Such corporate management decisions really point out why so few people stay with a company these days. Instead, corporations spend huge sums to head hunters to lure fresh victims into the "mismanagement fold" for a few short years before they leave in disgust over such silly use of funds.
Somewhere, deep inside the 3 piece suit and wingtip shoes is the cave man that says, "I risk my life to kill the beast which I bring back to the cave for the clan and then I watch the incompetents spoil and waste it". I'm pretty sure there is a special hand signal that is given when that caveman leaves the corporation.. ... I'm pretty sure I got that part right.. yep... Some old country western song keeps running through my head.. can't quite remember the words.. "Take this job and............... " Maybe you can remember the rest. On Tue, Jun 23, 2015 at 5:35 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes < mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > Our corporate travel department was actually a separate business, so the > more they sold the more money they made. I have no idea where the business > class travel policy came from, but I know it was corporate-wide. > > I got into a big tiff with them once over some travel to Australia and New > Zealand. I had a voucher from NWA for a $2000 business class round trip to > Sydney that I wanted to use for a business trip Down Under. Corporate > travel wouldn't let me use it because they had committed to United to use > them for that route. The United fare was around $5,000, if I recall > correctly. I know the difference was pretty substantial. > > "We get spiffs from the airlines for committing to book with them, which > is why we have to use United," was Corporate Travel's reasoning for > spending twice what it would otherwise cost. > > "How much of that "spiff" comes back to my department?" I asked. > > <crickets> > > Yeah, right. So I ended up going Down Under on United for twice what it > would have cost me otherwise.... > > Here's some more twisted corporate logic: > > The Company wanted to get its hands on frequent flyer miles, but since > these were earned by the individual there was really no way for them to do > it. Now maybe they could have by working something out with the airlines, > but administering it in a company of +8,000 people would have been a real > nightmare. > > So our head corporate counsel, who also happened to be the owner's wife, > comes up with this plan: > > You accumulate frequent flyer miles. You use them to book business travel. > When you do so, Corporate will reimburse you for the lowest published fare > for that route. > > Oh, and yes, the reimbursement will be taxed as personal income. > > So I use my frequent flyer miles to fly to LA and back. This is probably > worth maybe $500 booking normally using my miles. Corporate Travel combs > through the prices from every possible carrier that flys the same route and > finds a $99 fare. I get a reimbursement check for $99.00 less taxes. Good > deal, eh? > > Needless to say, this policy died a pretty quick death. > > <head slap> > > Dan > > Sent from my iPad > > > On Jun 22, 2015, at 6:06 PM, G Mann via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > wrote: > > > > To keep Corporate travel departments from stuffing you, the star salesman > > or engineer, into the baggage compartment with Aunt Fluffies pet poodle, > > because they could save .12 cents and look good. > > > > Besides.. being pampered by a very attractive stewardess with a > delightful > > British accent for 11 hrs on BA first class flight built company loyalty > > and good will which kept you from quitting at next job review cycle when > > you only got a .3% raise despite having increased corporate earnings each > > quarter you spent weeks away from your family. > > > > Carrot on stick business perk.. > > > > On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 2:51 PM, Kaleb C. Striplin via Mercedes < > > mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > > >> Why did they have such rules? > >> > >> Sent from my iPhone > >> > >>> On Jun 22, 2015, at 3:27 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes < > >> mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > >>> > >>> Corporate rules required that we fly business class on any travel over > 8 > >> hours total air time. That meant that any time I left the USA I was > flying > >> business class. I could also control who I booked on, so since most of > my > >> travel was to Asia and the Middle East I stuck with Northwest and KLM - > KLM > >> was a mandatory for security reasons, we couldn’t use any other > carriers to > >> the Middle East with the exception of El Al, who, of course, had a > limited > >> number of destinations in that part of the world. > >>> > >>> Since NWA and KLM code shared and were partners, I was able to corral > my > >> miles into one big honking account. This was also back in the day where > >> NWA issued a 20,000 mile voucher for every 20k you earned, good for one > >> domestic airfare in the US. You could “stack” them to use for upgrades > and > >> international travel as well. Because they could be endorsed over, > there > >> was a very brisk secondary market for them, too. > >>> > >>> I think I sold six or eight of them in a lump to a ticket broker the > >> year we built our house in Port Washingon, WI for something like $5,000. > >> They were good for two first class trips to Europe at that amount, I > >> believe. > >>> > >>> I made Platinum every year I flew, and back then getting first class > >> upgrades was pretty easy and automatic for Platinum members. I don’t > think > >> I flew coach for 6-7 years straight. My international travel kept me in > >> first class on all my domestic f > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
