Originally Posted by
Kevin AA
Your mortgage payment does not change if you're gone for a few days, or even a few weeks.
Your car payment does not change if you're gone for a few days, or even a few weeks.
When you go on a business trip, you get FREE meals, and you can collect points for the airline trip and hotel stay. It's actually a money-maker.
When I traveled for business all the time 20 years ago, I collected hundreds of thousands of FF miles and hotel points. I used them later for lots of free trips by air and lots of free stays in a hotel.
People who complain about the free hotel breakfast and want to charge a more expensive breakfast have an attitude problem. If they're important enough to the company, fine. But if you're replaceable, think twice. For crying out, is your breakfast demands really going to make a serious dent in your bank account if you pay for it yourself?
Not everyone makes money while they are away. Having to hire a pet sitter, put a mail stop on or have someone go in to water your plants and remove the newspapers from your front door and shovel your walkway are expenses you wouldn't have if you were working in the office and are typically not reimbursed. Others may have child care costs they wouldn't normally incur, additional cell phone charges to call home, and whilst at home they could watch their cable tv, out of country they may have to pay, say, Itunes to watch a movie or TV show to stop them going stir crazy. I make healthy vegetarian food at home most days, and don't eat much in the way of fast food. Therefore I am not going to be content with fast food when I am out of the office either. I know some companies don't reimburse lunch or coffees (on the basis that you have to pay for lunch and coffee anyway if you were in the office) but that is a load of bull, because buying lunch is far more expensive than brown bagging it from home or using the work kettle.