What was your pointless work trip?

[Warks]

Not so much a pointless trip, but a point-less trip.

I was on a rural roadshow in Qld for the week or so up to Tuesday 11 September 2001, due to fly home on AN, our domestic travel contractor, BNE-xMEL-PER on Thursday 13 Sept.

After being in Bundaberg overnight and seeing the 9/11 events unfold, and listening to ever-grimmer sounding news about Ansett while driving to the next stop of Gympie on Wednesday 12 Sept., I asked the organisers to shift my talk from afternoon to morning and got onto AN to bring my flights forward 24h.

Fortunately, I had a separate rental car. Gave my talk and high-tailed it to BNE.

Hit MEL and ended up being well on the way to PER by midnight EST when AN went into administration.

A close-run thing not getting stuck in the east for what could have been some time.

That reminds me of some of the tales of the pilots' strike (1990?). I heard tales of this when I worked my multinational employer in the 90s. The company was on its annual conference at Hamilton Island when the sh** hit the fan. People had to take boats back to the mainland then buses to get home if they couldn't hire a car (and they were very rare). There was a WA contingent who ended up buying a car and driving it all the way back.

 

[Muppet501st]

I was flown to TSV from BNE to be an expert witness.
Landed at TSV airport to be informed, the defendant had pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, so i wasnt needed.
Hung around the airport for the next available flight back home.

 

[GDSman]

3 of us flew SYD-CHC to meet a customer who, through their own doing had incurred a massive bill. They refused to talk to us for more than 5 minutes. Flew back. A few weeks later we lost the customer.

 

[Himeno]

Work isn't going to send me anywhere (besides maybe another nearby store), so I haven't had any sort of long distance work travel or flights, however...

I, along with people in other local stores at the same pay grade, had been summoned to area office for a meeting, only to find out after I had been dropped off that the meeting had been postponed. The people running the meeting had forgotten to tell anyone at my store about the change (a common issue at the time for people in non salaried roles that are salaried in other stores).
Since I don't drive, I then had to work out how to get back to the store. (ended up having someone in the area office, who had used to be the store manager at my store, to give me a lift back)

Another time, the safety team leader from each store had to go to area office for a meeting. Everyone had turned up, except one.
The person from the store in the same building as the area office. We wasted 30 minutes waiting for someone from the store 3 mins walk away to show up.

 

[VPS]

I'd say most of my interstate trips were pointless. I was the only senior manager not based in Sydney and my boss liked me to be there regularly so he could prove who was boss. He also liked to spring last minute trips and I'd say I have a ticket to the theatre tomorrow night and he would then question my loyalty to the company. Yeah right 6am flights from Adelaide and then the 8.45pm home and get home around midnight and expected to function the next day. We had a healthy mutual disdain for each other and I was very happy when I left and apparently he got booted not long after

 

[JohnM]

That reminds me of some of the tales of the pilots' strike (1990?). I heard tales of this when I worked my multinational employer in the 90s. The company was on its annual conference at Hamilton Island when the sh** hit the fan. People had to take boats back to the mainland then buses to get home if they couldn't hire a car (and they were very rare). There was a WA contingent who ended up buying a car and driving it all the way back.

Pilots from that time (1989) will correct people when it is referred to as a pilots' strike. It was the pilots' dispute, as they did not strike: 1989 Australian pilots' dispute - Wikipedia

A mate of mine was a pilot with Australian Airlines at the time. Spent some time unemployed then went overseas to MH for a bit, then joined EK early in its existence, where he stayed until retirement.

It certainly caused some grief for people in WA.

 

[Warks]

I know very little about it as I was living overseas at the time and in those days news from Australia was hard to come by as a backpacker, limited to TNT magazine in London or a visit to Australia House to read the newspapers. The only Australian stories I can recall making the news were the two awful bus crashes on the Pacific Highway.

 

[Quickstatus]

SYD-JFK-SYD
Departed Friday morning
NYC Fri-Sun
Arrived back home Tuesday morning

I realised when I got there the Ultrasound workshop I signed up for was the wrong one - I have been to that one previously.

