Bombshell (for me) - New travel policy

[JohnM]

Interesting thread. Oh for the good old days of the free-for-all .

I think Emily Howard and JohnK nailed it.

However, I'm eternally thankful that I'm now a retired SFSC who can travel J or above to his heart's content and get SCs and FF points without interference by twits who don't travel but think they can conjure up wondrous 'travel policies' - and in the process not recognise they disengage people from giving that bit extra.

Idea for new signature: I make my own travel policy :mrgreen:.

 

[froggerADL]

Interesting thread. Oh for the good old days of the free-for-all .

I think Emily Howard and JohnK nailed it.

However, I'm eternally thankful that I'm now a retired SFSC who can travel J or above to his heart's content and get SCs and FF points without interference by twits who don't travel but think they can conjure up wondrous 'travel policies' - and in the process not recognise they disengage people from giving that bit extra.

Idea for new signature: I make my own travel policy :mrgreen:.

If only these "twits" understood the concept of "discretionary effort" they might actually enhance their organisations profitability.

My organisation removed FF points for work travel a couple of years ago. We now get paid for travel time, thanks to our Union, and that is worth a lot more than a few points to me, but at a greater cost to the boss.

 

[turtlemichael]

To me it is relatively simple. Consider your total package, whether you want to work for the company, whether you enjoy doing the work, whether you have to have that job. Also consider your family situation, your desire to travel etc. If all the stars align then stay where you are. If not, seek to move on. One of the things I would take into account is whether the employer recognises the sacrifices an employee makes by travelling at all hours, on short notice and is often away from family. Do they apprecate that you need to be in good condition when you get to the distant location. Anyway, that is my theory.

 

[Mal Ware]

Probably start getting double SC emails now too, so the company will earn double instead of the OP.

 

[amaroo]

Commiserations to the OP.

Wonder if all the non-essential travel will simply fall of a cliff? IME people love to visit sites/conferences/trade shows on the other side of the country or even better, another country. However try & get them to drive across town.......most can't be bothered.

 

[SeatBackForward]

To me it is relatively simple. Consider your total package, whether you want to work for the company, whether you enjoy doing the work, whether you have to have that job. Also consider your family situation, your desire to travel etc. If all the stars align then stay where you are. If not, seek to move on. One of the things I would take into account is whether the employer recognises the sacrifices an employee makes by travelling at all hours, on short notice and is often away from family. Do they apprecate that you need to be in good condition when you get to the distant location. Anyway, that is my theory.

Yes this is effectively what I've been mulling over. Obviously saying, I can only fly after 9am and before 5pm makes it a little difficult to actualyl do any work - although this would definitely hammer home a message. The other option I've considered saying is that if I do get the 6am flight out and the 5:30 return flight on a typical SYD-MEL/BNE day trip, thats effectively 3 or 4 more hours I've "worked" without any return, and might add its mostly non-productive time too. A couple of these and hello "work from home" day where you know, you just check emails and answer the phone occassionally.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Commiserations to the OP.

Wonder if all the non-essential travel will simply fall of a cliff? IME people love to visit sites/conferences/trade shows on the other side of the country or even better, another country. However try & get them to drive across town.......most can't be bothered.

Interestingly enough, my role is going to develop into one where I will need to stay abreast of global best practice, so this could very well mean attending conferences and events O/S.
Just as my career is developing into one with increased responsibilities, and the need for increased presence across Aus and our O/S locations, they do this...perhaps its just sour grapes on my part?

 

[pauly7]

A tough pill to swallow for the OP and I empathize absolutely.

Travel is an integral part of my role and luckily I am in the position to able to dictate conditions of my employment with my employers which are contract based. This includes not just my choice of carrier and class over a certain amount of duration but also hotels that are in proximity to my preferred gym

On a permanent employment basis yes it is harder but I've always found loop holes - your policy seems quite draconian and tight though!

 

[simongr]

Often you find the people doing the least travel set the policy... The person that negotiates our hotel agreements never stays in a hotel...

 

[SeatBackForward]

Often you find the people doing the least travel set the policy... The person that negotiates our hotel agreements never stays in a hotel...

Agreed, the Team I work in travel regularly, the other guys are away interntionally at least once a month and doemstically every month too. I myself tend to do domestic a couple of times a month, and interntional 2 or 3 times a year (and as noted above, is going to grow). Event heir initial comments when the travel policy was written was that its clearly been written by someone who doesnt frequentyl travel, and is aimed at those in the company who might do one or two trips a year..

 

[Barondupon]

I would change jobs over that policy.

In my humble experience these policies are set by petty bean counters who will never travel and then signed off by senior execs who are exempt from the rules (amazing how many companies have International Y for all except senior execs).

My policy is that I will fly J for anything over 8 hours and if I am commuting regularly will not do more than 2 nights away from home each week. These are non-negotiables but then again I have passed my Masters of the Universe phase and into my Grumpy Old Man phase.

