I almost certainly have to take a trip end of Feb (MAN-CMB-KUL-MAN). At the moment I am Silver and need 9,000 tiermiles to get to gold (which I will easily do before my cut off). If I book the flights (all Y) at the moment then I will get 7875 so will not get to gold until the following trip. Last time I flew MAN-CMB-MAN it was a fairly late booking and so a higher fare bucket and so I got more miles.

My dilemma is do I book the flight now (or as soon as everything is confirmed) and get a cheaper price for my employer or do I wait another couple of weeks (can easily do that on the basis of I am waiting for confirmation of whether I should stay longer to do X, Y and Z) and risk (hope) that the cheap tickets have gone and so I will get more tier miles.

At the moment I am waiting for the travel agent to come back to me so I have a legit reason for not having booked yet but I expect her to get back to me Mon / Tue this week.

When I am gold it will save my employer money as I will have lounge access and so will not be claiming for drinks / snacks / Maharba lounge access on 4hr+ connections in DXB / departure airports so there is business reason in getting me to gold sooner rather than later.

Let the flame war begin! In judgment in my response.

My own view - never let your employer's view /an economic argument factor into anything to do with status, and keep it quiet that you even have that status. So put that to one side and think of status as a nice bonus.

Don't count on the saver fares not being on sale in a week or two.

Personally yes, I might game the system and wait until my travel plans are confirmed although I must say I'm impressed by how flexible EK tickets are. The questions you must as are will you get caught and will your employer care?

And I'm guessing that the mere fact you're asking suggests you think it's wrong?

Become self-employed and all these problems fade away...

My immediate boss is happy for us to fly on an airline of our choice if the difference in price isn't more than about �100.

The head of the division is happy to pay for lounge access and other small cost items that make our lives easier (and probably woudl sanction J if we could afford it but we can't)

(Previous head of division (who only travelled to sign agreements and shake hands) always flew Emirates J and used to boast about getting upgraded and having a shower on A380 to staff who were actually there working incredibly long hours and had travelled on KLM and Air Kenya (with 6 hrs in Nairobi airport) with no IEE)

Do what makes most sense for your business/employer. The status is completely irrelevant. You are not being paid to get status. Can't believe you had to ask the question. Also, change your employer - didn't know any company made its staff fly economy for long haul. Anything >6 hours should be in J.

lots of companies do...I might have to do a DXB LHR in y because of cost....policy is j but if I want to go its y....

Public sector so cost (including salaries) is major issue hence not flying business.

Status does benefit organisation as once we have it we save money on meals / drinks etc (or should I pay for my own meals/drinks etc when I have 6 hours in DXB).

(Over 4 weeks in Oct I did 3 Uk-Far East returns all in Y including one Far East to Uk for 60 hours (I had personal commitments back in UK otherwise I would have stayed out there))

How much money would status actually save your employer compared to the higher cost for the ticket?

Don't Emirates give you a free meal and drink if your over ? hours? They certainly used to.

It would be worthwhile going to the EK website and seeing how much more money the FLEX ticket is. Often times the price difference is quite low and might be worthwhile buying for the flexibility.

Public/private doesn't matter. It's about whether they care about their employees arriving ready to be productive. That's way more important than the cost itself. You should be able to claim all costs when travelling; the employer should not expect to benefit from your status, which belongs to you, not them.

I have seen many organizations with logic not really deciding the way the travel policy is written. That being said, if you have to ask, then you probably already know the answer.

everyone is all for it until you have to find someone to pay!

For my employer it is very important that we arrive refreshed at our work site and therefore we fly always Business or First (when Business is full ) when traveling for 4 hours or more. ( combined flight segments )
We are free to decide on the route and airline as long the price difference is not to big. ( normally 250 GBP )
The travel time is the decision factor regardless of the price. (within limits )

What is your employer's definition of 'traveling time' - is it counted from the time you step out of your house?

PS: If the answer is yes, could you please pm me your company as I would surely like to sign up...

Mine is over 6 hours at a certain grade...if its a work issue the department pay. I want to go to London for knowledge sharing/training - can go if I fly y....