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is it cruel when company policy only allow coach on 15-hour flight, even for the CEO?

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is it cruel when company policy only allow coach on 15-hour flight, even for the CEO?

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Old Feb 11, 2015, 3:31 pm
  #121  
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Originally Posted by brendog
As a data point, I survived 4 flights in Y of 8+ hours in the last 10 days without dying even once.
We only have your word for that. Can you get a second opinion ?
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Old Feb 11, 2015, 6:45 pm
  #122  
 
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Last edited by brendog; Nov 18, 2015 at 3:39 pm
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Old Feb 11, 2015, 7:56 pm
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Originally Posted by brendog
As a data point, I survived 4 flights in Y of 8+ hours in the last 10 days without dying even once.
People survived 10 years in Siberian prison camps..I suppose that should be the starting point of any future discussions on discomfort.
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Old Feb 12, 2015, 3:40 am
  #124  
 
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Originally Posted by Ber2dca
People survived 10 years in Siberian prison camps..I suppose that should be the starting point of any future discussions on discomfort.
Maybe, but you wouldn't put up with that in a contract of employment, would you?
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Old Feb 12, 2015, 6:50 am
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Originally Posted by roberino
Maybe, but you wouldn't put up with that in a contract of employment, would you?
You wouldn't, but I can foresee a time when it becomes industry practice by large corporate employers.
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Old Feb 12, 2015, 8:01 am
  #126  
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Originally Posted by pinniped
That's certainly a "side effect" of booking late: a Y/B fare often ends up at the top of the upgrade queue, especially when combined with an elite status. Sometimes even assigns the F/J seat at booking time.
You are probably right ^
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Old Feb 12, 2015, 12:12 pm
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Last edited by brendog; Nov 18, 2015 at 3:37 pm
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Old Feb 12, 2015, 12:27 pm
  #128  
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Originally Posted by brendog
Yes, a Soviet gulag is exactly the same thing as 32" of seat pitch and sh!tty food for 10 hours.
No, gulag prisoners probably had more legroom than that... The gruel was probably better, too.
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Old Feb 12, 2015, 12:32 pm
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Last edited by brendog; Nov 11, 2015 at 8:08 pm
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Old Feb 12, 2015, 12:33 pm
  #130  
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Originally Posted by brendog
As a data point, I survived 4 flights in Y of 8+ hours in the last 10 days without dying even once.
Are you really still alive or are you just asking us to believe it because you don't want Delta to confiscate your miles?

Mike
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Old Feb 12, 2015, 12:35 pm
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Last edited by brendog; Nov 11, 2015 at 8:07 pm
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Old Feb 13, 2015, 9:44 am
  #132  
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Originally Posted by Artpen100
I would agree with this policy, too. This addresses what I perceive to be one of the reasons why some companies (like my own) only pay economy regardless of time in the air, and that is to provide an incentive to employees who don't pay much attention to find the cheapest business class available, and upgrade with miles or instruments whenever possible. Because, frankly, many of my colleagues would buy $7K business class when $4K was available (or $2K plus 40K miles) if we didn't have the "only economy" rule. Our company has mostly domestic travel, and even on domestic flights, we have an issue with procrastinators paying $1K+ at the last minute when with a little planning they'd pay half that. I've sometimes bought early and taken a cheap upgrade offer out of my own pocket to get into domestic first when my colleagues on the same flight have paid much more to sit in the rear row. It still surprises me that there are a lot of people out there who have assistants book their travel, don't pay attention to minimizing the expense by booking early, to the quality of the airline, to whether they are on a large plane or regional jet, to their mileage accounts, to their connections, to SDCs, don't check in online, and so on, not to mention not bother about upgrades (though they will let you know if they see you in the front cabin).
Sounds like your company has bad financial controls.

At our company, all international travel has to be booked 17 days in advance. Booking inside of those requires approval from your department's executive committee member (most senior level of management). If you seek that approval, you better have a good reason as to why you were not able to book earlier. I find that it effectively discourages this type of behavoir.
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Old Feb 13, 2015, 11:44 am
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Last edited by brendog; Jun 5, 2015 at 4:20 pm
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Old Feb 13, 2015, 6:21 pm
  #134  
 
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Other than conferences/continuing ed and trials waaay out in the future, we rarely get 2+ weeks notice. The closest call I've had was getting a call around ~2am to see if I could be in NYC by 9am (from Florida). Ended up driving to the next larger city and hopping on the first flight of the morning. Buddy passes to the rescue!
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Old Feb 17, 2015, 2:01 am
  #135  
 
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Originally Posted by DutchShip
Obviously I cannot name the company on a public forum, but our CEO is well-known for being frugal, extremely frugal. He/she only rides in coach on long flights likes LAX-SYD and JFK-NRT. At least the policy applies to anyone from the janitorial staff all the way to the CEO him/herself.

My question is... isn't this cruel and unusual punishment? To be fair, the company is a joy to work for. I would give up sex forever for lifetime employment at the company.
I think you answered the question yourself. In fact, I would go further and say that the very reason you find the company so wonderful to work for is precisely that the CEO practices what he preaches. No doubt this philosophy is implemented in other areas of the company, and I would guess that it filters down to the lower echelons as well.

Personally, I would find coach on a long flight very difficult, especially if I needed to work on arrival/return, but your example seems to illustrate a good culture of corporate governance which permeates the company and makes working for them a pleasure - so if long trips are not all that regular it could well be a price worth paying.
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