zkzkz

I think a lot of companies have pretty crazy policies about travel but there are some mitigating factors:

1) Do you also have to book through your company travel agent? If so there may be discounts or rebates of which you're unaware. The company may not really be paying 1800 in the end.

Or they may be paying 1800 this year but hoping to get enough spend with BA to go back and negotiate better rates next year. If you have to book with the company credit card it's possible they can do this even if you don't book through a travel agency.

In general the "special fares" companies get when they have an exclusive deal usually end up being something of the general form that they end up paying what you would expect to pay for a non-flexible fare but they get a higher flexible fare instead.

2) Is your work billable? Some companies have contracts with clients that dictate how their contractors fly or the hotels they stay at. It's really important for them that the contractors book and stay those ways because otherwise they can be accused of billing fraud.

In the case of billable contractors it can make sense to purchase fully flexible tickets. If the trip gets canceled they'll have nowhere to bill the expense to. If it isn't they don't care what the expense was since it'll be billed through.

Instead of rebooking into a higher class paying the difference you could look into special deals. Airlines love people who pay more than necessary on flights and love throwing benefits at them. For example BA *often* has a deal where if you pay full price for a return business class flight you get a free upgrade to first in one direction. I'm not aware of any deals for full price economy but if you search around you may find something. Or you may find another airline whose generosity fits your travel pattern better (US airlines pretty much automatically upgrade domestic flights booked in full flex Y for example)

All in I wouldn't do what you're describing without clearing it in writing with your boss because it sounds like it violates the company policy. At most what I would consider doing is last minute upgrades at the airport. Unfortunately (from your point of view -- I happen to find it fortunate) I believe BA's upgrades are the same price regardless of the booking class and I believe you won't find their inflexible fares so cheap at such short notice.

frb98mf

What if you paid for a positioning flight from your own pocket, flew it in your own time, and booked ex-EU? You might then find that the fully-flex (or at least semi-flex with you shouldering any change/canx fees) WT+ or even CW is less for your company than a full-flex Y ex-LHR. That might be a win-win - you get the comfort and TPs, they save money and maintain flexibility. If you do any short-haul jetsetting for them, you might even combine with that and teach them about nesting...

By way of example, ex-TLV I-class to most eastern US destinations has semi-flex terms due to local legal requirements to do so, and costs under £2,000. Obviously a bit far for a positioning flight, but highlights the point!