 

[nlagalle]

Finally, let's face the double standard: had the OP revealed that they worked for the government, most of us would hands down agree that FF points and SCs are not deserved, because we all pretty much agree that the government is most ineffective with spending money (a.k.a. "our tax dollars") and thus should not afford any additional perks because that's being dishonest to the general populace.

Actually i think its wrong government employees miss out on FF points (they still get SC's). The whole point of that argument was MP's not using their stockpile of points for "holidays", but using taxpayer dollars for "study trips". now you can argue whether points flights etc were available or not, but to Joe public it looks like they are rorting the system.

 

[orangehenry]

Well if I were QF WP I'm pretty certain I would fly forward, but I doubt I can with a mere red card. I haven't had success in the past.
And the only way a DJ Gold won't get an earlier flight is if it was absolutely full.

Bronze here and have flown forward several times (although generally it has been out of peak travel times).

 

[QF1]

If your trips are international, the loop holes plenty.

I was in similar situation a few years ago and when the directive came, I just shifted all my trips to Garuda...it was the cheapest option...the only thing I reminded them was that I had to fly through Jakarta which had travel restrictions + Garuda etc. Delays/flight cancellations/ missed appointments/ extra baggage charges etc... made the new policy a not so fantastic cost cutting measure. The policy was reversed within a few months and now I am PPS club member thanks to my fantastic job.

 

[Platinum A332]

I am probably not in the best position to comment (given my young age just about to finish Uni), but I think that definitely at a junior level (where I will be starting soon) it should be a decent airline in Y and Y only (as much as it pains me to say it, but I am realistic). This is fair in my opinion, as junior employees will probably travel for longer trips overseas and have greater time to adjust at either end.

However, I know people (family and otherwise) at a more senior level across different who basically have to hit the ground running after overnight flights. Thankfully, most have a J policy overseas and Y policy domestically/trans-tasman. I think this is only fair given such employees tend to be travelling on much shorter and urgent trips. I truly feel sorry for those who have a Y only policy (even at high Management level!) on flights as far as London.

I think it is extraordinarily unfair if say you are expected to fly for 8+ hours to arrive at 6am for a meeting, and to do this in Y. If you are that important to fly overseas for meetings, the company should at least respect you enough to fly J (or at the very least Y+). If you are not that important, you should be on the other end of an e-mail or telephone conferencing without the need to travel. When employees travel long-haul, it usually adds tens of hours to their usual working week not to mention time away from their home, family and friends and spending nights sleeping on airplanes. It pains me to see many companies treating employees in travel policies as commodities rather than humans, but I guess that's a sign of the economic times.

 

[SeatBackForward]

I am probably not in the best position to comment (given my young age just about to finish Uni), but I think that definitely at a junior level (where I will be starting soon) it should be a decent airline in Y and Y only (as much as it pains me to say it, but I am realistic). This is fair in my opinion, as junior employees will probably travel for longer trips overseas and have greater time to adjust at either end.

However, I know people (family and otherwise) at a more senior level across different who basically have to hit the ground running after overnight flights. Thankfully, most have a J policy overseas and Y policy domestically/trans-tasman. I think this is only fair given such employees tend to be travelling on much shorter and urgent trips. I truly feel sorry for those who have a Y only policy (even at high Management level!) on flights as far as London.

I think it is extraordinarily unfair if say you are expected to fly for 8+ hours to arrive at 6am for a meeting, and to do this in Y. If you are that important to fly overseas for meetings, the company should at least respect you enough to fly J (or at the very least Y+). If you are not that important, you should be on the other end of an e-mail or telephone conferencing without the need to travel. When employees travel long-haul, it usually adds tens of hours to their usual working week not to mention time away from their home, family and friends and spending nights sleeping on airplanes. It pains me to see many companies treating employees in travel policies as commodities rather than humans, but I guess that's a sign of the economic times.

I didn't add that Intl over 6hrs is still in Business, which makes the whole no-SC's and no-FF's even more bizarre..

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I didn't add that Intl over 6hrs is still in Business, which makes the whole no-SC's and no-FF's even more bizarre..

If you found a cheaper J class fare out there (that would earn points & SC) would you be allowed to travel on that instead of your 'special' non points/SC earning company fare?

 

[Mwenenzi]

If you found a cheaper J class fare out there (that would earn points & SC) would you be allowed to travel on that instead of your 'special' non points/SC earning company fare?

At times corporate fares have a volume based end of year rebate, so the price the passenger sees is not the final cost to the company

 

[oz_mark]

At times corporate fares have a volume based end of year rebate, so the price the passenger sees is not the final cost to the company

Although if it is a project expense, it is often the price the project pays. Rebates seem to disappear in the accounts....

Sent from my GT-I9300T using AustFreqFly

 

[Mwenenzi]

Although if it is a project expense, it is often the price the project pays. Rebates seem to disappear in the accounts....

As someone who does project work, yes the bean counters get the credit / rebates/ bonus.
I tend to book & pay for my own business travel