Business Travel
Business Travel
(OP)
Not sure if this belongs here:
I'm curious to know what your company's travel policy is regarding flights in business class.
Ours is anything over 8 hours, except to Europe, is approved for business class. Company is located in the USA.
I've talked with others in the chemical industry who've said industry standard is 6 hours, and others who've said, "Travel Policy?..."
I'm curious to know what your company's travel policy is regarding flights in business class.
Ours is anything over 8 hours, except to Europe, is approved for business class. Company is located in the USA.
I've talked with others in the chemical industry who've said industry standard is 6 hours, and others who've said, "Travel Policy?..."
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RE: Business Travel
Previous companies was always overseas = business class.
RE: Business Travel
- Steve
RE: Business Travel
Ronnie
"Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired"
Jules Renard (1864 - 1910)
RE: Business Travel
"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?" Oddball, "Kelly's Heros" 1970
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RE: Business Travel
V
RE: Business Travel
Hg
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RE: Business Travel
Chris
SolidWorks/PDMWorks 08 2.0
AutoCAD 06/08
ctopher's home (updated 10-07-07)
RE: Business Travel
If they could find a virgin flight they'd upgrade you to premium economy when flying across the pond.
Here in the US I've only taken a domestic flight, it was cattle but there wasn't 1st class on either plane so it doesn't make much difference.
I was fortunate enough to get upgraded to business once on BA from Gatwick to Atlanta, very nice.
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Business Travel
The management never ever travel by such airlines and it was only the extraordinary cost of renting cars and extra overnight stays that quickly cured them of this adventure.
I did the pioneering trip from London to Kiel. The usual route via normal airlines to get to Kiel is from London Heathrow or Gatwick to Hamburg, nice airport.
Ryan Air advertised Hamburg from London at silly prices but in fact London is actually Stansted and Hamburg appeared to be an old Luftwaffe airfield in farmland over the border into old East Germany reached from the autobahns by a farm track and several miles of country road little better.
The runway there was quite short so the pilot had to do VSTOL impersonations much to the alarm of the unwary passengers (it normally takes a quite a lot to excite British and German air travellers).
It was over 100 km from Hamburg and then we had to get to Kiel. The extra travel time each end meant additional overnight accommodation plus car hire (no one prepared to drive out a collect).
On this trip to Hamburg they confiscated my colleagues tools so that added to the bill quite significantly.
Technically, I guess there may be a way to travel in better accommodation but I think djv has the universal answer there.
The most vexing thing for management is the curiosity of airline fare structures; tickets are usually sufficiently less for a weekend stopover to more than cover the cost of extra hotel nights and entertainment. How they hate you having some fun and relaxation and how they hate not being able to stop you without it costing them money!
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Business Travel
RE: Business Travel
On the other hand, I flew back from Germany last week using BA (v. expensive) and spent more than 2 hours on the road.
- Steve
RE: Business Travel
Needless to say, the company at the time had a cheapest fare policy.
RE: Business Travel
RE: Business Travel
RE: Business Travel
RE: Business Travel
But company policy is cattle all the way. They are suxh tight a$$holes that they don't even let the Service Technicians fly first class when it can be billed to the customer and they can make the 15% administrative mark-up on the difference in cattle fare and FC. Go figure. Some times the pointy part gets really tight.
rmw
RE: Business Travel
Most employees racked up 80,000 to 100,000 miles/years, so after a year or so in the chicken compartment, upgrades to business or first class were pretty easy. Everyone kept their frequent flyer miles for personal use. They could use it for free tickets for the family vacation, membership to the club room at the airport, or for upgrade coupons for business travel, your choice.
I had a couple of whiners who complained that they wanted the company to buy first class tickets for anything over 3 hours. They also reasoned that the cost could be billed to the Client. However our fees were bid against other competitors, so we did not estimate first class airfare in the fee. We would never get the job.
The employees who didn’t complain went on the out of town trips and the whiners got the local stuff (Chicago market). When the non-complainers got back from their trips to Maui, Sarasota, La Jolla, Seattle, New York, Boston, Cape Hatteras, etc, it straightened out those two Princesses who wanted company-sponsored first class travel.
