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Old 04-26-2013, 09:44 AM   #21
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I am curious as to why you would spend differently then you would if it was your own money? I understand you are not the only one who thinks like this, but I never understood why.

I was not one who traveled much... but knew a few who did... one gal who traveled EVERY WEEK told me... I am doing work for the company... I am more valuable being at a client than trying to save a few dollars here and there....


I will also give an example where that does not work... when I worked for mega... I spent some time in London... I talked to the person who was in charge of travel and there was a running feud with some high paid employees... they would take the Concord when flying to NY... it was very expensive way to travel... I said something about making them travel the way they would if it were their own money.... the guy said 'that is the problem, they take the Concord when they pay for it themselves'....
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Old 04-26-2013, 10:04 AM   #22
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I am curious as to why you would spend differently then you would if it was your own money? I understand you are not the only one who thinks like this, but I never understood why.
I didn't go overboard either, and even stayed at a Motel 6 in San Jose once. Generally though, I felt like I wasn't traveling by choice, and also was there to work so I should not overly stress myself with a longer commute from a cheaper hotel, or an inconvenient flight. On a vacation I could take an easier day or cut it short, but not on a business trip. Plus sometimes it was a matter of not having time to research hotels and areas so I'd just go with what looked the best/safest/easiest.
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Old 04-26-2013, 10:51 AM   #23
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My favorite MegaCorp rule is that one that says the most Senior person at a meal needs to pick up the check. I think I am the only one that even tries to follow that rule :-) I feel bad for the folks that spend so much time on these CYA rules that most employees and managers ignore to a great extent.
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Old 04-26-2013, 10:57 AM   #24
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My favorite MegaCorp rule is that one that says the most Senior person at a meal needs to pick up the check. I think I am the only one that even tries to follow that rule :-) I feel bad for the folks that spend so much time on these CYA rules that most employees and managers ignore to a great extent.
Same here, it's about those corp. AMEX reward points, which can add up.
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Old 04-26-2013, 11:14 AM   #25
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Ours used to be short and sweet, but now reads like the ones above. I don't travel anymore, found a job that doesn't need it.

And I have seen abuse, and it is ugly. I understand some of the policies.

And forget about forgiveness. Our controllers don't forgive. The way they have it set up is we must use a card in our name. The controllers only release money for accepted expenses. If you screw up, you pay.

FINALLY, we had a guy in our area last week DIE at 51 y.o. He traveled 1/2 way around the world in coach (as required). Apparently got a DVT and died on his hotel room bed first night. Good job Megacorp, forcing coach on people on 14 hour flights.
Yikes. Scary story.
Of course, our simple policy would allow VP's and higher to fly business on trips exceeding 5 hours. This includes connecting flights of shorter duration assuming same day. Directors can also fly business class for such trips after they have exceeded 50,000 miles in one calendar year. Everyone else is coach regardless. But remember you must book all original flights and changes through the corporate travel group. And if trip duration exceeds 5 days you must arrange a car for airport pickup/dropoff otherwise you must park at infield parking. And, and, and............

It's enough to give anyone a DVT.

Btw, I put this in the life after FIRE forum because the 2 hour meeting I had sat through that unveiled the spiffy new travel policy made me long for life after FIRE.
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Old 04-26-2013, 01:12 PM   #26
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FINALLY, we had a guy in our area last week DIE at 51 y.o. He traveled 1/2 way around the world in coach (as required). Apparently got a DVT and died on his hotel room bed first night. Good job Megacorp, forcing coach on people on 14 hour flights.
Wow, I wonder if the millions of other folks who have flown coach on very long flights all over the world are OK? I did dozens of 8-9 hours flights in coach while I was working, I guess I was very lucky, I didn't know it was so clearly hazardous.
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Old 04-26-2013, 01:27 PM   #27
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Wow, I wonder if the millions of other folks who have flown coach on very long flights all over the world are OK? I did dozens of 8-9 hours flights in coach while I was working, I guess I was very lucky, I didn't know it was so clearly hazardous.
I'm sure the other millions are just fine. But I doubt the 51 YO dead guy much cares.
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Old 04-26-2013, 01:30 PM   #28
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I guess I'm not too normal here but I have no problem with the corp expense policies. I get a company vehicle for which I pay a small amount each payday for personal use. I make sure I get the max personal use and the reporting system is like playing a game. Last year I took a road vacation at the end of the year and left only $2 on the table from my personal use.
Travelling over 200 nights a year for the last 33 years has been quite an experience. Policies have changed and reporting is actually pretty nice now. It's all web based and reconciled with a company credit card. Takes all of about 15 min per week. Usually about 6 am Saturday morning. - Looks like I'm too busy to get this done during the week -
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Old 04-26-2013, 02:03 PM   #29
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There are a few things that will cure me of my current OMY syndrome:
- A decent buy out offer
- A demand to travel 1/2 way around the world

