QUESTION

Dear HR Professionals,

Appreciate if you could kindly share on your company’s practice or policy on air class category during business trips

Does your company allow Business Class travel for all employees? Or Business Class seats only if the employee is travelling more than XX hours?

Also for expenses incurred during the business trip, does the company provide full reimbursement or is there a capped amount to it?

Thanks for your advise and feedback in advance!

Regards

Pris

REPLIES & COMMENTS

REPLY 1

Business class is for only flights of 6 hours and above and only for employees of a particular grade. Reimbursement of expenses is on actuals based on original receipts and the expenses have been pre-approved like stay, meals, incidentals etc

Harpreet

REPLY 2

My company provides only economy class for flight, regardless of the travelling hours.

Some of our employees take budget air to nearby country like Malaysia.

Michelle

REPLY 3

We have travel policy dictates that prior approval must be sought including the projected spend, staff to travel b/s class if flying time if more than 5 hours, on lowest fare comparing to 3 quotes/carriers. More over staff accompanying travel trade on group travel etc, all are to travel on economy class.

Jacqueline

REPLY 4

Biz class – MD level, flight time more than 3 hours; Div MD & Directors, more than 6 hours; others more than 15 hours.

Fixed Per Diem to cover 3 means depending on job grades; others based on reimbursement; no capped except for laundry, claimable only every 4 days.

Phyllis

REPLY 5

Our Company provides biz class travel for GM and above only for flight time more than 6 hours. All others fly economy class regardless of flight time.

ST

REPLY 6

Employees are eligible to book in Business Class if the flight as reported by the airlines is 8 continuous hours in duration excluding stops, layovers, and ground time.

Rebecca

REPLY 7

We have recently changed our Travel Policy as a cost cutting measure & I’ll provide the two for your reference.

Description     Previous Policy                   Current Policy

Class of
Travel              Economy & Business         Economy only

Hours of           < 8 hours on Eco
Travel               >= 8 hours on Business,          Strictly on Eco class regardless of
applies to all employee             employee level & hours of travel
category

Travel Arrangements

Airfare, hotel, and rental cars must be made through Designated Travel Agency using the online booking system accessed via Concur or by calling the designated phone numbers.

Hotel

Standard room in a mid-priced hotel (this would include hotel brands such as Marriott, Courtyard Marriott, Hilton, Hilton Garden, Aloft, Crowne Plaza and other mid-level international hotel brands or local brands with similar levels in class and service)

Rental Car

Intermediate-size rental cars are to be used unless three or more employees are traveling together, in which case a full-size car, truck or van may be utilized. The vehicle should be returned with a full tank of gas to avoid excess fuel cost.

Meals

Costs of food and beverages, including reasonable gratuities, when the employee eats alone while on business travel (a reasonable type of restaurant would be similar to a casual dining restaurant that provides basic table service and variety of meal choices). In lieu of reimbursing employees for actual meals, a per diem, meal allowance may be utilized as long as the rate does not exceed the U.S. Federal Government meal and incidentals allowance rate for that location.

When more than one employee is dining together, the most senior attendee must pay for the meal. Tips included on meal receipts will be reimbursed. However, tips should be no more than 15-20% of the bill within the United States. Most countries outside of the USA require little or no tipping. The traveler should gain an understanding of local tipping norms before traveling. Any tips considered excessive will not be reimbursed. As a general rule, travelers should not tip more than they would on a personal trip.

Sabina