Why is a Self Funded Flight Different?

[tuapekastar]

Young Hancock (mischief-maker extraordinaire ),

Referring just to your OP, and not all the other guff since I have no hope of recalling it all, I certainly acknowledge that some people, in threads where annual travel stats are being recounted, will note that x% is self-funded. I have been known to do it myself on occasion.

I can only speak with certainty for myself, but I suspect it applies to many, that any mention of self funding is not any sort of put-down of business funded travellers. Of course, there will be some who do intend it that way - always the case. In my case, on the occasions I mention it I do so purely as information - no bias or snootiness or anything else attached. I do think SFFs )) in many cases appreciate the journey more, and any inconvenience or stuff-up hurts more, as the 'hurt' is felt more keenly due to the $$$ coming out of their own skyrocket. Obviously the business funded flyer in the same situation is going to feel the same pain in all other ways but not necessarily financially.

I have no issues/jealousy re business-funded flyers. Good luck to them and what they get out of it. I will admit to occasionally thinking gee it would be nice if someone else was paying for my status, but I totally get that for many (most?) frequent business flyers it is not some glamorous lifestyle, but rather a wearing grind that keeps them away from their families way too much, and they are fully entitled to the benefits they get.

I would note this however. I have seen threads where people have said something along the lines of "I'm self-funded and I'm nnn SCs short of <insert status level>, should I spend $nnn going for that level?" Among the replies I have seen the occasional one from people I'm fairly sure are WP or P1 from wholly or almost wholly business funded travel along the lines of "no, why on earth would anyone do something as silly as that". I cannot think how to word this well, but maybe it is like someone who has been gifted a mansion telling someone who may be thinking of buying one "don't be silly, you can keep living in your shack". Someone who has something they did not 'earn' (at least not in $$$ terms) telling someone else they should not aspire to it, because it will cost them money. That's all very clumsily put I know but I think (hope) you get the idea.

So really, there is no material difference between SFF and BFS (business funded status), and one is not better than the other, just SFF may in some cases be appreciated a little more due to the $$$ sacrifices made to get it.

I do note in the thread you linked to that self-funding was mentioned (with no reference or insinuation that it was in any way 'better' than business funded flying), twice in 7 posts prior to your posting a comment suggesting that for some reason BFF was in some way inferior to SFF. And SFF got 3 mentions in 20 posts in the whole thread. Which suggests to me that this issue has actually been gnawing at you a bit longer?

 

[clifford]

However... if you want a real fun conversation, we could discuss how leisure travel staff are often treated better than the highest status pax

Don't get me going on that one. My experiences in QF Y SYD-BKK-SYD have been very poor in that regard. On a couple of occasions I had a nice empty seat next to me, when at the last moment an off-duty FA going on holiday was plonked down next to me and proceeded to be feted by the crew, including being brought glasses of champagne from the J cabin before take-off. I think that says it all about Qantas.

 

[Moody]

...I can only speak with certainty for myself, but I suspect it applies to many, that any mention of self funding is not any sort of put-down of business funded travellers. Of course, there will be some who do intend it that way - always the case. In my case, on the occasions I mention it I do so purely as information - no bias or snootiness or anything else attached ....

I know what you mean. I often mention my enormous cough in conversation .... without making any implied criticism of those less endowed, of course.

 

[wandering_fred]

Are AFFers most people

I'll bite

1) For most people, self-funded travel is post-tax dollars whereas business expenses are pre-tax. Fundamentally meaning in many cases the self-funded flight has an effective cost which is 30%++ greater than one on the company dime.

2) Most people would spend more time researching leisure flights as they most likely would not be flying to the same destination which they would for work purposes. This requires more time & emotional investment in the planning process, and the more invested we are, the more we expect. There is research on airlines showing most people apply for upgrades on Friday afternoon/evening flights. Work is over and they want to relax and be pampered a little. It's their treat for a tough week in the office! This is their 'leisure' part of the work trip and expectations increase as they want to feel like all the hard work in flying is paid back in kind. I would be interested to know what time of day departures has the most complaints from a CS perspective.

Company funded travel (assuming a profitable company) is partially funded by the government. Trying that as a self funded sole trader risks the wroth of the ATO...

And I will agree that most SFF based travelers will research the possibilities. AFF members will just do it better...

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[JohnK]

Not sure why, it's hardly a secret that those who can get a tax deduction for their travel have a bit of an advantage over those who don't. I think most self funded flyers are very aware of that.

Tax deductions? What tax deductions?

