Business travellers forced to cheap seats

[Reggie]

I so wanted to say something about bringing a girlfriend back to you room with these sort of arrangements... but i will keep it G rated

Really i can't imagine any company would be silly enough to open the can of works and put co-workers in shared rooms (ok shared 2 bed apartments i think is acceptable to a point)

What are the legal departments thinking !

I'll try to keep this G rated. About 10 years ago, I worked for a company where twin share was the norm. I was in CNS with a colleague, anyway to cut the story short he meet someone (female) bought her back to the room :shock: and entertained her ALL night :shock: :shock:. After that I refused to EVER share a room again with him or any other colleague

 

[Febs]

I have often done the coffee shop breakfast anyway.

Same - not because it's cheaper, and certainly not because the coffee's better (most of my travel is in the US, and "coffee shop" = Starbucks) but because it means an extra 15min sleep in the morning.

Edit: On the shared accommodation point - we do that only for training courses, and usually in shared apartments. I have shared a room once (no, twice) with a colleague...we get on well so it wasn't awkward, but I do prefer to at least have my own room. Shared acommodation is always same-sex too.

On our last training course, I was the odd one out so I scored a villa all to myself (at a fantastic health spa in the Hunter).

Cheers,
- Febs.

 

[simongr]

I think what this thread shows is after many years of over spending company's are looking at the dollar. Travelling Y is better than being on the dole.

I think people need toy be conscious of critiquing people travelling in J. It is not simply about the economic rationale of whether J is worth $x for in terms of comfort to the staff. You are putting staff through a fairly generally uncomfortable lifestyle and for some people you need to attract them to jobs with travel.

 

[drron]

I think people need toy be conscious of critiquing people travelling in J. It is not simply about the economic rationale of whether J is worth $x for in terms of comfort to the staff. You are putting staff through a fairly generally uncomfortable lifestyle and for some people you need to attract them to jobs with travel.

Yes but I personally know a top exec of one of the USAs largest companies-he is CL,Conciege key,Senator etc so you can see he does control a lot of travel expenditure-nearly 12 months ago his company downgraded everyone to Y-he was included.He is still there as are all the top execs.

 

[dajop]

but because it means an extra 15min sleep in the morning.

Now ain't that the truth

Strangley enough for a quick/cheap breakfast McDonalds actually works for me - cereal, toast, OJ (not sure about their coffee, as I'm a rare non-coffee drinker).

 

[garyjohn951]

Yes but I personally know a top exec of one of the USAs largest companies-he is CL,Conciege key,Senator etc so you can see he does control a lot of travel expenditure-nearly 12 months ago his company downgraded everyone to Y-he was included.He is still there as are all the top execs.

I know of 3 US offshoots here that have dropped everyone from J to Y+ on their trips to US. It is much cheaper to send them a day earlier.

 

[Cyclogenesis]

Looking at Mel-LAX it makes you wonder if the J product is overpriced given the difference from Y it is almost a factor of 10...

The 8,000AUD easily covers hotels, Travel allowance, staff wages etc... Except for the highest paid...

It is not as bad to Europe..

 

[JohnK]

I think people need toy be conscious of critiquing people travelling in J. It is not simply about the economic rationale of whether J is worth $x for in terms of comfort to the staff. You are putting staff through a fairly generally uncomfortable lifestyle and for some people you need to attract them to jobs with travel.

Not sure whether you can call it critiquing someone's travel preferences but if companies are going to be asking employees to be tightening belts with minimal or no salary increases then the travel budget should be slashed as well.

I do not see anything wrong with being asked to travel in WHY, and have a day off before and after the trip, and spending $1200 on return airfare instead of $6,000 for business class airfare and staying at the Holiday Inn for $150/night instead of the Conrad at $500/night. How could that be construed as being an uncomfortable lifestyle. Most people I know would jump at that opportunity to travel.

Perhaps I am totally wrong and executives should continue to have overinflated salaries, huge travel budgets and don't give the little guys their 3% (read ~%1,500/year) salary increase because the company cannot afford it....

 

[cove]

All I would suggest is that you take a look at the 2 bedroom,2 bathroom apartments.They are tasteful and private and typically cut the city accommodation cost for meetings to $75/$95 per person and there is generally a very good lounge and dining included.
We would not mix sexes but rather we would put staff from different States together.
It has worked for us.

