Originally Posted by techgirl
A few examples:
* If I select an airfare that is even $5 more expensive than another that our travel department finds (and mine could be a nonstop with reasonable times and theirs a three-stop on three carriers arriving at 1 am), my boss gets an e-mail flagging the refusal. If the airfare is over $500, even if it is the lowest available, I have to get someone over me (in my case, executive committee level) to sign off on it. $500, people... and its client billable!
I had the same issue, with the same flags. If we refused the lowest fare provided to us, then the ops manager got an e-mail the following day.
Prime example: I had to go DEN-PIT. UA had a direct flight for IIRC $800. The HP flight, changing in Phoenix with a 2 hour layover was $500. All in all, I would spend four more hours on the HP flight. In addition, I would have to leave the office earlier (non-productive), would not have the opportunity to get an upgrade, thus not being able to work on the plane. (non-productive) I would arrive in PIT and get to my hotel at 11pm instead of 7pm for a 7am meeting the next day.
But we saved $300.
After that, I would send an e-mail to our travel coordinator every time I found a fare that was better than the one they gave me. For some reason, my efficiency was not recognized.