Overseas travel for work

[cssaus]

I'm self-employed so I'm conscious of the cost.

For the past few years travelling into Asia I've always purchased an economy class ticket but by choice travel on Singapore as I'm comfortable with their Y class service and I consider that I get good value for my money.

For my trips to the United States I've been buying either a B or Y class ticket on UA and then use my points to upgrade to business at the lower rate. I view this arrangement as essentially purchasing a discounted business class ticket.

 

[Yada Yada]

Yep domestic is Y (cheaper the better but now exclusively QF again after a foolish dalliance with Vermin - a few cancelled flights and a lot of employee anger later).

Although to be fair, it happens with both airlines. Last Weds DJ had a computer problem and all flights were 2 hours late ex-MEL. But over the past 6 months they have been on time (in fact early) consistently.

Earlier this year I had a bad run with lateness on QF. On one occasion we lost about 20 mins in SYD due to an equipment problem but they promptly changed to another plane. However this had a ripple effect. As I walked from the terminal in MEL they called me to advise my return flight was cancelled and they put me on a later flight. When I returned to the airport later in the day, I found that the flight they'd put me on had been delayed and eventually got away more than 90 mins late.

Late and cancelled flights happen to all airlines, although I'd say it happens less with DJ because the equipment is newer.

 

[sully]

Theoretically only about 30 of our 5,000 worldwide employes travel anything more than domestic. I'm not one of them.

For domestic the rule is that everyone should travel Y but some manage J. In fact I wish we could all travel Y instead of the less flexible versions of economy that mean an early completion of a meeting means beers in town (mainly Melbourne) or the freebies in QP until my nominated Sydney flight is ready to go. Once this meant a 3.5 hour wait simply because my ticket was so deeply cheap that no amount of pleading could get me on the 3 previous flights, even with no end of availability.

International is no better but for, praise the Lord, our English colleagues. As I write this I am in KUL and will be flying back to SYD via SIN on Thursday on WT+. Often this class is about the same price as Y on QF which means that I can get a sign-off for this. This, plus the fact that Fullers London Pride is a superior beer to anything on QF means that BA gets my business on just about every occasion.

The worst is the Lan Chile flight to Santiago. There is no intermediary class and because there is such a captive market J is prohibitive. Y return is around $2,500 with J 3 times as much. No chance of an upgrade, either by request or using points.

The answer to this dilemma is simple. When discussing flight plans and what needs to be done while away the comment that I can prepare on the plane is met with "If I fly business I will do business". Otherwise it is a few grogs, movies, perhaps a book, or a kip.

 

[NM]

Those who fly Y for international trips - do you belong to Australian owned or internationally owned businesses?

I would for a large multi-national company with a travel policy that defaults to economy except as noted in my previous posts.

The Australian management will never approve business class travel unless someone else is paying for it (ie its being charged to the overseas haed office or a customer or supplier is paying).

We are making more and more use of teleconferences than ever before. The downside of that process is that I am more likely than not to be awake and on the phone between the hours of midnight an 3am during the week. So I can still experience the feeling of jetlag without the duty-free allowance :roll: .

 

[Alan in CBR]

Economy, with the exception that I now have a standing approval to fly in World Traveller Plus on BA.

The actual policy is Economy for everyone except the Board of Directors (guess who made the policy). A couple of senior managers have successfully lobbied for Business Class.