Business travel - expensing refunded transactions
Apr 11, 2019, 2:54 pm
#91
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Most airline credits from cancelled tickets are nontransferrable. [Issues have arisen when someone buys a ticket for a SO and they break up, or if parents buy a vacation ticket to take the nanny but then the nanny quits or is fired.]
Apr 11, 2019, 3:10 pm
#92
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I think many of the programs now build free nights into the average room rate, to avoid this sort of a thing (pretty sure that's how AMEX does it).
Apr 11, 2019, 5:38 pm
#93
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My solution (sshhh) was to simply pad my billable hours enough to cover the ticket cost minus the change fee they were willing to reimburse me for, and to figure I would under bill on a future invoice if I actually got to use the ticket (which didn't happen). The responses in this thread make me feel that was an appropriate way to handle it. Raising a big stink with the client was not on the table, and I wished to continue to have them as a client (and the work did not require much travel).
Apr 11, 2019, 5:45 pm
#94
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My solution (sshhh) was to simply pad my billable hours enough to cover the ticket cost minus the change fee they were willing to reimburse me for, and to figure I would under bill on a future invoice if I actually got to use the ticket (which didn't happen). The responses in this thread make me feel that was an appropriate way to handle it. Raising a big stink with the client was not on the table, and I wished to continue to have them as a client (and the work did not require much travel).
Apr 25, 2019, 10:51 am
#95
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If you're reimbursed by per diem, then I figure you can spend as much or as little of it as you would like. But lying on an expense report over a few hundred dollars sounds like a good way to ruin a career.
Apr 25, 2019, 1:13 pm
#96
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I've avoided using the Citi Prestige benefit on business travel precisely because of the uneasy ethics around it. I don't think it's right to bill a client for an expense you know you aren't really going to have, even if you're paying with your right hand and then getting the refund in your left hand. It's not really a 4th night free anyway when you factor in the hotel points lost and the fact that you're likely paying a higher rate and paying all the taxes on all four nights. It's a grey area that's not worth being in for the value of maybe 1/2 of a hotel night at the end of the day.
No issue receiving miles/points and I'm personally even okay with VDB as long as it doesn't put the business at risk. Rewards credit cards are fine. Those leave the underlying transaction intact and are a well-known standard throughout the business travel landscape.
No issue receiving miles/points and I'm personally even okay with VDB as long as it doesn't put the business at risk. Rewards credit cards are fine. Those leave the underlying transaction intact and are a well-known standard throughout the business travel landscape.
Apr 25, 2019, 1:55 pm
#97
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Having done it both ways, I have a large preference for spending on my personal card (and getting and keeping the points with my employer's concurrence) rather than using a corporate card.
Apr 25, 2019, 2:02 pm
#98
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I never would take a VDB for business travel because in principle, my employer owns that credit. Similarly, I would neve put business expenses on a cash back credit card.
OTOH, if the business purpose requires three hotel nights and the employee opts to stay a fourth night for personal reasons (for instance, to enjoy a weekend day at a nice location), I don't see anything wrong with the employee using the "free" night this way, providing that the hotel literally doesn't charge for the fourth night or the credit card gives the refund. If the hotel pro-rates the room rate equally over four nights, presumably the employer would reimburse for the cheaper amount associated with each night that was needed for the business purpose of the trip.
OTOH, if the business purpose requires three hotel nights and the employee opts to stay a fourth night for personal reasons (for instance, to enjoy a weekend day at a nice location), I don't see anything wrong with the employee using the "free" night this way, providing that the hotel literally doesn't charge for the fourth night or the credit card gives the refund. If the hotel pro-rates the room rate equally over four nights, presumably the employer would reimburse for the cheaper amount associated with each night that was needed for the business purpose of the trip.
I had a job involving a bunch of travel where I often wanted to extend stays over weekends. I used points for the extra nights. I also checked the individual cost for each night, and used points for the most expensive ones (so my employer might be paying for Saturday night and me with points for Thursday night, saving the employer money). They had no problem with that.
Apr 25, 2019, 2:02 pm
#99
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Apr 25, 2019, 2:08 pm
#100
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Your post comparing to an Amex Offer stuck with me. I have a corp card so it doesn't really affect me but in general I'm allowed to keep points, which I would say includes credit card 'cash back bonus', and probably would count a small promotion like $10 back on a restaurant. I'd feel leery expensing an entire nights stay if the charge wasn't incurred. I guess there's a difference to me about a small rebate and 100%, but I'm not OP.
Apr 25, 2019, 7:29 pm
#101
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Here's a bit of a twist.
I had a client who wanted me to take a particular flight, and the arrangement was that I'd pay my own expenses for travel and get reimbursed, as I was only a consultant so they did not want to give me a company card. But they wanted me to take lowest fare flights. So I have one booked, and then the event got cancelled. I had a non-refundable ticket, but for $$ I could apply it to other travel for a year. It's not a carrier I usually fly and I had no anticipated travel on that carrier in the future.
I put in expense for the price I paid for the ticket. They reimbursed me only for the change fee, saying that the ticket still had value.
I had to accept that but I disagree with the decision. The unused ticket had potential value to me, but I was immediately out of pocket for the cost. How should they have dealt with it fairly?
I had a client who wanted me to take a particular flight, and the arrangement was that I'd pay my own expenses for travel and get reimbursed, as I was only a consultant so they did not want to give me a company card. But they wanted me to take lowest fare flights. So I have one booked, and then the event got cancelled. I had a non-refundable ticket, but for $$ I could apply it to other travel for a year. It's not a carrier I usually fly and I had no anticipated travel on that carrier in the future.
I put in expense for the price I paid for the ticket. They reimbursed me only for the change fee, saying that the ticket still had value.
I had to accept that but I disagree with the decision. The unused ticket had potential value to me, but I was immediately out of pocket for the cost. How should they have dealt with it fairly?
Apr 25, 2019, 7:30 pm
#102
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The Prestige Card only offers that benefit if you book through them. What if the lowest available rate elsewhere is $150, and their rate is $200? Is it then legitimate to use the benefit for a personal night?
Apr 25, 2019, 9:49 pm
#103
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Situational ethics
seems like this entire thread has devolved into cussing and discussing a multitude of “well-this-works-for-me” options
once again, I’ll invoke “Newton’s Law of the Online Forum” — for every self-professed “expert” opinion, there is at least one equal and opposite self-professed “expert” opinion
which basically means we’ll never get to anything faintly resembling a consensus
once again, I’ll invoke “Newton’s Law of the Online Forum” — for every self-professed “expert” opinion, there is at least one equal and opposite self-professed “expert” opinion
which basically means we’ll never get to anything faintly resembling a consensus
Apr 26, 2019, 9:26 am
#104
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seems like this entire thread has devolved into cussing and discussing a multitude of “well-this-works-for-me” options
once again, I’ll invoke “Newton’s Law of the Online Forum” — for every self-professed “expert” opinion, there is at least one equal and opposite self-professed “expert” opinion
which basically means we’ll never get to anything faintly resembling a consensus
once again, I’ll invoke “Newton’s Law of the Online Forum” — for every self-professed “expert” opinion, there is at least one equal and opposite self-professed “expert” opinion
which basically means we’ll never get to anything faintly resembling a consensus
Apr 27, 2019, 1:58 pm
#105
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Washington Post rule
I work in policy & politics. In terms of behavior, I always fall back on the "If it were published on the front page of the Washington Post, would you be ok with that?" In this instance, if what you did were published in your organization's newsletter or in an all-staff email, would you feel embarrassed (or worse)? If the answer is yes, don't do it.