But was not totally pointless so maybe it does not count
The DSC Ka-Chinged zero to 1200SC to retain WP.
I then went on a mad 2 day shopping in NYC -which was a bit pointless as Mrs QS already had lots of handbags.

 

[p--and--t]

I'd say most of my interstate trips were pointless. I was the only senior manager not based in Sydney and my boss liked me to be there regularly so he could prove who was boss. He also liked to spring last minute trips and I'd say I have a ticket to the theatre tomorrow night and he would then question my loyalty to the company. Yeah right 6am flights from Adelaide and then the 8.45pm home and get home around midnight and expected to function the next day. We had a healthy mutual disdain for each other and I was very happy when I left and apparently he got booted not long after

We must of had similar managers except I was in ADL and he was in MEL

At least half a dozen times in the space of 6 months my secretary would come in early/mid morning and say Melbourne had called and there is a meeting at 2pm they want you to be at, i’ve found a flight for you that leaves in an hour.

On a couple of occasions after meeting it was “you have to stay here until the problem is solved” which resulted in me having to stay a couple days or more so I had to dash down to Target or wherever and buy a couple changes of clothes and tooth brush etc which all got charged to petty cash. Glad when his contract was up and left the company.

 

[VPS]

We must of had similar managers except I was in ADL and he was in MEL

At least half a dozen times in the space of 6 months my secretary would come in early/mid morning and say Melbourne had called and there is a meeting at 2pm they want you to be at, i’ve found a flight for you that leaves in an hour.

On a couple of occasions after meeting it was “you have to stay here until the problem is solved” which resulted in me having to stay a couple days or more so I had to dash down to Target or wherever and buy a couple changes of clothes and tooth brush etc which all got charged to petty cash. Glad when his contract was up and left the company.

I always had spare clothes for the times of can you stay the night.

While I’m having a rant about him. The rule was that you couldn’t put anything in the minibar on expenses. I had one quite neuro diverse IT person who when he travelled never went out of the room and had a Coke and some chips for dinner and that was it. The total was less than $20 usually. I’d get criticised for approving those expenses but I could go out and have a really nice meal and a few glasses of wine and spend $100 and that was approved..

 

[eminere]

I met someone in suites who was similar. She flew from NY to SIN via FRA on SQ A380 only to sign some documents and then flew all the way back on the next flight back.

She said she only did it because she could fly suites

I would too tbh.

 

[CaptJCool]

Most work trips were pointless -twice

As others mentioned Fed govt contract deal said no FF points

Aside that many the meetings that were a waste of space

I remember one in Melbourne 6.30am flight arrive 9am
My boss had an urgent email to attend to do the meet time was rescheduled to 11.30am. 20 minutes later there’s a fire evacuation drill. 36 stories up!

On boy it’s a long way down - crowded stairs - and time
The lady I was with had jelly legs at the bottom so we ducked into the closest coffee shop so a couple of hours went by
2.30 I eventually contact my boss to be told he’s on the way to the airport to catch the 4 o’clock flight to Sydney …

Morning Fog in Canberra pre 2008 was a beauty. The ON GROUND system was improved then so lower visibility didn’t prevent ILS landings. But before that Circling and Orf to Melbourne once but did get to CBR. and another time Sydney some hours later FROM where I flew home as the “meeting” was over

The corker was another Canberra “must attend” meeting. 10am start so another early morning flight. To arrive just by 10. Around 40 people show up. An hour later k, yea tea break only to come back to be told by the organiser the rest of the meeting was cancelled

The new commissioner surveyed staff
The main conclusions
Staff had no idea why EL2 & SES Travelled. Daily allowance was definitely good pocket money ….
APS staff said they travelled because their boss told them to - go figure

COVID put a spammer in those works and finally stopped this travel roundabout. Apparently, not really recovered as staff WFH happily ZOOM IN

 

[Wing Nut]

My most pointless trip: driving to work this morning.
My most rewarding trip: picking Mrs Nut up from work this afternoon.

 

[Seat0B]

Pilots from that time (1989) will correct people when it is referred to as a pilots' strike. It was the pilots' dispute, as they did not strike: 1989 Australian pilots' dispute - Wikipedia

A mate of mine was a pilot with Australian Airlines at the time. Spent some time unemployed then went overseas to MH for a bit, then joined EK early in its existence, where he stayed until retirement.