Next time, if there is a next time, I am going to negotiate airfares and accommmodation as part of my salary package even if my salary reduces in half. I have been throwing away ~$25,000/year the past 9 years because I could not get a job in Sydney.

You see life is not fair but I will get my own back shortly.

 

[Flying mermaid]

I'm trying to get my head around the whole "self funded" flight scenario that appears to be so important to many on AFF. :?:

Last year I timed both my self funded and business flights to the UK and within a few minutes they were pretty much the same. The mileage was exactly the same according to cabin crew and pilots. Yet it appears that on AFF the flights paid for by the business I work for are substantially different than the flights I paid for myself. At best I can be oblivious to all that goes on around me but try as hard as I could I was unable to detect any difference. My treatment on board was identical, I was flying BA so was treated with complete indifference whether my company had paid or not.

Is there a difference between "self funded" First Class, "self funded" Business Class and "self funded" Economy Class? In the world of the "self funded" is a flight paid for with points of less or more value than a flight paid for by cash? Is there an etiquette I need to be aware of?

To me a flight is a flight however it is paid for, yet there is a consistent undercurrent here that those who are "self funded" are in some way superior to those who aren't. It really is quite baffling.

Please, please can someone explain the differences? It is tearing my inner self apart as I ruminate on the subject whilst flying. ([-]750 hours[/-] errr........errr.....36.5 hours last year, I almost forgot to take away the business travel.)

I went and read the thread that seems to have sparked this and it seemed to me that people who were mentioning they were self funded, were doing it as an explanation as to why they hadn't travelled as many sectors as others, rather than any feelings of superiority?

 

[tuapekastar]

I know what you mean. I often mention my enormous cough in conversation .... without making any implied criticism of those less endowed, of course.

:shock: I'm feeling inferior already!

 

[Anna]

I always thought that when people point out that they're 'self funded', what they're really saying is 'my airline loyalty is worth more because I'm spending my own money on the airline I choose for myself' and that people who earn their status through work travel have to be 'loyal' to the airline that the person who set their organisation's travel policy chose. That choice might change at any time regardless of the pax's personal loyalty.

If you're the person who sets your organisation's travel policy though, I guess your airline loyalty is worth more than a self-funded pax's loyalty

 

[Trudging]

This thread has been a bit of an eye opener for a newbie like me.

I suppose I'm 'self funded'. I live in BNE and my partner lives in CNS. So I make the round trip every ten days or so.

I can't even comprehend that my situation would make me anymore 'elite' than someone who travels a similar amount for work (I used to travel international for work, but only every two months). In fact, generally a person who travels a lot for work has a successful career, so to me, there is a certain amount of prestige in that too.

Nope. Nothing better about being self funded. I'd be quite happy if someone else wanted to pick up my substantial travel bills

 

[ozimax]

Interesting thread. After leaving employment with TN in 1991, I have flown most probably 700 flights, maybe 50% long haul. I now work for a Baptist missionary organisation. I rarely have any money and my costs are met by God alone, through prayer.

Interesting life indeed. I wonder sometimes what it would be like to travel in business class but I've found out that the plane gets there around the same time as economy.

My eldest son works for the federal government in Canberra and enjoys the benefits of Chairmans' lounge access. (Sometimes he slums it in the first class lounge.)

As I sit here in the Wellington NZ QF club (with a broken coffee machine, no milk or even hot water for tea) I am reminded of how blessed we are to be able to travel in any class, any where, whether the flight is paid from your own pocket or someone else's.

Happy flying.

 

[Vic]

the flights might be the same but the risks, rewards, opportunity costs etc. all change based on source of funds.

Self funded flyer has to make their reward, whatever that may be, against that flight. The corporate funded may not need to get a reward directly against one flight, but if they don't get rewards eventually then they might become self funded.
Then there is purpose: self funded holiday have fun, corporate has to make a sale. Flights might be very different.
sure this has been covered

 

[Termite]

Sorry to butt in, but I believe I found the self righteous carp...

 

[Steady]

Sorry to butt in, but I believe I found the self righteous carp...


View attachment 95016

It's illegal to release those self righteous carp - you must kill them and not put the carcass back where it came from

 

[TheRealTMA]

Sorry to butt in, but I believe I found the self righteous carp...

What specifically makes it self righteous?

 

[Steady]

What specifically makes it self righteous?

Isn't that the scientific name?

 

[TheRealTMA]

Isn't that the scientific name?

Only for the species "politicus politiculi".