GMTmin8

Company decided not to reimburse mileage to airport, if airport is closer to home than work.

Now instead of having DH drop me off for $X, I Uber for $6X.

tehspecs

Have DH sign up to be an uber driver and exclusively drive you.

HMO

I just don't recoment to enroll your car...

darthbimmer

There's quite a bit of precedent for that. I believe it's rooted (in the US) in tax law, as well. If, as an employee, your first work location of the day is closer to home than your office, your trip to that work location is considered your commute and is not tax deductible-- either to you as the individual if you claim unpaid business expenses, or to the business if it reimburses you. If the company reimburses your expense they may have to count it as a fringe benefit.

My dad told me about this years ago when he was a traveling salesman with a driving territory and having to use his own car. He always tried to structure his day so his first and last customer visits were close to home. That optimized the reimbursable miles. After several years of that he got a company-issued vehicle and it became a nonissue.

That's definitely one way to do it.

My wife does it that way-- takes Uber instead of having me run her to/from the airport-- because her company's expense system makes it ridiculously hard to report mileage expenses. Uber receipts go through easily. The company ultimately spends more money by being overly tough on mileage.

shuigao

This reply a bit late, but both my current and previous companies (also FI's) requires the itemized receipt. Credit card slip not accepted for claims.

eigenvector

I think it's something to do with local tax rules... I work for a multinational and for US-based employees CC slip only is OK for transactions under a certain threshold but for Canadian and European employees all expenses must be itemized (AFAIK in order to claim back the VAT/GST).

HMO

My ex-wife worked in a company where they didn't reimburse cab to the airport if the airport is closer to home than the office.

But they reimburse the parking...

RichMSN

I used a car service when I lived about an hour from Boston on trips longer than 4 nights -- it was cheaper than mileage and parking.

What a nightmare it was getting this approved, but it was quite nice once it was.

roberino

Despite having knocked 40% off my travel bill last year I'm now being asked to knock a further 20% off for 2017. Among the things suggested:

1. Don't have dessert.
2. Find somewhere to have breakfast outside the hotel.
3. Maximum rental car rate of £80 per day without prior consent (vs £100 before).
4. Same for hotel rate.
5. No alcohol unless with a customer.
6. If with a sales person on sales business they pay for everything except flights and hotel.

My issues with this:

1. This will save about £20 a year.
2. Most of my stays are 1 night, so I have to spend time every morning finding an open cafe instead of being ready for my day.
3. It's location specific, so it won't change my average.
4. Ditto, plus I'm not staying in a flea pit. I'd just refuse to go. Ever tried staying in Switzerland for <£100 a night???
5. Penny pinching. Won't make a dent in the overall figure.
6. Just gonna piss off someone else's boss and won't save the company money!

Fa Hz

No dessert? that's criminal!!

LOL, now seriously, my company strategy to reduce travel expenses: ban all travel..only business critical. Shortly after i left cause it was going downhill

roberino

I'm amused by the notion that people are going on business travel when it's not critical.

gobluetwo

No dessert? Maybe it's a health and wellness initiative

Proudelitist

For example:

A few years back the company insisted we used a preferred vendor for car rentals. It was Avis..even with the discount code, a quick comparison shop revealed that it was still generally the most expensive option. When I used Hotwire to book cars I paid anywhere from 20 to 60% less..and even non-discounted rates at other companies were cheaper. We watched our expense reports inflate immediately.

At another company I had to book a trip to London. BA had different rates for their SAN-EGLL direct depending on the day you departed and returned. If you went Monday to Friday, it was $1300 each way. If you went Tuesday to Tuesday, it was $375 each way.

When I went to my boss and suggested I go Tuesday to Tuesday and that the savings would be $1850 (after the weekends hotel and meals, still about 1200 cheaper) his response was "We aren't going to pay you for a weekend in London." Ummmm...okay..and he was an accountant who should really have known better. I ended up going Monday to Friday.

milepig

I actually agree with this. Assuming that you weren't working on those weekend days, I'm assume that the 2 nights and meals would be out of my own pocket and I'd enjoy myself in London as a mini-vacation with the office pickup up the transportation costs.

milepig

"No alcohol except with a customer" is a very standard expectation.

I never eat breakfast at a hotel unless its included in the rate. Usually wildly overpriced, and I don't need much for breakfast anyway. I'm actually fine with the in room coffee (or often free in the lobby) along with a breakfast bar that I pack a supply of.

In many cases my loyalty gives me access to a lounge and that is often both my evening meal and morning breakfast.