NewArrival

In reading FlyerTalk for the past year I've enviously watched as hundreds of inspiring people mention that their jobs include travel that's reimbursed because it's work-related. Sounds amazing. I wish I were among you but my work doesn't pay for travel. What kinds of jobs/industries do you have that reimburse for flights, hotel stays, car rentals? I'm really curious and can try to guess a handful but would love real-life examples. If you'd rather PM to be less publicly personal that's understandable but if anyone wants to toss an idea or two, or a list, into the ring, I'd like to see it and get some creative tips, whether traditional or not! Thanks very much.

milesrunner

Wow, that's an interesting question that get's overlooked. Why would our bosses pay us to travel?

In my case, as an engineer, I need to get on-site to do planned tasks, and troubleshoot problems when plans go wrong. I go to meetings with large groups working on the same projects, I visit systems that I am responsible for to make sure they are working right. Many things can be done remotely, but being there is much more productive.

CDKing

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/commu...s-have-ft.html

Cholula

Moving this to TravelBuzz.

Please follow at its new location.

Thanks.

___________________

Cholula
CommunityBuzz! Co-Moderator

debua1k

I am a software developer and work at various client sites... My college degree was in accounting and I am also a CPA, but work as a developer of financial systems for fortune 500 companies

clacko

do you want to get a job that requires travel?....

note the link above.....there are many threads on this....search miles buzz in addition to travel buzz....good luck...

chgoeditor

Off the top of my head, my job & the jobs of friends & family who travel for business include:
Journalist
Meeting planner
Software sales
HR professional
Manager overseeing several call centers
Research scientist
Professor
Marketing consultant
Management consultant
Lawyer
Accountant
Investment banker
CEO
CFO
Software engineer
Marketing manager
Ad copywriter
Brand manager
Account executive
Nurse
Doctor
Actor
Film director
Musician
Corporate trainer
Corporate banker
Plant manager
Trade show planner
PR person
Association manager

QueenOfCoach

" but my work doesn't pay for travel"

My work does not pay anyone for travel. They pay employees to work. Sometimes travel is necessary to get to work site.

t325

Your employer requires you to travel and doesn't pay for it?

I'd be looking for a new job.

Yaatri

If you travel for work, a decent employer will reimburse you for work related expenses. On a trip to Australia, my employer reimbursed me for hotel, taxi. currency exchange fees and SIM card.
If travel is what you want to do, you can do it on your own also. Since 2000, almost all my travel has been on my dime. My entire family was elite, Platinum for a few years. You hang around here, learn the tricks and travel.
If you have job related expenses that are not reimbursed by your employer, you can take a deduction on your return, provided you itemize and your deductions exceed a certain percentage of your income. I have never come across an employer who did not reimburse for hotel/car/flight expenses as long as it was required for work, although one did play unfairly. They refused to pay me the Govt per diem on a trip to London. The boss claimed the policy was to pay $60 a day for overseas trips. I put down the Govt per diem anyway on my expense report. He refused to sign it. I asked him to give his denial in writing, but he wouldn't do that. In London, $60 doesn't go very far.

pinworm

Work travel is not like pleasure travel. Sometimes, it's downright horrific, and it's not to places of YOUR choice. It can be good sometimes, but it's a mixed bag for sure. Zurich 5 star hotel one week, Tulsa "Days Inn" the next.

I myself work for an international company that owns subsidiaries all over the world. It's my job to both conduct financial audits and fraud investigations. This means a schedule that requires covering ALL the locations in my area, and flying out for emergencies at the last minute. I have Europe and the US, but I sometimes go to Asia. Depending on the location, it can be wonderful or hellish, but there can be alot of pressure and disorientation too.

I sometimes get so screwed up on time zones I cannot even begin to guess where I am in relation to them. I go 9 ahead on tuesday, on saturday 12 back, on monday 3 ahead, 24 by thursday. I frequently wake up at 3 am, fully alert and ready for lunch, then crash at 10 AM, exhausted while being hosted by Taiwanese who have no concept of jetlag and INSIST on showing you everything Taiwan has to offer..in a single afternoon before a marathon drinking session. I have (particularly in the US where hotels are generally the same) found myself in a hotel bathroom not only forgetting what city I was in, but on what continent and forgetting how long I had been there. I take drugs (benzodiazepines)..I have to if I want to sleep when it is dark. They have the effect of wiping the memory.

