Working Away From Home - Company Travel & Hotel booking
Datchet
Forumite 109 Posts
I frequently work away from home and use trains and hotels. The company have a sole Travel Agent we must use ( that the company pays direct ) , or else we buy the tickets / pay for the hotel ourselves then claim back. This sounds reasonable until you add in the following;
1. The Agent has 'Partner' hotels that it selects and they are are horrible & horribly expensive
2. There are "policy maximum rates" which mean last minute rates can't be attained and exclude nearly all available hotels.
3. They don't include [email protected] or Pr€mier Inn or any other budget provider.
4. They dont search for advanced or split train or plane tickets - so the cost is v high.
5. The Agent charge a fortune in commission and won't clear up problems when asked.
6. If we book ourselves the expenses are not paid for up to a month and a half.
7. Company will not provide personal credit cards
You are probably asking the question " if the company settles these high prices direct - then what's the problem?" Well the problem is that the excess charge/cost comes straight off my team and personal income on which we are paid!!
I have kept a tally. Booking myself saves £200 to £500 per month, but it means I'm carrying £700- £2,000 of costs myself ( that's right, TWO THOUSAND POUNDS at any one time) we are a single income family, so it's hard.
I have a credit card and try to fastidiously pay off in full but the monthly payment cycle is often out of Sync with expenses payout.
I'm registered on line for all hotel chains and train companies, have the apps and collect all points and [email protected]
Any suggestions?
[purplesignup][/purplesignup]
1. The Agent has 'Partner' hotels that it selects and they are are horrible & horribly expensive
2. There are "policy maximum rates" which mean last minute rates can't be attained and exclude nearly all available hotels.
3. They don't include [email protected] or Pr€mier Inn or any other budget provider.
4. They dont search for advanced or split train or plane tickets - so the cost is v high.
5. The Agent charge a fortune in commission and won't clear up problems when asked.
6. If we book ourselves the expenses are not paid for up to a month and a half.
7. Company will not provide personal credit cards
You are probably asking the question " if the company settles these high prices direct - then what's the problem?" Well the problem is that the excess charge/cost comes straight off my team and personal income on which we are paid!!
I have kept a tally. Booking myself saves £200 to £500 per month, but it means I'm carrying £700- £2,000 of costs myself ( that's right, TWO THOUSAND POUNDS at any one time) we are a single income family, so it's hard.
I have a credit card and try to fastidiously pay off in full but the monthly payment cycle is often out of Sync with expenses payout.
I'm registered on line for all hotel chains and train companies, have the apps and collect all points and [email protected]
Any suggestions?
[purplesignup][/purplesignup]
"Is it that the future is so uncertain, the present so traumatic that we find the past so secure? " Spike Milligan
0
This discussion has been closed.
Latest MSE News and Guides
Replies
Get a 0% card ideally with points, air miles etc and use that, depending on credit given it should allow you to carry it all on credit only making a minimum payment then paying off once costs are reimbursed. You should be able to get a 12 month or higher period and then get a new 0% card closer to expiry date.
Add in the fact you can use quidco or become a member of a hotel scheme then you could benefit. If I recall quidco used to be 10% cashback in hotels.com and hotels.com also have a scheme of getting 1 free night every 10 away which could be used for family breaks. Effectively 20% back.
There is a question as to whether company would be in favour or should get the saving, but given you’ve reduced the cost for them and the savings won’t show on invoices then it feels fine to use the benefit.
Can you get them to give you an advance perhaps, so you can pay in full every time?
Failing that, charge them for the interest you accrue if they pay late.
I would just ensure that all expenses reports are done sooner. Im lucky where i am in regard to thhere being 2x expenses runs a month so normally get paid within 3 weeks.
One question... if you are using a ccd then surely you should have enough delay on that before payment date is here, making sure you have received the funds?
I worked for the NHS for all of my working life, so we rarely went away, but there was the odd training or conference. For many years, there was a standard 'no receipt needed for expenditure under £10'. So many of us would stay with friends or family, buy a bottle of wine or flowers and claim a few quid.
Until auditors decided this was ripe for misuse! I pointed out that in order not to be out of pocket on a training planned for later that month, I would:
Pay B&B for 2 nights + 2 dinners, total cost (at that point) about £120. This was apparently a better use of public money than claiming under £10 to buy my friend in the next road a bottle of wine (I'm a nurse so I didn't understand)
Your friend is right to be dubious.
In a previous company I worked for, I was the only UK employee, so booking flights, hotels, hire cars etc for travel round Europe and the Middle East was up to me. At first I thought I’d get a small travel company to handle bookings for me so I didn’t have the hassle. Their rates were (iirc) £30 just for booking short haul and £50 for long haul flights, for example. Needless to say I didn’t bother.
Another company I worked for did a deal with a well known travel / charge card company, and made it compulsory that everyone booked through them. In return the senior management got automatic upgrades to business/first class tickets. Perks like that are often the real reason behind the excuses given.
Unless you can explain how company policy directly affects you, which makes no sense, I cant assist.
The fact the company allow you to book yourself and claim back is a bonus.
Let me explain : we are each run with our own P&L and given a bonus based on personal profit. Therefore if the travel expense quantum is £5k higher than it needs to be over a year then that netted off my profit and therefore income.
What's more is that I incur much more travel expense than other colleagues as I have a roving brief.
Many businesses are moving to this model
Any advice welcome
Yes, indeed, I think they new management forgot they were dealing with nurses who have 'no unnecessary expenditure' drummed in to them from Day 1, and go away so little that 20 claims would be immediately noticed!
However, I think this had to apply to everyone. And they got their wish to save money as I stayed with my friend and paid for the wine & flowers myself!