Originally Posted by
MXM135
Have you told the hotels that you are not on official government business and that this is leisure travel? I didn't say that individuals don't get the rate. I stated that members might not be getting it legally, according to the rules. Some employers would frown upon this. I know that I have asked several hotels if it were permissible and their response was - "No, you must be on official government business."
mxm135
Yes, normally the hotel knows that I am not on official business as I make it clear that my fiancee and I will be spending time there and interested in their leisure activities in advance. :-:
To your second point of employers frowning upon this I must say it is quite to the contrary with me. My employer (large Gov contractor) actually
encourages us to use the negotiated Gov't and Corporate rates we have for ALL of our travels. They say it helps them get the great rates (which are sometimes better than Gov't rates) at the hotels.
In fact, there was a lot of discussion here at my work (alot of us travel) about the legality of this. To quell fears and encourage employees to use these rates (including Gov't rate) they brought in government travel liasons associated with our line of work to give presentations and get the word out.
Odd for sure but it worked. Everyone here I know of travels on Gov't / Corp rates (depending on which is better) during leisure travel.