Ancient Observer

The Basic Business was part of a b2b sales pitch/presentation of ideas.
Nothing to do with leisure.
It was focussed on a Big Brit Co with lots of transatlantic flights. BA not currently their preferred supplier, (in the contect of a corp where preferred means you will fly with them or else).

As no one else seems to have heard of it, I suspect it was "flying a kite". Maybe that's all it was with the first time I heard of it.

TBD

Asking companies about it doesn't mean corporates are BA's target.

Probably is a hail mary. A UK company with lots of xatl traffic, but without a BA deal, isn't going to have sufficient spend to drive BA's strategy.

Egoldstein

I have not heard this, but think it is interesting in the trial balloon context, where the company floats some new ideas to see what the reaction is. While the people filling the seats might be less than happy with the new ideas, the key issue is if it might sway purchasing managers into making BA a preferred carrier.

I find this interesting on two fronts: 1) BOB for short-haul was floated for some months before the initial announcement with lots of people insisting it would never be introduced and that it contradicted with BA's brand; and also, 2) to my knowledge, previous corporate perks were about adding amenities, like F-class for company directors or gold cards for the company or seat reservations for in-house TAs, this is the first that I've heard of a potential BA product that is trimmed from the traditional product for a corporate account.

Someone above made a comment that BA is accountable to shareholders, and in similar fashion, so are corporate purchasing managers and CFOs. If BA can consistently offer a discount to trim back some perks, I could see a few beancounters saying yes.

TBD

I think a bit shortsighted.

Travel policies can also influence talent retention, which can be far more costly than the difference in airfare.

Egoldstein

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Unfortunately, the trends I observe is that extreme bean counting has often outweighed a lot of common-sense judgement. Or as I said in the discussion of the IT debacle: "Penny wise, (One hundred million) pound foolish"

nufnuf77

Indeed, had it not been for my travel allowances, working from home, hotel points, etc.. I don't think I would be working where I currently am.

apollo00

I think increasingly companies are questioning this. I've found it increasingly hard to maintain a 'business only' clause in my contract in the last few years despite increasing seniority.

I have some sympathy as I think the economic arguments for it in terms of productivity are pretty weak and it's primarily a perk for the frequent traveller. Given that and that, outside this forum, I expect few people are prepared to walk away from a job offer over travel policy, I can see it making some sense to cut back.

World Traveller Fuss

Let's see what Brexit brings...

"Is there ANYTHING we can do to tempt you to move to Frankfurt??"

Calchas

"No."

SonTech

I know a few friends whose companies now fly people out a day before hand in economy and give them a day to rest before starting work as it's working out a lot cheaper than flying them business class then going straight to work. So companies are cutting back on business class travel. Doing a basic business class ticket could then make them go back to flying business class again.
Obviously doesn't work that way for those that have to go short notice like the next day.

apollo00

Our company strongly prefers that those travelling long haul stay over a saturday night to get the cheaper fares. This, like the extra day for 'rest', is a popular option in my experience and surprisingly popular with younger staff who are quite happy to throw a couple of days holiday on the end of their once a quarter business trip.

For those of us doing 100 sectors a year it's obviously inappropriate...I would like to spend some time at home...