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100% - I can’t recall working anywhere where the expense policy was that well defined, usually it was “keep it reasonable” or “don’t raise eyebrows” (obviously
by cascom 8y ago
100% - I can’t recall working anywhere where the expense policy was that well defined, usually it was “keep it reasonable” or “don’t raise eyebrows” (obviously not including fraud)
Additionally, in corporate America there used to be somewhat of an understood agreement that when traveling for work (and being away from your family, not getting paid for a 24hr day, etc) that that burden would be partially be made up for by nice hotels, meals, etc.
- ghaff 8y agoIt varies by company and department but, yeah, that's been pretty much the norm everywhere I've worked. There do tend to be specific policies related to class of airfare as it's a major part of travel expense and the difference between economy and business can easily be 5x. ADDED: Class of airfare is a tough one because the delta $$ are so much most of the time. Business class travel does become something of a perk for people above a certain level. It's true those people do tend to travel more and are more tightly scheduled but it's a loose correlation. But for hotels and meals, it's always been pretty much common sense for me. No one expects me to stay in Fleabag Motel but eyebrows would doubtless be raised if I made a habit of staying at a $1,000 per night high-end hotel unless there were special circumstances such as an event at an isolated location. (Or it was in Silicon Valley--saw a Marriott Courtyard going for $1100/night the other week :-))
- CaptainZapp 8y agoBusiness class travel does become something of a perk for people above a certain level The companies I worked for it was usually depending on the travel time. Currently we get to fly in business for flights > 3 hours (which I think is generous). Managing directors probably get to fly first class on such flights, though
- jandrese 8y agoMy company has a list from somewhere of all of the cities around the world and what you should spend for a hotel in that city. I'm sure it's mostly a regional thing. If you go over you have to provide a reason or pay for the difference out of pocket. Valid reasons include things like "local price inflation due to event in town" and "staying at hotel attached to conference we are attending". For the latter the company can save a lot of money on cab fare or car rental/parking so it's pretty easy to get. Seat upgrades on planes are pretty hard to come by these days. The only time I've managed it is when literally all of the flights into a city were booked and the only seats left were first class. Also, weirdly the price delta on those first class seats were way lower than I expected, only a couple hundred bucks.
- ghaff 8y ago>Seat upgrades on planes are pretty hard to come by these days. Yeah, I have pretty good status on United (Platinum) and I almost never get an upgrade unless I'm flying at some off-hour over the weekend these days. I was barely even able to use a couple of free upgrade certificates this year and I've even tried to do a miles + cash upgrade for a couple international flights and nothing's been available. Most flights are near capacity these days.
- lostapathy 8y agoOdds are this isn't "your company's" list - but the IRS's list of high-cost cities. Most people don't realize it but all these policies are driven by the tax code and what the IRS allows just copies through to company policy.
- jandrese 8y agoYeah, I'm pretty sure they didn't compile it themselves.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]