Work Trip Dilemma

[EmmaJBas]

Hi,

I work for an overseas government.

There’s a big meeting scheduled at HQ next month. My boss advocated for me to go - great!

Catch is that it’s a 12.5hr overnight flight (Monday), straight into work (Tuesday), two full days of meetings, fly home after last meeting (Thursday).

My boss is travelling Business, me Economy.
Total journey time ~16hrs.

Struggle to sleep on flights at the best of times, will be broken and not my best self with my new colleagues and management (been here 5 months). Plus feel a bit devalued.

Proposed to fly indirect at a fraction of of the cost (in Business) but not allowed.
Choice of carrier means can’t even use my own loyalty points to upgrade.

Should I suck it up, get back in my box and feel grateful?

Thoughts welcome and don’t want to be unreasonable. Thank you.

This is why it never bothered me 🤣

Honestly the directors did so much travel every month that I didn’t resent my quarterly trip being in economy while they were in business.

Me.
its not like he’s booked the fucking flight is it? It’s entirely likely it’s some Pa type who’s a bit jealous there’s a flight involved ‘at work’ (our office manager pulled similar stunts)
just tell them it’s a long flight - and you’ve been booked in coach - that doesn’t really work as you’ll be unrested and it’s a long flight for a short period of time. Type of thing.

So you’d be fine with switching your seat mid-flight for a much worse seat. Good one 🤣

When I was an academic the rule was we flew economy to conferences but were allowed to use weekends qr annual leave to add on days to extend the trip. If we were lucky the flight turned out to have regulations that the 7 night stay was cheaper than a shorter stay. So then the uni paid for the hotel and meals for the extra nights but not entertainment. There seemed to be no problem about paying to stay in the best hotels - just everyone travelled economy. You learned to work around the regulations and get the best deal possible for yourself. And yes, presenting at conferences did increase your profile and chances of promotion.

I don't know if it is still like this but travelling was one of the biggest perks to being an academic. They would even advance you money for your expenses - although you have to produce receipts and account for it.

your boss going business & you economy is insulting

This is the only bit that matters for me... not sleep, not what happens when you get there

Even if this is the case I wouldn’t be happy to agree to a travel policy where this was the case, and as I said I would want to look for somewhere with a fairer policy. Why does one person’s comfort on the flight matter more than smothered? I wouldn’t feel valued at a company where I was treated as lesser than somebody else.

I agree its unfair. Just pointing out the majoritynof companies with formal policies do this approach.

This is very unusual, very senior ppl usually set their own schedules

Indeed - maybe he’s not as high faluting as he’s claiming?

it is a piss take that senior gets busines class.

However you need to weigh up what you want to do. Is it an exciting opportunity? It sound exciting to me. Can you get a shower on arrival and changed, check into hotel? Yoh will be fine in a few hours sleep, you just adjust. Work tired. I did 6am flight but had to travel 2 hours and 3 hours check in. We set off at 1 am and then went to bed 20 hours later. It was a killer but we did it. The flight was 3.5 hours though.

Im always flabbergasted when people call I sick because they didn’t get any sleep for what ever reason (illness, accident, child sick, family emergency) that is now over but the only reason they are calling is due to lack of sleep. Fair enough if you are pilot/neurosurgeon/ etc but a non critical job.

i avoided long haul flights for years but now i love it and just treat it as a huge adventure. My husband hated working overseas. I’d love it.

Exactly. If the flight and schedule is punishing enough that your boss gets to go business class then why don’t you get the same treatment?

I would check the travel policy and if it really prohibits you from doing anything to ease the pain - traveling a day early etc - then I would probably suck it up and do it to see what it’s like in reality. But would make sure I made a few factual comments about lack of comfort on the journey and resulting tiredness etc during the days I was working. Perhaps even decline a social dinner one night due to tiredness.

Post return I would then debrief with manager and either say I didn’t want to do it again or discuss how to raise the two tier policy in place meaning you weren’t as effective as you could have been and how to flag this to whoever sets the policy.

Our policy is anything between 4-7 hours, Premium economy. More than 7 hours, Business class.

i know various consultancies get their staff to travel as basic as possible but I would no longer work in those environments.

flights are getting more and more expensive so i understand the budget focus, but your boss going business on the same flight is hideous, in my option.

I fly internationally on average 6 times per year a combination of 12 and 20+ hr journeys depending on destination.