I traveled several times where an employee decided to upgrade and I saved my miles and sat in coach. I would never expect an employee to pass me their free upgrade. I knew they put in a lot of time in the back of the bus to earn it.
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: Business Travel
Here they had trouble for a while with the concept of frequent flyer miles (god forbid a government employee inadvertently get some kind of benefit in the line of work) and tried to figure out a way for all the frequent flyer miles to belong to the employer, but they couldn't work it out, so they let us have the miles. I suppose they could have ordered us to take our FF number off any work-related reservation to avoid any unseemly "profit", but I guess they realized that there would probably be nasty PR fallout from as well, since it would be so blatantly mean-spirited.
Hg
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RE: Business Travel
- Steve
RE: Business Travel
Mostly, I see frequent flyer programs as a guarantee of being boarded when they overbook, and that is often the only occasion I'll get upgrades. I hadn't actually noticed much difference on US internal flights, but on some long haul international flights it is a real treat to get a seat that turns into a bed and real food on china plates with metal cutlery and where you can eat without having to worry where your, or your neighbour's elbows are. Plus, even silver class flyer gets access to some really plush lounges in airports.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Business Travel
RE: Business Travel
On European short-haul (most of mine now)we are on Ryanair and Cheesyjet as much as possible but we have a deal with hertz that makes the hire cars cheap enough to make it the most cost effective solution. On the other hand I'm not convinced they check all the time.
The General Manager of course flew on a six times more expensive and 100 times more convenient flight on our last trip though...
Ben
RE: Business Travel
My previous company was coach all the way. My current company (in michigan) is coach for all domestic (including South America) and Europe. But it is business class for Asia destinations.
There is also the frequent flyer benefits to think about. Some companies (like Ford I believe) don't let you keep them and they go into a pool. Not sure how that works.
RE: Business Travel
They will let me avoid Ryanair and the like, though, the worst thing that happened was a Bruxelles airlines flight from (French speaking) Lyon to (French speaking) Bruxelles that apparently had been sub-sub-sub-contracted so we ended up with a bunch of air hostesses that did not speak a word French and hardly any English. Also the seat I had been given turned did not really exist, it started me wondering what all else might not be in order on the plane. Anyway statistically even the worst companies carry out incident-free flights from time to time and apparently this was one of them. :-~
RE: Business Travel
I doubt that the majority of hispanics on board spoke or understood english. This is a safety issue because the crew announcements need to be understood by all passengers in the interest of safety.
By the way I am multilingual in German, Italian, Spanish and French, in that order.
RE: Business Travel
I honestly doubt they didn't understand english, but well, if you say so.
A good friend will bail you out of jail, but a true friend
will be sitting beside you saying ” Damn that was fun!” - Unknown
RE: Business Travel
That said, some economy airline flights I have been on have been more comfortable (better legroom) and have had better food (took my own) than a number of major carriers managed to achieve at many times the price.
----------------------------------
If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!
RE: Business Travel
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Business Travel
- Steve
RE: Business Travel
Within the U.S., several of the "discount" regional airlines offer *much* better service than the majors. TV, satellite radio, better snacks, etc.
Hg
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RE: Business Travel
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Business Travel
* Wearing bulky coats or other garments. In other words, don't travel to or from cold areas. For god's sake, whatever ever you do, don't do something bizarre like wear a sweater. And if you're a woman, you better make sure that whatever businesswear you have on the last day of your meeting right before you catch your plane isn't one of those jackety things that doesn't really have anything underneath, because the TSA is gonna ask you to strip it off in public anyway. (This has been empirically determined.)
* Wearing boots or other shoes that are hard to take on and put off. Again, you really shouldn't be travelling to or from cold places. Or wet places. Or to do things other than sit in a conference room in your loafers.
In other words, my basic workwear for going to visit a plant in Wisconsin in the winter is a "mistake".
