Per diem rate is not enough...
 

Hi all,

I've been flying for business with my company before, but this time I know the per diem is not sufficient and company does not cover anything beyond the limit.

Some coworkers are renting appartments instead of staying in a hotel to make the per diem enough.

I'm not excited about staying in an appartment and doing the cleaning myself for 1 month, but may be it's the new Business As Usual.

Has anyone faced a similar situation before?

Sure, and often for a week or more at a time - never for a month. In my current position, there are places I'm sent for conferences where I cannot meet the government's CONUS rates for hotels and personally incur some of the cost. I do get to keep the hotel points, though.

I previously worked for a corporation that considered $50 the maximum food per diem for every location in the world. Great for restaurants in 95% of the places I was sent while requiring trips to a grocery store in the 5% that were exceedingly pricey.

Perhaps some details about geographic area and approximate per diem amount would lead to some coping strategies being posted by fellow FTers.

You can always find a hotel that would fit within your per diem rate unless you are in a two horse town with only one hotel. It may not be quite like you've been used to and it may not offer points, but there will be hotels to choose from. Failing that, B&Bs. And if apartments come under the per diem rate and cleaning is an issue, then hire a cleaner. If it is actually impossible to exist on the per diem rate then refuse, as will all your colleagues, and the company will soon work out that there is a problem.

Personally, if I were away for a month, I'd much rather have an apartment, have my own front door, do my own cooking and cleaning than stay in some hotel room not much bigger than a bed, with no facilities beyond a TV and a kettle, and with the daily highlight being the trip to sit on my own in a restaurant.

But YMMV.

When I've worked for organizations that had fixed per diems, there was always an exception clause that covered a number of things, including 1) if I was required to stay at a conference hotel and the hotel charged more than the per diem rate, I could exceed the per diem; 2) If I could show that all of the lower-priced hotels near where I was doing business were sold out, I could stay at a more expensive hotel; and 3) If all of the lower priced hotels were in unsafe areas, I could stay at a more expensive hotel. Does your company provide any exceptions? Finally, have you tried negotiating a 30-day stay at a hotel? You can probably get a rate that's less than the rack rate and might be within your per diem. You'll probably have to call the hotel manager directly to see if this will work.

This, especially in the current economy, is a great idea. The hotel industry has some of the lowest occupancy rates in years and many will be willing to negotiate.

If you negotiate a 30-day stay, be aware that some hotels do NOT award points for stays longer than 29 or 30 days. So if you want points, make sure that is part of the negotiations as well.

What about those extended stay hotels? Weekly rates are around $450, IIRC. Is that higher than the per diem? You also get a kitchen and breakfast and some service.

If the per diem for food is strictly for your own nutrition $50 should keep you afloat basically everywhere. Even expensive places like London (Indian and Chinese Food), Paris (prix fixe menu, especially at lunch) or Copenhagen or Zurich, are do-able with one warm meal per day. I don't know about Japan but figure Sushi and Rice or noodle bowls should be within the budget if you go to modest to medium places.

Of course, if you consider including a small beer for $10 at the Deux Magots within the per diem, things get narrow.

Till

Completely agree...even if only for the ability to have a bowl of cereal in the morning instead of having to get it at the restaurant for 25x the price.

Sounds like a job for The Negotiator! If you go that route, you'll want to break your stay up into pieces to get the lowest price, though you may have to change hotels. I would suggest at a minimum bidding Monday-Friday and Friday-Monday separately, if it were me I would probably do Sunday separately too just because it can vary whether a hotel counts that as weekend or weekday in terms of pricing.

Hi all, thank you for sharing your opinions here. I am feeling more comfortable now. =)

I am going to Madrid and my per diem is EUR 120. This should cover hotel, tips, transportation and food.

There are a lot of inexpensive options in Madrid. For example, the last time I was there I stayed at the Gonzalo - Very comfortable.

A single room is currently listed at e45.

http://www.hostalgonzalo.com

If you are traveling with a group of co workers you might be able to negotiate a better group rate. This is especially true if you are traveling during a slow period for the hotel and plan on staying for awhile. Obviously you will need to talk to a manager to do this.

That's PLENTY. Even without a special long-term rate, you should be able to get a mid-range (central) or even upscale (slightly suburban) hotel for 70 Euros per night. For my next weekday visit, I'm staying in a (small single) room in this central 4-star hotel for 59.XX . There are better deals to be had in the weekends.

A morning coffee at a local cafe/bar is a couple of Euros, and a toastie to go with it (from the same place) should cost another 3.

The Metro takes you most anywhere for a single Euro.

For lunch, visit the VIPS chain for a salad/pasta etc and a coke, and budget 12 Euros for it.

Total 89 Euros. That leaves you with 31 Euros per day for supper (let's say 5 Euros for cheese, ham and rioja from the supermarket or 25 Euros at a decent sit-down place with regional cuisine from virtually any region of Spain or Latin America) and other expenses...Which is more than what the majority of Spaniards have to live on, including their fixed costs (just google "mileurista").

I travel on per diem and prefer that; i usually can get a rate within PD; the M&IE is always more than enough for me. I sorta don't like the first and last day of travel with the 75% of M&IE rule but it is what it is.

sometimes i'll pay a few bucks over pd and eat it out of my M&IE.

I guess thats why i'm such a stickler for club lounge access and b/f certs b/c that knocks off one meal, and if I eat a good one, my lunch is usually pretty small.. so I only have to pay for dinner.. and even then... its not much if I can find a lounge open.. i don't have to buy sodas as I get them from the lounge..

I find I do well on the PD method.. some cities are much better than others but its just managing your trip before you get there.

I've never had to deal with a per-diem policy and I have a silly question: what happens if you don't use the full per-diem rate? Is that a "bonus," or do you need to "use it or lose it?"