[NA] Business travel credit card?

[Ted]

That's because at big firms accountants and HR types think that their job is to define reality rather than describe it. And they get quite annoyed when reality persists in being different than what they want.

"Why haven't we broken the laws of physics yet?"
"Because it's impossible"
"No it's not! We have it right here on the schedule!"

 

[Everskyward]

A bit of thread creep.

Some of those car rentals are the worst. Here's a good example. You rent from Avis via Signature. You turn the car into the FBO Friday night. The company wants to know the amount of the charge on Monday, but... The FBO doesn't turn the car into Avis until sometime on Monday. Avis doesn't run the charges until a day or two later. It doesn't show up on the AmEx until a day or two after that, and it'll finally hit the company expense software about a week later. and the receipts (required with the expense report) won't show up on the car rental website until up to two weeks after the rental was turned in (which could be a few days after dropping it off at an FBO). I've had to argue extra day charges with the car rental places more than once due to FBO's not turning the car in on a timely fashion.

back to the main thread now...

I don't think rental car companies keep very good track of their cars. I have returned a car to a FBO, come back a week later and found the car still parked where I left it. I've also had one supposedly delivered, couldn't find it, called the rental car company and they knew it was delivered someplace but couldn't figure out where.

Luckily I don't need to have the charges clear the AMEX account before I submit an expense report. It I don't know the amount for a rental I just write in "TBD". Our accounting department knows that rental cars charges trickle in slowly. They only ask about the charges when something looks unusual. That's the way it is now anyway. We have had other people working upstairs at times who were more unrealistic about it.

 

[Ghery]

I agree, once the charges actually show up. I have found hotels are horrible at reporting charges. It seems like you check out on a Friday and it may be Tuesday before they finally run the charge and it gets on the bill. Then add a day for it to get onto the company account. I like coming back from business and sitting down on first thing Monday to get the expense report done. But can no longer do that.

How about over a week for a hotel in Korea to post and have it show up on our expense reporting system? Like you, I like to complete the expense report as soon as I'm at my desk, but getting stuff posted to the Amex card and our accounting system typically isn't that fast. Oh well...

Around here, the people that rarely travel's #1 complaint is the expense report/travel service software.

The people that travel frequently's #1 complaint is the fact that they travel frequently.

It's all relative, I guess...

Amen. Week 4 of 5 were I'm on the road at least 1 day. And most of these weeks I've been in the office 0 or 1 days. Last week - 1 day. This week - 1 day. Next week - nadda. It's getting old.

 

[ScottM]

Amen. Week 4 of 5 were I'm on the road at least 1 day. And most of these weeks I've been in the office 0 or 1 days. Last week - 1 day. This week - 1 day. Next week - nadda. It's getting old.

The past 18 months have been really great. I was only having to travel a couple of times a year. I even managed to get out of a trip to Estonia and China. Last year I barely flew at all: two trip to San Diego, one to Dallas and one to Taiwan. What a great year. I was at O'Hare airport a few weeks ago and realized I had not been there for six months!!! That break was unprecedented in my adult life here in Chicago. But now I am going back on the road. I have a full travel schedule this year, thankfully my business class travel budget was approved!!! YEAH ME! That at least makes these long hauls bearable.

 

[Ghery]

Business class would be nice. Only happens if I get an upgrade. However, miles are not a problem. I'll be less than 5000 miles short of Premier Executive again for next year when I get home from Paris next Friday. If I'm not careful I might make 1K for next year. Positives and negatives to that.

 

[wsuffa]

Business class would be nice. Only happens if I get an upgrade. However, miles are not a problem. I'll be less than 5000 miles short of Premier Executive again for next year when I get home from Paris next Friday. If I'm not careful I might make 1K for next year. Positives and negatives to that.

I'm already at 65,000 on AA and 27K on DL so far this year. It's only May.

 

[ScottM]

I have a rule about travel to Europe these days. That is to avoid LHR at all costs. I have to be in Nice, FR at the beginning of next month. In order to avoid LHR I am taking UAL to Munich and then Lufthansa to Nice. I got a coach class upgradable ticket, 20,000+$250 each way and that is cheaper than the $5k they wanted for a biz ticket. I then have to go to Romania at the end of the month. I am trying to convince work it would be better if they just let me stay, on expenses of course, on the French Riviera for a couple of weeks and then I will head to Romania and home. So far they are not going for it.

