Customer Asks If It’s ‘Rude’ For An Uber Driver To Not Help With Her Bags At The Airport

Reality star Janelle Pierzina recently took an Uber to the airport and was dismayed when her driver didn’t help her with her luggage. So she took to X to ask others if they thought it was something a driver should be prepared to lend a hand with.

While services like Uber are pretty much universal now, it seems like everyone has different ideas of what exactly those services should entail. For some people, being able to get from one place to another is plenty. Pierzina thought her Uber driver should have done a little more for her, though.

Technically, an Uber driver is just that — a driver. That doesn’t stop some people from thinking they should go above and beyond with their service. 

Janelle Pierzina thought her driver should have helped with her bags because of her gender.

Reality star and real estate agent Janelle Pierzina, known for her stints on "Big Brother" and most recently "The Traitors," asked fellow X users if there was something wrong with her Uber driver’s behavior. “If I order an Uber to or from the airport, I expect the driver to help me with my luggage,” she said. “If he just sits in his seat and pops the trunk for me … and makes me do all the work should I tip him 20 percent? I feel it’s rude for a man not to help a woman with her luggage. [What would you do]?”

Her question received some split responses. One user said, “Maybe it’s a safety risk for him to get out of the car with a stranger? He’s not a chauffeur. He’s an Uber driver. Big difference.” Others backed Pierzina up, with comments like, “I’d reduce the tip. If he doesn’t feel like going above and beyond, I don’t feel like being generous.”

One person pointed out that Pierzina might want to consider using Uber Black for trips to the airport. According to Uber’s website, this is meant for people “looking for lavish comfort and quality.” They also confirmed, “You can alert your driver if you’d like help with your luggage, whether you’re unloading your suitcases at the airport or packing them up at the hotel.”

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It seems like there are a lot of questions about whether Uber drivers should help with luggage, but they aren’t required to.

Based on this information regarding Uber Black, it would seem that it is indeed not a requirement for most Uber drivers to help their passengers with luggage. This is an issue that has been discussed repeatedly online.

Several months ago, one Redditor shared that they received “no luggage help” from their Uber driver, so they didn’t tip. A commenter simply responded, “Uber drivers are not obligated to help you with your luggage … You’re a big girl, you can handle it.”

Meanwhile, on the Uber People forum, a driver shared, “Lady gave me a low rating and a bad comment because I didn’t help her [with] putting her bags in and out of trunk. Why? It’s not my obligation!”

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Pierzina's argument seems a bit like entitled behavior.

As for Pierzina’s assertion that her Uber driver should have helped with her luggage because he was a man and she was a woman, that’s a pretty old-fashioned take. Perhaps it’s something a woman would expect from her significant other, but thinking that same courtesy will extend to a complete stranger is presumptuous. We live in an age when women are independent, after all.

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Really, it sounds more like she may be suffering from a bit of a sense of entitlement. Clinical psychologist Arlin Cuncic, MA, explained, “Demanding special treatment, expecting other people [to do] things for them, not showing gratitude, and a need for constant admiration are a few characteristics of people with a sense of entitlement.”

It’s not like expecting your Uber driver to help you with your luggage is the worst infraction you could make, but it does kind of call into question what exactly you expect from other people. It’s always better to err on the side of humility and not expect anyone to do anything special for you. That’s not rude; it’s just the way the world works.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.