3 ms·

Off topic but...Last year I started work on the other side of the world at a large bank. The reimbursement policy clearly stated that for any flights longer tha

by latch 15y ago

Off topic but...Last year I started work on the other side of the world at a large bank. The reimbursement policy clearly stated that for any flights longer than X hours (might have been 5), business class HAD to be taken and any non business class WOULD NOT be reimbursed even if it ended up to be less expensive.

ams6110 15y ago
Maybe they realize that flying these days is a basically awful experience, and a 5 hour flight means more like 8 hours door-to-door so why not do a little to make it a bit more tolerable.
- mathattack 15y ago
  It's actually that they don't want people to lose a day of effectiveness to save money. Some quick math - for an investment bank, average wages can be as much as $400K/year. Divide that by 200 days, and you have someone getting paid $2,000/day. If flying coach kills their productivity for a day, saving $1,000 doesn't amount to much. At the senior levels, this is much more true. Of course having one policy for execs and another for everyone else has many negative consequences.
  - jacques_chester 15y ago
    Some companies also take the view that cramming folk who fly 20+ hours a month into economy is a health risk. (Nobody's told this to FIFO miners, however).
    - jmacd 15y ago
      Yeah, companies who hire consulting firms also get worried about this. Jr consultants on planes 3 or 4x a week and when you get them at your office they are unhealthy and not as effective as they should be. Smart clients force the firm to fly the consultants less in most cases (the economics of paying for biz class aren't as attractive or necessarily the point)
KirkWylie 15y ago
I've worked at several financial institutions. This could actually be based on their agreed negotiated rates with preferred airline(s). If they booked less than the negotiated rate of service it would be in violation of their contract with the airline(s). That's how it was at one previous employer. You had to fly a particular class on certain durations, and that policy was baked into the contract with the preferred airline, as it was the basis for the negotiated discount.

by latch 15y ago

ams6110 15y ago

Maybe they realize that flying these days is a basically awful experience, and a 5 hour flight means more like 8 hours door-to-door so why not do a little to make it a bit more tolerable.

mathattack 15y ago
It's actually that they don't want people to lose a day of effectiveness to save money. Some quick math - for an investment bank, average wages can be as much as $400K/year. Divide that by 200 days, and you have someone getting paid $2,000/day. If flying coach kills their productivity for a day, saving $1,000 doesn't amount to much. At the senior levels, this is much more true. Of course having one policy for execs and another for everyone else has many negative consequences.
- jacques_chester 15y ago
  Some companies also take the view that cramming folk who fly 20+ hours a month into economy is a health risk. (Nobody's told this to FIFO miners, however).
  - jmacd 15y ago
    Yeah, companies who hire consulting firms also get worried about this. Jr consultants on planes 3 or 4x a week and when you get them at your office they are unhealthy and not as effective as they should be. Smart clients force the firm to fly the consultants less in most cases (the economics of paying for biz class aren't as attractive or necessarily the point)

KirkWylie 15y ago

I've worked at several financial institutions. This could actually be based on their agreed negotiated rates with preferred airline(s). If they booked less than the negotiated rate of service it would be in violation of their contract with the airline(s). That's how it was at one previous employer. You had to fly a particular class on certain durations, and that policy was baked into the contract with the preferred airline, as it was the basis for the negotiated discount.