BTW had to request an upgrade of my Amex card to a higher level. Seems I already spent the $10k/mo corporate limit we have. Shucks.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I have a rule about travel to Europe these days. That is to avoid LHR at all costs. I have to be in Nice, FR at the beginning of next month. In order to avoid LHR I am taking UAL to Munich and then Lufthansa to Nice. I got a coach class upgradable ticket, 20,000+$250 each way and that is cheaper than the $5k they wanted for a biz ticket. I then have to go to Romania at the end of the month. I am trying to convince work it would be better if they just let me stay, on expenses of course, on the French Riviera for a couple of weeks and then I will head to Romania and home. So far they are not going for it.

BTW had to request an upgrade of my Amex card to a higher level. Seems I already spent the $10k/mo corporate limit we have. Shucks.

I was in LHR just a couple of days back. Flew over Windsor, looked like a straight-in landing, no sitting for 45 minutes to cross an active runway, and immigration was polite and asked only two questions. I guess it will be back to normal when I leave in a week or so.

I even connected through KORD with no delays. United gave me seating group #1 the whole trip, so pleanty of overhead space. An empty 747 is impressive.

 

[wsuffa]

I was in LHR just a couple of days back. Flew over Windsor, looked like a straight-in landing, no sitting for 45 minutes to cross an active runway, and immigration was polite and asked only two questions. I guess it will be back to normal when I leave in a week or so.

I even connected through KORD with no delays. United gave me seating group #1 the whole trip, so pleanty of overhead space. An empty 747 is impressive.

I'm with Scott. Avoid LHR. But I will say this: I'd prefer transiting LHR to transiting CDG. I rate CDG as much worse and I avoid it except if I'm ending the trip there.

I found Prague to be an outstanding airport, though, as are MUC, ZRH, and MAD.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I'm with Scott. Avoid LHR. But I will say this: I'd prefer transiting LHR to transiting CDG. I rate CDG as much worse and I avoid it except if I'm ending the trip there.

I found Prague to be an outstanding airport, though, as are MUC, ZRH, and MAD.

Wish I could avoid it. but that's where I needed to go this time.

 

[ScottM]

using LHR for in and out of England is not bad. It is just when you have to transition that it sux the most. I have too many bad experiences with lost luggage and missed flights there that now I just avoid it. The last time was the alst straw. BA refused to honor a ticket because I did not give them 24 hours notice that my arriving flight would be delayed. This was a split ticket issue so the arriving airline, UAL, was like 'hey we got you here and that is all your ticket with us was for' and they were no help at all. BA made me buy a new ticket, on the spot, for about 5x what I had paid for the original one.

 

[wsuffa]

using LHR for in and out of England is not bad. It is just when you have to transition that it sux the most. I have too many bad experiences with lost luggage and missed flights there that now I just avoid it. The last time was the alst straw. BA refused to honor a ticket because I did not give them 24 hours notice that my arriving flight would be delayed. This was a split ticket issue so the arriving airline, UAL, was like 'hey we got you here and that is all your ticket with us was for' and they were no help at all. BA made me buy a new ticket, on the spot, for about 5x what I had paid for the original one.

The terminal transfers at LHR are a problem.

CDG is worse.

The issue you had with BA is not surprising at all. One reason I don't do "split" tickets & a reason that I try to get a non-stop from US (even if it is JFK) to somewhere near the destination. Last time I went to Nice I took the DL non-stop from JFK - same reason I was on DL to Istanbul this spring (non-stop from JFK).

 

[denverpilot]

You guys really need more videoconferencing in your lives.

And I say that as no longer an employee of a company that sells such things.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

You guys really need more videoconferencing in your lives.

And I say that as no longer an employee of a company that sells such things.

Kinda hard to do setting up a new lab 1/4 the way around the world. Real-time is better for this.

 

[ScottM]

You guys really need more videoconferencing in your lives.

And I say that as no longer an employee of a company that sells such things.

Video conferencing really only works if the meeting has a simple dynamic. When there are conferences that require lots of offline negotiating, hall way conversations, etc. to get the work done, nothing beats face to face. The other problem with video conferencing is timing. It really stinks having to be the group of people up at 2am to get onto a call with Japan. At least in real time you sort of feel normal. But videoconferencing does have its place and I have used. In my line of work, standards development, we have to meet face to face.

 

[denverpilot]

Yeah, hallway conversations make the world go 'round. Smaller companies, that's all you have. Bigger companies give lip service to doing things by "procedure" and three codgers out in the hall figure it out and hash out details over lunch, then "fix" the in-room agenda later, is how it always really works it seems.