I'm done if they force the long travel.

The bad thing is they used to allow business class for long trips. Somewhere in all this cost cutting and policy making, they changed things. They used to also allow a decompression day ahead on "around the world" trips. No more, they want you to hit it running.

That's all just too darn hard on the body for old guys. We are not the army. Things like this help me respect you retired military folks. And one of the many reasons I don't begrudge your pension benefits. Let's hope our govt. doesn't goof that up.
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Old 04-26-2013, 02:45 PM   #30
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My favorite MegaCorp rule is that one that says the most Senior person at a meal needs to pick up the check. I think I am the only one that even tries to follow that rule :-) I feel bad for the folks that spend so much time on these CYA rules that most employees and managers ignore to a great extent.
Isn't that age discrimination?

(OK, I know what you mean by senior person but in "many cases" you might not know who is the highest level person especially in mixed group/team luncheons since we didn't wear stripes or bars or stars.)
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Old 04-26-2013, 02:53 PM   #31
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Isn't that age discrimination?

(OK, I know what you mean by senior person but in "many cases" you might not know who is the highest level person especially in mixed group/team luncheons since we didn't wear strips or bars or stars.)
Well, we have a rule for that as well. How to determine the most senior person at the dining table:

Hang on, while I'm thumb through the handy dandy policy........

Ok. According to page 28, section C, subsection A2, it says.....see Pub 597 for further information on how to determine seniority. Oh hell. I'll just go get some room service. Oops, not without checking the rule book.
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Old 04-26-2013, 03:01 PM   #32
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My favorite MegaCorp rule is that one that says the most Senior person at a meal needs to pick up the check. I think I am the only one that even tries to follow that rule :-)
I liked that policy too. Before the policy was pointed out to my boss, he'd always instruct me to pick up tabs and submit an expense report when we were traveling together. Of course, he was the one who approved that same expense report. About the third time I was called in to see the finance guy about "excessive entertainment charges," I mentioned that my boss was there and did all the ordering while instructing me to pick up the tab. The finance guy must have spoken to my boss, because it never happened again.

This all did, unfortunately, leave me with some fairly inappropriate expense reports filed under my name. Not sure if the finance guy pulled those and noted the circumstances or if they just aged away, but I never heard anything further about them.

Without the policy, I'm sure my big-spending boss would have just kept it up until the sh*t hit the fan.......

So, that's the logic behind the policy. Having the senior ranking person at the event sign the bill and submit the expense report eliminates the hanky panky of that same senior ranking person having a subordinate pick up the tab, submit the expense report and then approving that same expense report back at the office.
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Old 04-26-2013, 03:40 PM   #33
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This thread reminds me of the time on Seinfeld where George had sex with the cleaning woman on his desk. When called on the carpet, he said... "Was that wrong? I'm gonna have to plead ignorance on this. If I had KNOWN it was wrong...."

He still got fired. Not FIRED

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Old 04-26-2013, 03:57 PM   #34
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This thread reminds me of the time on Seinfeld where George had sex with the cleaning woman on his desk. When called on the carpet, he said... "Was that wrong? I'm gonna have to plead ignorance on this. If I had KNOWN it was wrong...."