 

[simongr]

I do not see anything wrong with being asked to travel in WHY, and have a day off before and after the trip, and spending $1200 on return airfare instead of $6,000 for business class airfare and staying at the Holiday Inn for $150/night instead of the Conrad at $500/night. How could that be construed as being an uncomfortable lifestyle. Most people I know would jump at that opportunity to travel.

I think that there is a happy medium between the HI and the Conrad which I would be comfortable with.

In terms of days off before and after travel - that is not acceptable to me to be away for additional time due to travel constraints. Again this is a personal thing and as I say - I am happy not to travel int'l if whY is the only option.

 

[Grooba]

In terms of days off before and after travel - that is not acceptable to me to be away for additional time due to travel constraints.

Not an option for me either. If I have to travel during weekends/public holidays/my own time/etc I will always accrue a DIL, which suits me fine. The company I work for couldn't give me time off even if they wanted to as there is too much of the specialised work I do to be done.

 

[albatross710]

Whenever I've gone to company events or organised them I've always had shared accom having never known any different. A few years in the military made me appreciate the luxury of only sharing with one other person in the same room. We didn't even have shower curtains when I first joined up, so a private bathroom was unique.

I would never organise M & F to share. I generally give people a choice with an underlying expectation that people would share.

One tip, if you put the older guys in a room with the young bucks, the young ones are usually coming home from the night clubs at the same time we are rising.

 

[serfty]

Yes but I personally know a top exec of one of the USAs largest companies-he is CL,Conciege key,Senator etc so you can see he does control a lot of travel expenditure-nearly 12 months ago his company downgraded everyone to Y-he was included.He is still there as are all the top execs.

I am willing to bet that even now, this guy does not travel coach in the USA. Either F on coach fares (Y/KUPPS) or simply upgraded each and every time.

 

[dajop]

I am willing to bet that even now, this guy does not travel coach in the USA. Either F on coach fares (Y/KUPPS) or simply upgraded each and every time.

Yes I bet you're right. By contrast if were an Australian exec in Australia, CL or not there's a pretty good chance they would be flying in Y some, if not most of the time.

 

[drron]

I am willing to bet that even now, this guy does not travel coach in the USA. Either F on coach fares (Y/KUPPS) or simply upgraded each and every time.

He doesnt fly domestically in the US-only long haul into and out of the US.I am pretty sure most of the time he is not down the back but I know of at least 1 QF flight as a CL he was.

 

[millesm]

I travel constantly around asia and the policy is always WHY with mid priced hotels. (Crowne Plazza for me). We could fly J to USA and UK but it was at the GM's discretion and usually knocked back unless sales were doing well.

A change of leadership saw lots of J travel before it was cancelled for eveybody which meant nobody travels to the USA or UK unless absolutely necessary.

I shared a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom serviced apartment (5 star quality) in BKK with my boss for 6 months - luckily we got on really well, but none of the other guys wanted to share so their room budget was exactly 1/2 of what ours was and they ended up in some pretty shocking hotels.

 

[JohnK]

I shared a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom serviced apartment (5 star quality) in BKK with my boss for 6 months - luckily we got on really well, but none of the other guys wanted to share so their room budget was exactly 1/2 of what ours was and they ended up in some pretty shocking hotels.

Would it be possible to mention what the budget for the room was per night? Is it around ~AUD100? I do not understand why people need to spend >AUD200/night in Bangkok for a business stay even if the company is paying.

The President Park Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 24 is a very nice hotel for around that type of budget and a stay minimum of 7 days in July reveals 2,069 THB/night for standard room, 2,249 THB/night for deluxe room and 2,609 THB/night for junior suite. Great value for money in a very good, quiet yet not far from restaurants and nightlife, location.

 

[millesm]

Would it be possible to mention what the budget for the room was per night? Is it around ~AUD100? I do not understand why people need to spend >AUD200/night in Bangkok for a business stay even if the company is paying.

The serviced apartment was Siri Sathorn (very near Soi Convent & Saladang BTS).

I don't recall the exact amount but we paid monthly in advance and got a good deal on a large apartment which worked out to be about $80USD per room (4 years ago).

We tried to get the same deal for a project last year but they would not discount their rate at all so the team is at another property under the same management but 2 BTS stops further out and much cheaper.