Paying for Work Trips

[Milesy]

Hi All,

I'm fairly new to the world of Frequent Flying. My current job has me traveling around the country visiting our different offices. At present I'm tagging along with our CIO (I work in IT) and he just pays for everything on his company card. He got me to sign up with QFF to collect points on my airfares. In the next few months I will probably start traveling alone to take some of the load off him. As such I will need to pay for my day to day expenses and get reimbursed on my return. Airfares and Accom will be prepaid by the company, though I guess there is always the possibility of changes / curve balls happening on the road.

I have my home loan with Westpac and pay the Advantage Plus Package. I was thinking of getting a Westpac Earth Card as the Annual fee is waived and putting all work expenses on that and just getting it reimbursed each month. That way I get some free points. I would eaisly qualify for the Black, but I don't need an $18000 limit. Does anyone know if they will do a lower limit? Or is it worth it for the bonus points? Is there are better card I should be considering? Or should I not use a CC and use cash?

Any advice would be great!

 

[VPS]

Never use cash when you can use a credit card that gets you points especially if it's a no fee card -also if you pay cash it will be a few weeks before you're reimbursed and it's better to have the money in your bank than your employers. Will leave others to advise on best cards

 

[bismarck]

How much do you think you will put through the card each month?

 

[Hvr]

Hi Milesy and welcome to AFF.

One thing to be aware of is the solvency of the company. If they are slow to pay or even go broke you will be on the hook for the expenses you've incurred.

Whilst the lure of points is tempting you should get a company credit card for your financial security.

 

[Milesy]

Hi, thanks for the replies.

Company credit card isn't an option at the moment, reserved for senior management only. It will happen one day. I'm talking to them about the possibility of a prepaid visa/master card setup. They are open to it, but the flip side is I don't want to be stuck somewhere with no funds at midnight. I don't always have cash.

I'm not concerned about the financial status of the company. We are pushing a Billion dollar turn over in the next year or 2. They currently have about 50 people that semi regularly travel that all fund it themselves, but they are on significantly more income than me at this stage. Some months it will only be a $100, others it could be a thousand. More if I start booking my own flights / hotels.

 

[bismarck]

I would consider either Citibank Signature (can currently get it fee free for life which is a great deal) Citibank Australia or the Amex Discovery ($0 annual fee, 1:1 to QF).

It sounds like you don't use credit cards for your every day spending habits though? Have a read around AFF is there is a lot you could learn and then the work expenses could simply be a factor in your decision on the best card for you.

 

[Mwenenzi]

In my view credit card is better than cash as you have a written statement and you are spending the banks money not yours.

Find out (in writing) how & when expenses will be paid to you. You do not want to be "lending" money to the company when you have paid the credit card but they have not paid you. Particularity for air fares where you may buy (and pay the cc bill) well before you fly. Find out if they will pay when bought or only when flown (as proven by a boarding pass)

Keep all receipts, no matter how small. Scan these as many invoices on thermal paper fade. The magic words are "tax invoice"

Find out about rental car hire. Does the company have its own insurance, excess, etc or is it paid at each hire.

Find out about the hotels & meals policy. May be limits meal cost & on how much booze you can put on the company tab. The high up's tend to have a bigger entertainment (booze) allowance. I have declined to approve expence claims with too much booze and non business items.

Google the ATO publication ATO "TD2012-017c"
Taxation Determination Income tax: what are the reasonable travel and overtime meal allowance expense amounts for the 2012-13 income year?

 

[burmans]

Hi Milesy and welcome to AFF.

One thing to be aware of is the solvency of the company. If they are slow to pay or even go broke you will be on the hook for the expenses you've incurred.

Whilst the lure of points is tempting you should get a company credit card for your financial security.

Good advice, I have a friend who was in a very senior position at a company doing exhibitions and frequently paid for exhibition costs on his card as a service to the company. Then one day they just let him go summararily and wouldnt pay his CC bill, Stated reason was performance but there was in my view anyway a strong case that solvency was the real issue. Over $40K in expenses on his card!

He did eventually get a settlement via small claims court but only after two years of considerable angst and lawyer fees. While I cerainly havent let it put me off totally am very careful about not running up too much before any company pays me back!

 

[boomy]

I have my home loan with Westpac and pay the Advantage Plus Package. I was thinking of getting a Westpac Earth Card as the Annual fee is waived and putting all work expenses on that and just getting it reimbursed each month. That way I get some free points. I would eaisly qualify for the Black, but I don't need an $18000 limit. Does anyone know if they will do a lower limit? Or is it worth it for the bonus points? Is there are better card I should be considering? Or should I not use a CC and use cash?

When I got the black card I tried to lower the limit but WestPac didn't agree to do it.
One of the benefits of black over earth is no cap on FF points earnings if you plan to fly a lot.

 

[johnd]

Hi,
I am in the same situation as you. My employer does not provide credit cards to any staff. I travel most weeks and get around $1000 a month on my card. I use a 28 Degree card. It has no annual fee and a good interest free period. I rarely have to pay accommodation costs, so all of my costs are mainly food/drink/train/taxi/fuel realted costs.
There are 2 rules I stick to:
1, I only use my 28 Deg card for work expenses and have another card - Westpac ignite card for personal items.
2, Pay it off in full on or before the due date even if the employer has not credited the expense to my account. I do not want to pay the 15% interest on the card.

I do not care for FF points on my credit cards as these always seem to have some cost associated with them.
Also there are some expenses I pay with cash and still claim back from company.
As noted above ensure you have an ABN on every invoice to make your claim. Some small take away shops will give you a recipt that just has the total cost on it, but no other detail and your accounts dept will (may) question any like this. If they will not give you an ABN do not pay, leave the food and go somewhere else.
Also card credit limits are only a problem if you are looking to get a large loan such as a house or new BMW and if you pay off your balance each month your future lender may take that into account to show you are a good credit risk as you pay down your credit card each month - even though your employer is giving you the $ to pay it off.

Good luck with the new job and enjoy the travel, you will get to see places you would have never have seen otherwise and don't sit in your motel each night get out there and enjoy the sights.

 

[DeKa]

Johnd you should get something like Citibank Signature fee free for life for your work expenses. You may as well earn points on the work spend.

 

[Deleted member]

Credit cards are really good for tracking expenses. ....just ask Craig Thompson

 

[serfty]

...
As noted above ensure you have an ABN on every invoice to make your claim. Some small take away shops will give you a recipt that just has the total cost on it, but no other detail and your accounts dept will (may) question any like this. If they will not give you an ABN do not pay, leave the food and go somewhere else.

...

Good luck with the new job and enjoy the travel, you will get to see places you would have never have seen otherwise and don't sit in your motel each night get out there and enjoy the sights.

John, you may wish to look at this thread - when done correctly it takes the worry out of travel cost documentation, especially when travelling overseas.

The OP may wish to look at that as well.