Fendant

Well in our company we have a very simple policy, if we travel together we are all booked into the same class. As nobody has F class privileges any more, my collegues fly biz if we are on the same flight. Anything else we consider inappropiate.

Suggest you fly a day earlier to avoid immediate water cooler gossip and future problems and with your collegues

CalFlyer

Irrespective of company travel policy, the OP's situation can easily be problematic. I would not so much be concerned about the two co-workers directly; they might be jealous, but depending on the OP's behavior will probably swallow it. It is more the second order effects that can be detrimental. In today's world, "perceptions" often drive career decisions.

In our company, we had a Partner who booked an F-flight to a global meeting where everybody else was booking C. He explained that it was due to a back injury which required him to lie flat. For anybody in his immediate environment, this explanation was good enough (we are a very social firm). But years later, the only thing people remembered was that "he is the guy who spoiled himself in F". He did not make it to senior Partner, by the way.

Of course, none of us knows the culture/environment in which the OP works, and maybe his company is the rare exception from the rule.

SFO777

Years ago in the corporate world, I traveled every week on the company dime and knew all the discount tricks, especially where I could fly F on a connection for the same price or less than Y on non-stops. Remember one trip (LAX-DEN-CLE) with a very straight laced lawyer from our legal department where I had convinced him to "trust me" on the flights. Naturally, one of our Group Presidents is on the DEN-CLE flight and makes a snide comment to the two of us on his way back to Y. Thought my lawyer buddy was going to have a coronary on the spot.

HadesNL

In my firm:
Its Y intra EU but we are expected that those with status will guest-in their collagues, travel as a group. C only allowed if op-up, use of own miles possible but intra EU C is not worth it so nobody does it.

Anything out of EU is always C, most colleagues i know have enough miles to upgrade to F but we all refrain because it can create a split. We do allow spouses and partners to travel along but it comes out of their own pocket. Then we had several instances that colleagues would travel Y with their significant other but they didnt get the faredifference back as it is by their own choce

HMPS

Good question, OP please conside it !

Decades ago, on a flt to a convention I was upgraded (domestic). I offered my boss the seat but he was the type who was genuinely happy for me and preferred traveling in his coach seat. So I did.

My boss never reacted adversely but the others, my peers, someone ranked a bit higher than me in another dept. made remarks about it and it got in the lore of how he is "not one of us " line that haunted me for years.
I should thank them as I got tired and struck out on my own, away from the BS of politics.

NA-Flyer

Actually he's the one to escort you to FCT after you hand him the F boarding pass for the DEN-FRA sector @:-)

keloutwest

Haha, I hope that the fact I flew F and saved the company $1000 gets broadcast to all 40-some thousand employees as an example of how a savvy traveler used his knowledge to save the company money. I'll even feature my rubber ducky from the FCT prominently on my desk.

RTW1

Don't kid yourself.... Sometimes being "smart" is considered quite something else....and I'm afraid your last post just proved my point.

CAlex

Not everybody works in a tight-a$$ corporate environment (I do, but my clients do NOT). If OP is in one of those situations, everybody will be fine with it, and I suggest making your story public at the gossip corner BEFORE the flight (e.g. "Check out the great glitch I found, but they closed the gap very fast"). This way you keep your colleagues close, and bosses won't even care, since you saved money after all.

Had same situation fee years back, when travelling with a group of 20 people (mgmt group) PRG-OTP, I was the only Gold with CSA. I made sure everybody knows about the free upgrade they give to Elites, made fun about it with the boss (he was on the flight too), guested 2 people to the lounge, everybody happy.

HMPS

I agree with you. The one person who could get you into the newsletter, there are thousands who will sinicker and some who are competitiors will find more ways to knock you down.

Had learned lesson : Let the boss be the HERO evn if you did the heavy lifting .

keloutwest

My goodness. Where do you guys work with such an uptight culture? I'd like to know so that I know to never ever work there. Yikes.

RTW1

I don't work with you and already don't like the attitude..... :-).

I'm not saying you shouldn't fly F but boasting about it..... a despicable attitude, even done on the cheap. And on someone else's dime as well....

HMPS

It is a Frtune 100 company. I do believe that politics is present in almost all companies...Even when you are the owner and discourage it, it goes on.

If you don't see / sense it you just might be really believe in all human beings type.

verve

Strange conversation and concerns in this thread: imagine the OP didn't pay for F but received an OPUP at check-in or at the gate. Should he decline just because he travels with co-workers?
Happened to me a couple of times but never thought this to be (and ist actually Never was) an issue since most folks know the mileage/status game.

CalFlyer

Very true, RTW1.

In today's world, corporations are more and more driven by compliance to rules and "normal behavior". I learnt that lesson myself, unfortunately. I am working for a firm that is a global leader in its field, regularly voted one of the better companies to work for. Because of our open culture, great working environment, and flexible job profiles. The norm for us is business class travel, short and long-haul. I used to voluntarily book economy flights on short hauls (because I just hate burning money, be it on corporate or personal dime) and deeply discounted biz flights on long hauls. You would think that this is somehow appreciated, right?

Reality: In our firm, nobody cares about "smartness" in travel bookings. To the contrary: In their regular reviews, our internal auditors suddenly had all kind of headaches ("is he charging private flights on corporate code since he is flying economy?"; "why did he book a fare where he paid a hefty change fee?" although I saved four times as much as the change fee due to a lower fare), and also management was somehow irritated ("why does he spend any time thinking about travel cost, is it distracting him from his work"). And colleagues found it weird that I was voluntarily sitting in economy.

So I have given up on any "smartness" in business travel. I used to save around 40-45% of travel costs, compared to my colleagues. Now I only take whatever the travel department books (and they are seriously clueless). And everybody is happy that I am so low profile in travelling now. I would never ever book an F-fare because it is cheaper than C, because second order effects can be unmanageable. And I fear many corporations tick like this nowadays, even the seemingly "cool" ones.