It certainly caused some grief for people in WA.

I was an RAAF Air Movements officer at that time and we were used as strikebreakers (or should that be dispute breakers) - many civilians flew on C130, Caribou and HS748 aircraft that I loaded. Their bags were on pallets or free loaded on the ramp, and they usually enjoyed watching up close as the forklifts and TALUs buzzed around the apron bringing bags on and off the aircraft. Their meals arrived on a pallet on a forklift in white in-flight ration boxes - some sandwiches, a piece of fresh fruit, piece of cake, maybe some cheese and crackers, a couple of sweet biscuits and a juice box and a bottle of water. Most were pretty happy with these, kids especially. The pax were much less happy when they saw the webbing seats, the dreadful toilet facilities (virtually non-existent for female pax) and not too thrilled with the ambient noise in the "cabin" and the missing in-flight entertainment. I had a couple of last minute refusals to board, which was not as annoying as for civilian flights as we did not unload their bags - they were told they could collect them at the destination - pretty sure that would not cut the mustard today. it was quite the task walking long lines of unruly civvy pax out across an active military tarmac to board up the ramp of a Herc or Caribou (steps for the HS748). We soon learned that fighter jets were either intensely interesting or intensely scary to children, and not a great assistance to us getting them loaded up

It was a tough time - long hours and a niggling sense of doing something a bit un-Australian because no one wants to be a scab - but when you are in the military, you do what you are told. After a little while, some unionists started to picket main roads into the bases where I worked (East Sale and Richmond) mainly to prevent the arrival of aviation fuel to the base. I don;t now how they actually solved that one, but seemed like we had plenty of fuel for the flights which were always called "rescue flights).

 

[Seat0B]

I always had spare clothes for the times of can you stay the night.

While I’m having a rant about him. The rule was that you couldn’t put anything in the minibar on expenses. I had one quite neuro diverse IT person who when he travelled never went out of the room and had a Coke and some chips for dinner and that was it. The total was less than $20 usually. I’d get criticised for approving those expenses but I could go out and have a really nice meal and a few glasses of wine and spend $100 and that was approved..

Oh I had that as a contractor to the Department of Defence. Not allowed to claim reimbursement for mini bar items. Only problem was I was on a flight that was very delayed and arrived in Darwin or somewhere similar well into the night. Was not checked in and settled before 10pm. All the nearby eating places were closed, and as a female on my own in 2000's Darwin, I was not keen to walk around looking for somewhere to eat like a pub. I had a packet of chips, a chocolate bar and an orange juice from the mini bar for less than $20, and as you say, I could have claimed back well over $40 for a meal but they rejected my claim. I was not happy, and they would not budge. It certainly changed my attitude to what I ordered at meal times on future trips.

 

[moa999]

Had a fairly junior colleague flying on QF1 to LHR for basically a day of meetings, and then fly home.
(This was basically their first overseas business trip.. probably weren't absolutely needed but it would have been a valuable learning experience and think my boss saw sending them as a bit of a reward)

Checked in, at the lounge and plane went tech.. delay.. delay, flight cancelled until tomorrow.

Didn't end up going.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I did once have the perfect standby call out. Paxed half way around the world, but when I got there, I wasn't needed. So paxed home.

I am sure it was a good day out. The cost wasnt going but rather the (potential) cost of not going. The risk management gods are alive and well.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I was based in Jakarta, and my boss wanted Kangaroo Steaks, so I flew to Sydney to pick them up. I was an Ansett boy then and never tired of a ride in a 763. It was not so much a pointless trip but rather a pointed trip!

 

[dylarr]

Large company I worked for sent someone to HKG just to collect some promotional collateral (posters and graphic panels) that were delayed in transit in order to support a product launch.

 

[Stewey]

Many years ago, I once was asked to go to HKG to hand deliver important Docs to an important Business Client and I spent all of 5 mins handing the docs over and then 3 days enjoying the sights of HKG before I flew home. All paid for by the Business. The only drawback was I had to fly Y