He still got fired. Not FIRED

Awesome. Always love a good Seinfeld reference. I believe that was the cashmere episode.
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Old 04-26-2013, 04:36 PM   #35
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Actual clip from a little fly-by-night software company's handbook (name changed):

"
The ability to bring your dog to work is a unique part of El Diablo Systems culture. You must have approval from the President. El Diablo Systems has outlined the following rules that we request all dog owners abide by:
1. Dogs should stay with their owner or designated dog sitter at all times and should preferably remain in the employee’s office.
2. Dogs must be kept at home if she/he is infested with fleas, ticks or worms.
3. Dogs are not allowed in restrooms or eating facilities.
4. Owners are responsible for cleaning up after any accident that their dog may have. This includes carpet sterilization if necessary.
5. If a dog has three accidents inside the building, it will have to stay at home until the owner can prove the dog has been properly housebroken.
6. Owners are also responsible for cleaning up after their dogs outside of buildings. Please keep a supply of plastic “doggie bags” on hand for this purpose. Dispose of droppings in external garbage cans and not in your office.
7. Owners have complete responsibility for feeding, watering, walking, and cleaning up after their pets. This responsibility may not be required of lower level employees or administrative assistants.
8. Any incident of aggressive behavior by a dog to another dog or a human is unacceptable and the offending dog may not return to work. For this reason, we encourage all dogs brought to work to be spayed or neutered.
9. Loud, repetitive barking will not be tolerated.
10. Please respect any employee who is allergic to dogs. If you share an office or workspace with an allergic employee, please do not bring your dog to work.
With your cooperation, we can continue to enjoy the presence of pets at El Diablo Systems.
"

Actually the owner's lawyer told him he needed an employee handbook and he downloaded this one from the net to save a few bucks. Before the handbook he was making up rules whenever he needed one, and changed them whenever he wanted to. The dog thing was later edited out. There may have been one employee that had ticks or worms. . . . and we had some that barked. Aggressive behavior by a dog was prohibited, but some of the humans were permitted to be aggressive.
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Old 04-26-2013, 04:40 PM   #36
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all dogs brought to work to be spayed or neutered.
.
This isn't the same place that required all employees to have a vasectomy or tubal litigation in support of the owners' feelings regarding procreation, is it? You know, the one where the 64 year old female employee went to court saying she did not want or need birth control.......
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Old 04-26-2013, 08:36 PM   #37
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A few tears ago I had to sit through a 2-hour meeting on how to differentiate between recording "work" miles travelled in the company car versus "personal" miles travelled. I promised myself at the time to make sure the answer was ALWAYS "no personal miles". (Used "personal" miles one time only. Learned my lesson).
I learned a similar "lesson" when I booked a hotel room with a hotel we didn't have a government contract with. It was less expensive and it was going on my credit card so it wasn't a billing issue. I got royally chewed and I never made that mistake again. My boss actually said, "don't try to save the state money, that is not our job". That was several years ago and I traveled 75-85% of the time but spent at least 25-30% of my time making travel arrangements; completing complex travel related forms, and similar tasks. It was a huge waste of resources for them to pay me to spend my time on the travel management tasks instead of what I was hired to do and skilled at.
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Old 04-26-2013, 08:52 PM   #38
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I am curious as to why you would spend differently then you would if it was your own money? I understand you are not the only one who thinks like this, but I never understood why.
Because my incentives are not aligned with my employer's and I'm simply trying to do what's in my best economic interest.

For example: Should I take a flight that gets me back home at 7pm (so I can still enjoy the evening with my wife) or should I take a cheaper flight that gets back into my home airport at 10pm but costs the company $300 less?

If I was traveling for personal fun, I would probably take the cheaper flight because (1) I directly pocket the difference and (2) I have more time to enjoy myself at my travel destination. But when I'm traveling for work taking the cheaper flight doesn't give me a bigger bonus and hanging around at the office/hotel/airport for an extra three hours isn't enjoyable either.

Definitely agree with RunningBum:

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Generally though, I felt like I wasn't traveling by choice, and also was there to work so I should not overly stress myself with a longer commute from a cheaper hotel, or an inconvenient flight.
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Old 04-27-2013, 12:33 PM   #39
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This thread makes me feel better about the $12k business class ticket to Europe my megacorp just bought me.
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Old 04-27-2013, 01:11 PM   #40
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My former employer put out a pets at work policy because an employee (at Corp) just started bringing her dog to work because 'there was no policy against it.' She never asked and her manager asked Corp what he should do (vs making a decision and acting himself like the old days?) other employees were almost immediately complaining and/or asking ifmthey could bring their pets too. So in a matter of a week or two, voila, we had a 1-page pet policy that basically said 'no pets at work...'
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