Tyvek, etc. Where's my teleporter??
Hg
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RE: Business Travel
- Steve
RE: Business Travel
I pitty anyone that saw me in that get up!
KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...
RE: Business Travel
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Business Travel
- Steve
RE: Business Travel
Until then, shoes stayed on unless they set off the metal detector. I had two pairs of boots--one 8" (high ankle) with no steel toes, and the other 6" with steel toes. I didn't want to have to take them off, so I picked the high laceup boots with no steel toes. After the first leg of my trip, I landed in a new world in which I had to lace and unlace the rest of the way through several airports. Dammit.
Hg
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RE: Business Travel
Ben
RE: Business Travel
The third time over, I flew a USAIR(line) that was horrendous compared to the normal flight I booked. The next time I was offered that carrier, I told my boss that I wouldn't make that trip on that airline. Needless to say, in a half hour, I got the $500 more expensive flight on the british carrier.
The worst part was for my wife when she flew over. She had the USAIR flight and was not impressed. She did almost get a free night in Manchester due to overbooking, but I had already left the airport to hed back to the plant in Selby.
RE: Business Travel
The question is, what is Continental like these days? Would I be better to swim across?
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Business Travel
RE: Business Travel
Delta's new safety video starring Deltalina!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgpzUo_kbFY
"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance!"
RE: Business Travel
Since the new terminal 5 opened it doesn't look so good, fortunately I fly from 4 and I hope the infection doesn't spread.
At least you still get the free booze on BA.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Business Travel
Anyway, BA Premium Economy back from Chicago on Friday night was pretty comfotable. Wide seats, plently of legroom. Head and shoulders about regular Economy on BA and/or any other carrier I've used before.
- Steve
RE: Business Travel
"Breakfast in London, Dinner in New York, Luggage in Bermuda."
Just substitute London for Bermuda.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Business Travel
I had an interesting experience with them several years ago when they first came out of hibernation. I arrived a little early at the gate. They started boarding, so I showed my pass and walked on.
My seat was occupied so I took another nearby. The opening announcement was a joke on a new flight attendant: "Welcome to Newark. We look foreward ... etc. OOPS!"
When we got to Newark my luggage was not there. I went to claims, and they said my flight had not landed yet! I was boarded on the previous flight.
I don't seek to fly on Continental anymore, but the others are not terribly better.
RE: Business Travel
- Steve
RE: Business Travel
What a breath of fresh air!! These foreign (outside of USA) carriers are fantastic. The service on Asiana was probably the best I've ever had. New Zealand was a close second.
Due to company agreements, we usually fly United to Asia and the Pacific. United service is the pits. The attendants seem more annoyed than anything. I'm sure they get a lot of verbal abuse on board, especially in the States, but why do the foreign carriers seem different?
Anyway, I'm glad they just opened the skies between Europe and the US.
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This is normally the space where people post something insightful.
RE: Business Travel
I've travelled on a few where the trolley dollies were well past their sell by date and knew it. They were also past caring whether the cattle were contented or not.
Though why they should want to carry on at what can be very hard work (if they do it and don't just circle wagons in the galley) when past a certain age I don't know. I did wonder if liver damage claimed more of them on some airlines which would explain why they had a higher proportion of younger staff than others as those I have known were dedicated to absorbing as much alcohol as possible when they got the chance.
So far my favourite airline is Qatar air, cattle class or first. One trip London to Singapore and I qualified for silver and the second trip I got bumped to first (due to over-booking) and got free run of the lounge at Doha, just help yourself to the drinks and food which, for a 5 hour layover, was welcome.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Business Travel
I just walked in, dumped my bag at the drop off and went for coffee. Then when I went through security it was the usual shoes off, jacket off routine but over with in a flash.
Coming back from Boston it was all show but what substance?
Shoes off. Jackets off and anything electrical, including laptops, had to be taken out of their bags and placed separately in the trays.
Well Ok, so I put my cell phone, camera and computer out but I couldn't be bothered about the two optical mice, the bluetooth RS 232/485 connector, the card reader or the standard RS 232/485 converter and whatever esle was festering in there.
