squawk

jamesreid978

I haven't really thought of it that way before as I believe Y takes care of people fine within certain circumstances, mentioned up thread already, like I wouldn't be flying Y overnight on a long flight then going straight to a meeting with a customer, as it would mean I wouldn't be performing well at the meeting, nor would I be giving up my weekend to fly Y. To suggest that being sat in a seat eating food which is on a scale of slightly less edible than that offered on a seat which goes flat isn't being looked after properly is quite the statement to me, but obviously aware some people do require this. If someone NEEDS to fly J, as their belief is that Y isn't being properly taken care of or otherwise, then they should definitely mention this before taking up a job to ensure that everyone knows each other policies and both the potential employer and employee. In the situation I was interviewing for nobody, including senior management would fly in J and the position he was interviewing for was fairly junior, so it was clear both our expectations were not aligned.

I obviously much prefer to fly in Business/First than economy and do so when I it makes sense to me, but at the same time it isn't something that I rank highly when potentially choosing a new employer. I left an employer with a J policy for one with a W one as the job was a lot better, the travel policy wouldn't even come into the equation tbh. In the OPs situation, this is a new job within the same company, so it makes it slightly more complex. The point I was originally making, is that I wouldn't recommend paying out your own pocket to fund business travel and should look for ways for the company policy to work (only day flights/no weekend flying) or look for the company to accommodate the requirements of J (which I believe is the purpose of this thread).

thomasd21

littlefish

This is a useful illustration. Seems to me there was an opportunity here to negotiate but the candidate rather found a way to check a particularly large minus box.
It would be quite normal to raise the point in bold and to discuss what the employer saw as "possible" and "occasional"; both of which typically are appealing to me as long as I know where and, given that answer, how the travel arrangements would work. Tokyo and New York would be different for flight options but also I'd been super keen on hotel policies; Melbourne, Dubai or Jo'burg would lead to a slightly different line of enquiry by me.
Keenness to lead / support on different clients, savvy enough to build in veto or push-back when the opportunity moved on to 10 trips a year to tiring and more risky locations … never mind Y or J.

HMPS

Having done it and seen, met, talked to countless others most jobs quoted and won do include costs of travel. But to include travel time on "routine" travels is not popular here in the US. Specialists or emergencies aside.....

Ldnn1

CKBA

Working in the US we have a 'Y' policy. However, I try to get PE where possible (never Business since that would be tooooooo obvious). This is on the basis that the regulations are ancient so that PE doesn't exist - so as long as it says 'economy' it's usually doable; typically the BA 'full tier points' (not full fare Y) is more expensive than PE and; if flying to Europe, it's often cheaper to get a ticket to LHR then use avios for onward to Europe. Fiddly, but doable.

(I would note that many of the instigators of such policies don't travel: travelling LH in Y and arriving at 7am for a 9am meeting isn't productive!)

flying_pig

It's actually fairly common to negotiate class of travel as part of an employment contract and something I've often done. Of course it's highly dependent on seniority (as squawk pointed out). In my current organisation I know of a few exceptions and they are all for Senior Management roles (ie: 10 or so employees in the context of a NYSE publicly traded company). Middle management wouldn't get that sort of leeway. The company's travel policy is tiered depending on seniority, but clearly mentions "unless otherwise dictated by contract" (usually individuals who've negotiated "highest available class of service", thus allowing intercontinental first class). Regardless, nobody flies economy long haul (ie: 6 hours or above) and I firmly believe this is the right approach.

With regards to the actual example, yes it can happen to have two Execs flying in different cabins. The CFO is smart enough to recognise that if he averages 6 long-haul flights per year whereas the Global CMO is visiting 60+ countries per year, the latter might appreciate a little more comfort to sustain those travel patterns.

amt

thomasd21

Fes426

Thanks for the input everyone! Definitely gives me something to think about
Offer should be coming in this week and I will ask about travel policy, will report back what their response was

HMPS

We all need to remember when the economy tanks, staff travels take a big hit. Down to Y or reduced frequency. . SO one can negotiate but let us remind ourselves : None of us are indispensable !

stockmanjr

It works if you provide enough value to the company that it makes it worthwhile for them. If you don't then you'll either have to comply with their policy or be looking for the next opportunity. To pull off something like that you really need to have a true understanding of how much you produce.
Cheers
Howie

Badenoch

Having worked under assorted travel regimes my practice for Y-only is to suck it up for daytime/evening flights under 5 hours. Red-eyes, overnight TATLs, long hauls are booked at the highest Y fare and either bumped to the lowest cost J on my dime/points or scheduled so I have a full calendar day without work upon arrival and return. I don't mind using the points because I probably earned them flying corporately and if paying my own money will defray the cost in other inventive ways.

Flexible preferences

I think your post illustrates my point about Y only travel policies - they may generate difficult feelings amongst employees, who may feel it is hard to voice their frustration in the corporate culture, and instead these feelings are driven underground to sneakiness and inventiveness in order that they can take responsibility for their own travel self-care. If they won't pay one way, they'll pay in another