It is hard on the body, and can play with the mind too. A few years ago I temporarily gave it all up for an assignment at the office. And lasted 5 months before going nuts. I would rather be airsick in coach during a 14 hour flight than be healthy in a cubicle, listening to the office hens take 2 hours to plan a cake party. As painful as it is, I am not sure I could give it up. It gets in your blood.

And your family hates you for it!

darthbimmer

The reality of business travel is seldom amazing. You may imagine it's a charmed life, but consider the following:

• A lot of us fly coach, even on long flights. That means cramped seats and surly service.
• We spend hours in airports, waiting in lines, eating bad food, and sitting hunched over computers in dull waiting lounges.
• We stay near our customers/clients/teams/etc. That often means well-worn hotels near the boring suburban office parks where they work.
• Fancy hotels and meals? Most of us have limited expense accounts.
• A hot night on the town? After working until 6:30 (or later) and allowing for 2-3 hours of work in the evening to research issues and catch up on communications I was unable to handle while interacting with my customer, there really isn't time to trek into town to hit up the clubs. Usually I settle for a relaxing dinner in the hotel restaurant or somewhere nearby.
• Go sightseeing? The company's paying me to work, not play. Sometimes I can extend a business trip for a bit of leisure, but for various reasons that usually doesn't work out.

What makes this all worthwhile? I'll tell you, it's not the travel. The travel is occasionally exciting but on balance it's draining. For me the upside is the customer interaction. If all I wanted was travel I'd go back to a desk job like I had years ago. Back then I traveled frequently in my time off and always enjoyed it.

jcwoman

What the last two posters said; it gets old quick. At my last job, I would have to travel to customer sites - Continental US and Hawaii. Here's a great example, last summer, I was sent to Honolulu for a week. Our customers paid us for a full week of training or whatever I was supposed to do onsite, which meant that I flew on Sunday in order to step into the customer's office at 8am on Monday morning. I usually stretched the meaning of "full week of work" by booking my return flight on Friday afternoon/evening. I was salaried, exempt and never paid for overtime, so I resented having to spend my weekends travelling for work any more than I could get away with. I tolerated the Sunday travel, but tried to return earlier than Saturday.

On this particular trip, I flew on Sunday as per usual. The total travel time from Northern Virginia to Honolulu was around 10 or so hours. So a full travel day on Sunday.

I bailed on Friday morning, given the long flight time. Only after I arrived in LAX were we informed that my LAX - IAD flight was canceled, so then I was presented with a choice. Take the next available redeye or spend the night in the airport hotel and fly on Saturday. Not being paid overtime, I opted for the redeye in order to get home sooner. I don't regret the decision but it was pretty brutal. There were no non-stop redeyes from LAX to IAD, so I had a connection in Denver. All in all, it was a 23-hour return trip. The honolulu flight left at 7am local time, and I stepped foot in my house at 6am on Saturday, local time.

And then spent most of Saturday sleeping. What really bugged me the absolute most was that nobody at work appreciated what I went through. It's just par for the course when you have a travel job. If I demanded to fly on Mondays and Fridays, allowing the customers only three days, I'd have probably been fired. Ask to be paid or otherwise compensated for my weekends spent flying for work? Laughed at. I don't work there anymore. It's just not for me. Sacrifice is fine if you're in upper management or the company owner. But a bottom rung employee? I don't think so.

kb1gra

I'm a consultant, just got put on the travel rotation and my situation is a little different than most.

I guess it depends on the company you work for to some extent. Since my project budgets are client defined, some are stingier than others. Some will pay for the W or Mandarin, others will pay for a Days Inn.

I'd say the average pays for coach airfare, standard compact rental car, and marriott/hilton level properties, and reasonable food. Some will pay for alcohol, others won't. Some clients allow business class for flights over 5 hours, I'd say that's not the norm now though.

We generally fly out on the first flight out Monday morning, and we are permitted to return by the terms of our contracts on Thursday evening. There is little weekend travel, and it's one of the reasons I work for the firm I do.

However, when we're on a client project, we fly to the SAME place every week for 6 months to 1 year. It's not a different place every week or multiple times a week like a lot of business travelers I know. And sometimes we get a week break where we work remotely from home, which is nice.