Try scheming for someone with authority to change the policy to be sent on a similar trip.

In one place that I worked in expenses were on a per diem basis. Someone contrived to get the chief exec to visit Chicago and booked him into a hotel that he would consider was appropriate for his status, but cost noticeably more than our per diem rate for the USA. At the next review the rate doubled!

Such machinations don't always work, but the success rate can be quite high.