And I forgot to take the change out of my pocket (about $3 in quarters) nor did I remember to take off my belt buckle (a large chunk of Navaho silver).
But they waved me through OK.
Now on high alert days I have known the detectors go off for a piece of silver foil or for the metal studs on jeans pockets.
Of course, there was only one security screen running and so all this took forever.
Last to board, I found all the overhead space taken up because despite all this security they are again letting people take their entire wordly goods on board as carry on luggage.
The security at the USS Constitution was tighter and they were even looking inside peoples cigarette packets. The USS Constitution is obviously a more important asset than a plane full of people.
I was amused to see that firearms are forbidden on US Navy and Military bases. That should make the peace-nics happy, unarmed military. But then, the modern military seems entirely dependent on precision guided ordnance and I guess that excludes hand held weapons of any description.
By the way, my side trip to the Constitution was made possible by the usual airline fares deal where I could have paid £1340 and gone home Friday night or £314 and go home Sunday which I did.
Our host said he went to Panama during the holidays and discovered that he couldn't use his air miles as they doubled the requirements during the holidays.
Then he discovered that if he booked first class he could... so let's get that straight, he had enough air miles to go first class but not enough to go second.
Why?
Because they never double up the first class rates, they just up the cattle class rates when they feel like it.
Now, is it any wonder that a couple more airlines went bust over the weekend? These guys couldn't run tap.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Business Travel
I hate Delta with the flaming passion of a thousand suns, but others seem not to have the same pattern of problems I do. I will only book Delta if there is no other way to get the times and locations I need. (And to add insult to injury, they don't have wi-fi in their JFK terminal; I guess you have to buy a membership to the lounge or something.)
Hg
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RE: Business Travel
Just after the "shoe bomber" event I mad the mistake of wearing my DM's for a flight. Never again! There was double security too so I ended up carrying them around the airport.
- Steve
RE: Business Travel
Hg
Eng-Tips policies: FAQ731-376: Eng-Tips.com Forum Policies
RE: Business Travel
- Steve
RE: Business Travel
How many "technical" reasons are actually commercial? (And yes, it surprises me they'd rather have you worry that whatever was wrong with the plane might still be wrong with it when you fly than let you think they just want to screw the last dollar out of your flight).
I've found that whenever you have a problem they can't solve they never say "Sorry, can't be done." The guy at check in will say "You have to talk to them at the gate." and the guy at the gate will say "You have to talk to the crew." and the flight attendant will say "I have to check with the In-flight Director so why don't you just take your assigned seats for the moment while I see if I can get it get it sorted out."
Don't ever agree to sit down. Once you sit you are there for the flight.
I've also asked for a seat with leg room, been told that that is what I've been given and found my seat was the most cramped on the plane. Liars, damned liars and airline staff.
I've also discovered that smart and polite gets you cr**ped on. The guys that get their way are the ones who push the limits of nuisance value to just short of being pitched off the plane.
My first flight into Miami one Christmas the plane was late, they had just two or three customs desks open and hundreds queued at each. In the line I picked the guy in front was bad mouthing anyone and everyone who came near to him in a voice that carried across the terminal. "I'm a citizen and a Taxpayer, I'll write my congressman"
Too late to change lines and I could see everyone around him getting more apprehensive and I could see the lady at the desk getting ready to "settle his hash" (she didn't actually check that her gun was loose in its holster but mentally, yes). I was expecting she'd take him apart, empty his luggage all over the place and maybe even have him strip searched. I had a connecting flight and I was expecting a to miss it (I did, actually, but not through any fault of his).
BUT, two or three people from the desk he shut up. When he got there he was all sweetness and politeness and he so wrong footed the poor woman that had he been smuggling a kilo or two of heroin or dirty nuclear bomb he'd have got it through, she just didn't want to be the trigger for another rant.
JMW
www.ViscoAnalyser.com
RE: Business Travel
Wouldn't dare do that now, all they'd do is call for the goons.