Originally Posted by
84fiero
Depending on the nature of the organization's travel, fully flexible, refundable tickets may be the best option in some instances. Where I work, most of the trips are often subject to change due to the kind of work involved and factors outside our control or influence. Using the cheapest, non-refundable tickets for those trips would, over the long run, cost more...as one manager learned the hard way once.
If you are a consultant being billed at $400 or $500 per hour (earning far less than that, natch), a time-value analysis easily justifies flexible tickets for your employer. Particularly if your firm is big enough to negotiate a discount.
I firmly agree with baccarat_king: a casino doesn't much care if you are gambling with personal money or company money. Neither should an airline. And yes, people who fly on OPM will very often keep flying on OPM at their next job too.
I might hate it personally, but if I ran an airline my FFP would look a hell of a lot more like DL/UA than AA.