Do You Have a Company Travel Budget Policy?

[harvyk]

robd, how far out does this employee do his travel bookings? Is it all last minute stuff or is it weeks or even months in advanced?

 

[markis10]

Basic



Medium

 

[robd]

Hmmm. 3pts per $ plus upgrade with Avis via QF atm.

Qantas Car Hire | Book Avis car hire in Australia and around the world

 

[robd]

robd, how far out does this employee do his travel bookings? Is it all last minute stuff or is it weeks or even months in advanced?

He plots his travel at least a week or two prior, but I think he books maybe only a couple of days before he goes.

 

[Simo]

I am self employed but I had to do some travel which was paid for by the client.

They booked me app 2 to 3 weeks before the job was happening.

They have a timeline of travel bookings.

If travel it to be done say in 3 weeks time I had to be booked at least 2 weeks before travel to commence.

I actually knew the job was happening before they booked me to go to the job so I had already booked my flights. They checked on the day and reimbursed me BFOD when they told me they wanted me at site. Winning I had already booked my flight as a there was a special on that day.

With Accom they had a set amount they would reimburse and if it went over that you had to justify why and as bookings had to be made weeks out they said you can normally find accom. I stayed where I always do and my rate was under the limit so they just reimbursed me that fee. Meals where a set daily rate which was generous but I was also booked for 2 days and it was all done in one day so I got 2 days meal allowance reimbursed only because I flew in on Friday morning and they said they wanted me right up until 6pm and last flight out of TSV was 7pm on Friday night and the Tech who was doing the job said he might have to work on Sat morning. (The Tech was finished by Lunch on Friday as he worked Thursday afternoon)

They would not pay car hire as the travel was under 50km from airport to site I had won with the flights and I had stuff to do on Friday night so I just booked a car at my own expense.

Just a run down on what they allowed.

The meal allowance was $100 per day or 24 hour period. As they wanted me there at 8am I left home at 5am so as at 5am next morning my next days meal allowance clicked over.

The Accom allowance was $100 per night but was flexible due to timeframe of booking everything.

I didn't have to provide receipts as I was a sub contractor just a GST invoice.

I wasn't needed on the Sat as the Tech was all finished and the equipment had been signed over so I stayed for the night and changed my flight and flew home early the next morning.

They where also charged a fee for me to be at site for the 2 days. I actually have no idea why the client wanted me as the Tech knew the entire job and we had organised it all and multiple notes where passed on.

 

[The Rok]

Basic

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Medium

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How the hell can a Passat cost the same as a Cruze?

 

[k_sheep]

Sorry, my last response seemed very short and dismissive. So you are an Intern doc or nurse??? Public or Private system?
.

Registrar, public. The clinic was about as far from my specialty scope as is possible. Think psychiatry trainee doing a total hip replacement and you're about right.

Whoopee, so in a years' time I can get 20c in the dollar back. I'll try to contain my excitement

Anyway, have moved on from that, thank goodness!

 

[TonyHancock]

The reality is that travel policy seems to be one constituent. If there is a belief that the individual is rorting the system in regards to travel then there must be a suspicion he is rorting the system in other areas. If the CEO believes in this individual then it is probably time to look for another job. A poor outcome but unfortunately, from experience, these things seem to go that way.

 

[Rebekkap]

For a multinational firm, our regional travel policy is probably as tight as it comes...

-Best Fare of Day, Australian Domestic (Jetstar, QF, VA) - subject to agent's selection, cannot override
-Economy Class only, Domestic and Int.
-Limit on personals meals of $30USD per day
-List of Preferred hotels only that have a negotiated corp rate (no specific chain, individually by city - 3.5-4star)
-Roaming costs frowned upon and reimbursed on an individual call basis
-Hotel internet costs frowned upon with a preference for using the local office facilities
-All travel approved by line manager, department manager and CFO (must be all they do all day!)
-Airport transfers restricted to taxis only

The entertainment costs of course are where the trickiness comes into play - we have to have approval from line manager and department head plus the line manager must not have been present at the event.

I'd be pretty upset about a travel policy that said I could only have $30 a day for meals. As a woman in a strange city alone at night, I often don't feel safe going out and wandering the streets to try to find cheap food, which leaves room service as the only option, and it's simply not possible even to eat just room service dinner and then add breakfast/lunch on top of that and not end up out of pocket, which as far as I'm concerned is unfair. I don't choose to travel, my job requires it. Luckily, my previous job paid actual (reasonable) expenses and my current pays a per diem. As for only taxis to airports, that's probably costing the company money - my regular driver charges me around $10 less than the equivalent taxi fare, and is a much better driver than most taxi drivers.

 

[Simo]

I'd be pretty upset about a travel policy that said I could only have $30 a day for meals. As a woman in a strange city alone at night, I often don't feel safe going out and wandering the streets to try to find cheap food, which leaves room service as the only option, and it's simply not possible even to eat just room service dinner and then add breakfast/lunch on top of that and not end up out of pocket, which as far as I'm concerned is unfair. I don't choose to travel, my job requires it. Luckily, my previous job paid actual (reasonable) expenses and my current pays a per diem. As for only taxis to airports, that's probably costing the company money - my regular driver charges me around $10 less than the equivalent taxi fare, and is a much better driver than most taxi drivers.

If a staff member is travelling and they don't feel safe then they should have a extra amount for meals if they don't want to roam the streets looking for cheap food. I wouldn't ask any female staff member to do something I would not ask my wife to do. (Keep your mind out of the gutter everyone)

I have one (male) staff member who would milk this part of the policy if he knew i felt like that.