If your employer specified Y class travel would you pay the upgrade out of your own pocket or points?

I wouldn't for a flight but have paid the difference for an improved hotel room on business travel. The extra $50 a night meant the difference between the corporate-approved hotel that I loathed and a good night's sleep in a place I liked.

Corporate Flight Policies for Employees Booking Business/First Class?
 

Domestic: cheapest available Y fare. VP and above can fly J or F if over 4 hours (per segment, not overall trip time). If the VP is traveling on the same flight with a lower-ranked employee, that employee is also eligible for J/F.

Int'l: If the flight is under 4 hours, must be in Y,
otherwise biz. This rule applies to all employees. Technically, if you have a connection to a gateway (e.g., RDU to DFW), that leg would have to be in Y, even if the next leg (e.g., DFW to ICN) is in a premium cabin. In reality, we typically are booked by the TA into the front on both legs :-)

Lounge membership: not provided by the company. No worries, as I use my personal Amex Plat for this.

Preferred carriers: AA and DL.

Overall, a pretty generous travel policy, IMO.

Here's mine...

All employees must select the lowest available fare in Economy. Bookings must be made 14 days in advance of travel.

This applies to everyone, including the CEO - but he has a personal jet, so clearly he feels that Economy is not the way to travel.

Business Class can be used in these circumstances:Generous, huh?

Are there even any commercial nonstop flights over 18 hours long?

Each leg can include one connection, so if you are going to the opposite side of the planet it's possible.

It had crossed my mind that they might not actually want anybody to be able to use this part of the policy. :(

VP or above: Business for 5+ hour domestic flights or TATL/TPAC
Director: Business for TATL/TPAC only when traveling with VP or with VP approval
Everyone else: Coach, no matter what.

The only flight in the world is SQ21 SIN-EWR and it is ending Nov this year.

With the same success policy writers could write that Earth-Moon or longer flights are eligible for C class.

Interesting definition of "road warrior"

Australian Company

9+ Hours = "Employee can elect to travel business class"

So Sydney -> Singapore = Economy due to 7.5 hours.

Sydney -> Hong Kong = Business due to 9 hrs 5 mins


I am yet to fly business yet. 3 trips so far (all over 9 hours) however I decided it was best to fly 1 in economy, 1 in full fare economy (rule due to it being a sales conference - all staff in economy), 1 in Premium Economy.

I should do the next trip in business so at least I can hit gold status.

Business for any flight over three hours, domestic or international. Seems very generous in comparison to what else I've read here....

That's music to an employer's ears. Because if it's really true, it means we could book you in Y and you'd pay the extra for J yourself, cos, like, you don't value cash over comfort.

Under 6 hours - Economy+/Comfort/Extra Room/ETC, or Economy if the particular flight doesn't offer an upgraded economy.

Over 6 hours or TATL - Business Class/Premium

Over 12 hours - First

Certain travel billed to the client under 12 hours can be First as well if agreed to in the contract.

Also regarding the discussion above of only highly paid employees being worth expensive travel, that may or may not be true depending on the industry. One of my past companies sent $50k a year technicians on F to client sites all the time and needed them to be well rested and ready to work on arrival.

Domestic: airfare must be within $100 of least expensive economy fare available for non-billable travel. For billable, it's typically best judgement, since we have requirements to be at client sites generally by 10AM on outbound travel days and cannot leave the client site until 3PM on return days. However, lowest available economy fare within the aforementioned parameters is required, and typically in my role, we book 1-2 months in advance. Airfare over $800 requires director (1 level below SVP) approval. This applies even to the CEO, though anyone has the option of buying an upgrade out of their own pocket, whether via cash, points, SWU, etc. Sales team might have the option of purchasing FC on the outbound portion if they have same day meetings, but that is just speculation. I also speculate that other departments book more flexible fares that make upgrades at booking a feasibility. But basically, our company does not deem anyone 'entitled' to FC fare unless significant hardship can be proven, and prefer to use other methods to provide incentive to frequent travelers (including exec. team).

International: All international travel requires SVP approval, and must be booked through company travel agency (use of travel agency is optional for domestic billable). Within $200 of lowest fare economy, unless:
1. Travel is billable, resource has to stay 5+ weeks at international site, and project SOW indicates resources can book business class fare.
2. Resource has taken 6+ flights in the calendar year deemed "international long haul". In order to qualify for this, flight must have at least one single leg of 9+ hours. The resource's 6th flight can qualify for business class fare on the outbound leg only. A lot of times the company eats this expense on behalf of the hardship endured by the resource.

For both scenarios 1 and 2 in International (assuming they meet the criteria), the resource can alternatively book two lowest economy fare tickets and bring a companion.

I think it is a reasonable policy, and have never understood why companies use F cabin bookings as some sort of entitlement for high level execs (do they not realize most of this comes out of their own pockets in the form of diminished company net income, resulting in decline of any stock/equity holdings?).

US F500

domestic coach, transoceanic with a leg >6h business, no F. senior execs may fly the jets, even domestically, with approval.

True but the execs share of the stock decline is less than the benefit they individually receive when flying F.