Originally Posted by
cepheid
Even if that is the case, so what? It has no bearing on whether upgrading is ethical. If a company requires all of its employees to only buy Economy, with no incentive, it's not unethical for the employee to upgrade using his/her own resources. If the company merely suggests it and offers an incentive, then again, as long as the passenger buys the lowest fare possible to meet the terms and/or spirit of the TSP, it's still not unethical.
I guess there are different companies and different policies. The company I work for right now is concerned not only with keeping expenses to a minimum, but also being
seen to keep expenses to a minimum. That means economy flights and second class rail travel. And please believe me, this is causing pain for a lot of people, and I wouldn't help myself either internally or externally if I were to be seen travelling in higher classes - whether I pay for it myself or not, and whether I am doing it for work or for leisure.
Other companies may have different policies, but it's a reasonable guide to follow a director's instincts. Therefore, if the OP's director thinks there's something dodgy about taking an incentive to trade down and then upgrading at one's own expense, it is probably in the OP's own interests to follow that steer however unreasonable it might appear.
In other professions, appearances matter the other way. If you are a member of the latest boy band, you would probably do well to travel in F, even though your life-time career earning potential may not be spectacular and even though you will be billed for the tix by the record company.