidents that were your fault. I also saw teenagers who just got their license working as a Valet as well. 

Do Valet Drivers receive training on how to drive a stick shift? 

I asked this when I got hired and the answer I got was, “Stick shift cars are rare, if one pulls up, just let another Valet who knows how to drive stick shift take the car.” This was fine until my first shift. I showed up to this fancy high-end condo and starting talking to the only other Valet that was there. To my surprise, he says, “Great! You’re here, I can go now,” Clocks out and leaves… so there I was my first shift, expensive condo, and alone. I COULD NOT DRIVE STICK SHIFT. How embarrassing would it be if a nice car pulled up that was a stick shift? There were no other Valet workers I could rely on. Fortunately, there were no stick shift cars that evening. So the company I worked for didn’t train me or require it, though I feel like they should. 

What happens if a Valet crashes a car?

You still go through the insurance company and are encouraged to take lots of photos to document the event. The company I worked for would be responsible for the damage. However, at most, they would deduct up to 1,500 dollars from your pay. You would pay this off little by little from your paycheck. 

Does a Valet make good money?

Keep in mind you get paid the bare minimum wage because they expect you to earn all your money from tips. From my experience working at a high-end condo location, the most I ever made was 60 dollars in tips working 6 hours. 50 dollars of that money came from working the last hour when a party that was happening at the condo ended and lots of people were leaving. The pay can fluctuate because no one is really required to tip. However, I hear that if you end up working a busy location like a hotel on the Las Vegas strip you have the potential to make between 100 to 200 dollars a night in tips for 8 hours of work. 

Tips on how to make more tips! 

There are some tricky techniques I picked up on how to make more tips as a Valet driver.

• Social skills. Smile, remember names and treat the drivers as the most important people in the world. I highly recommend reading How to Win Friends & Influence People so you can become an expert at this.  
• Run! Or at least around the corner. That way the driver sees that you actually working hard to get their car quickly. 
• Make sure there is a hand to hand exchange. What this means is to make sure there is an opportunity for someone to tip you. Most cars have a wireless key fob nowadays. Handing them over the key fob gives them an opportunity to hand you a tip. If no key fob, then hold the door open for them. This gives them an opportunity to pass by you closely letting that exchange happen. If you miss these moments you probably aren’t getting tipped. 
• Park the nice cars closer. Most Valet locations have spots where you can leave cars near the front. Save those spots for expensive cars! The owner of those cars will usually tip you well for parking their car so close. It’s also a great encouragement for other drivers to want to tip more because they feel like they are parking with such “high class” cars.

Is being a Valet Parking Attendant a good Job?

The job can be both fun and stressful at times depending on the number of cars and people coming. You are encouraged to be both fast and safe. The pay isn’t always steady. If you are gonna worry about taking responsibility for expensive cars, it might not be the job for you. However, my co-workers told me it is definitely worth it when you see that Ferrari or Lamborghini pulling up. So if you are into fancy cars, you’ll have a lot of fun.