Even though I’m quite senior (senior leader in large multinational) company policy states my grade can only travel business if over 14 hours and it is absolute bliss. My direct reports fly premium economy for 14+hrs.

Shorter international trips ie 12 or less are economy for me. The return journey is typically over night. I rarely sleep sitting upright. I apply to upgrade with points or try and block the seat next to me but I’m not always successful. If I return home on a weekday morning I shower, drink lots of coffee and do a full days work (and run on adrenaline). If it’s a weekend morning I stay away as long as possible.

For trips with significant Timezone differences I travel a day earlier as I need to be “on” when I reach my destination even if it means flying at the weekend. Melatonin, over the counter cold and flu and creatine always come with me. Drink lots of water, electrolytes, sleep mask, good moisturiser and sleep in the Timezone I’m in.

Sometimes I travel with my boss, she flies business for all international….

Even though I’m quite senior (senior leader in large multinational) company policy states my grade can only travel business if over 14 hours and it is absolute bliss. My direct reports fly premium economy for 14+hrs.

Interested to understand the business rationale for this. What is the justification for you travelling in more comfort than your direct reports on the same journey? Is Business Class seen as some kind of perk that is earned due to seniority, in the same bracket as your higher salary? Or is there some idea that a more junior person can be tired but under performance by them is less of a risk to the business?

I’m genuinely interested as there doesn’t appear to be much logic to this. I am a lawyer, and we have a very hierarchical culture. We also frequently ask our clients to pay for flights and they have policies about what they will pay for. The standard approach is to have a threshold journey length above which travel will be Business Class- ours is 8 hours. It is not linked in any way to the seniority of the individual.

@EmmaJBas is your boss defending/enforcing the policy or simply shrugging and saying nothing they can do?

Gross and completely unreasonable of the company. I might have gone early in my career but now, hell no.

It’s a distinctly American approach to assign airline cabins according to a person’s seniority within a company.

the company I work for does it and I dislike it intensely and have advocated against it. IME it is more junior staff (associate directors/directors) that do the presenting at many global meetings and the c-suite have to be present but are not under the same pressure to perform.

It’s pretty rubbish if boss is going business and you’re not.
Sadly like most of us if you want to progress your career you’ll have to suck up the bad bits.

I have a rule when travelling long haul for work, if I’m expected to get off the plane and straight to work then I fly business. If I have a day to myself the recover from journey then I will fly premium economy. I will not fly economy.

I will also not stay anywhere less than 4 star. 5 star if in a poor country.

I have travelled for work since my early 20’s with the above expectations and it’s always been acceptable wherever I’ve worked.

Economy is reasonable on company time but not if you have to hit the ground running as soon as you arrive. If you flew on Monday morning, you’d still be doing at least a 50% longer day travelling than a work day but at least you could sleep on Monday night and have more of a chance of being ‘on’ on Tuesday.

Is there also an expectation of working on Friday after travelling all night? Your work week should really be Monday - travel day, Tuesday- Thursday - Meetings, Friday - travel day. Anything else and they are completely taking the piss. Grade shouldn’t make a difference where travel is concerned, if economy is good enough for you it’s good enough for your boss. Travel policy should be based on distance/flight duration or similar, not on rank.

The only time ive blacked out was at work.
Been working abroad. Country where the weekend was Fri / Sat (at the time). Worked 5 days, went to airport that afternoon, 3 flights, landed UK 8am Friday morning. Expected straight into work. I was taxi'd home after ending up on the floor.... i think it was food more than sleep, but not my finest moment.

The boss in business you in economy feels unfair. Ive done it the other way round - all entitled to business due to flight length. Lower grades allowed to downgrade, and pocket the price different. I ended up downgrading to fly with them, but wasn't allowed the £.

I think both your suggestions are very valid.

I think a lot depends on if you can sleep on flights or not. I can't so I'm awake the whole time and therefore exhausted on arrival.I have friends who can sleep anywhere. So they sleep the whole flight, and arrive pretty ok. Those are two very different scenarios

12.5 hrs in economy is a pisstake.
I have travelled extensively with work and there is ZERO chance i would do this.

I'd tell your boss to enjoy the trip and you'll dial in.

Make an excuse not to go. To hell with that.

I’m not sure what the dilemma is.
It’s clear you are going to go no matter how poorly you are being treated.

I can’t believe you are being sold this as a great opportunity. It sounds like torture.