Business/First class airfare tickets policy.

[Deb Nicholson]

On Fri, 2019-02-15 at 07:09 +1300, Andrew Bartlett wrote:
> On Thu, 2019-02-14 at 09:45 -0800, Bradley M. Kuhn wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > > 
> > > If there are other arguments, I'd like to hear them but my
> > > initial
> > > impression is like Bdale's -- I'm not sure I see the problem.
> > Well, your and Bdale's argument is for a change in policy the other
> > way -- to
> > just let people book whatever they want as long as it goes between
> > the
> > correct two airports, and let them max out the budget.
> I'm really glad I don't have to travel on conservancy funds, thanks
> to
> my employer, because all I want to do is:
> 
>  - Fly from New Zealand anywhere


>  - Stay in the same hotel as everyone else

If the main conference hotel is not in budget, you can always ask for
an exception. I'd like to see our policy say something like "You can
choose the main conference hotel -- without asking for an exception --
if it's not more than 120% of the in-policy rate and you attach a
screenshot of the event's venue page listing the main hotel." 

I think we want to balance the hotel cost with asking people to add a
lot of time, cab fare and worry to their conference travel by staying
20 minutes away. I have occasionally stayed at the 20 minutes away
place and not only do you miss out on some networking, you sometimes
are faced with a very unappealing evening walk which means you take
cabs every night. 

If there are two recommended hotels connected to a conference center
and one is $400 per night and the other is $210, we would want folks to
choose the less luxury one. If the less luxury one is a weird 20 minute
walk away across some unlit roads, then I think folks should stay in
the conference hotel. 


>  - Eat cheap meals
>  - Not be out of pocket at the end of the day. 

I have yet to find a place where the per diem rate is not good, even if
you take a few cabs and don't want to (or can't) eat any of the free
food at an event. The per diem tends not to be enough for "I will buy a
round of fancy drinks for this twelve person table" every night. There
are legitimate company imperatives for that kind of spending but I
don't think they translate when you are doing non-profit travel. 

If you are doing a team dinner, that's different. Many of our projects
have done that and just sent that receipt along separate from their per
diem request.

> 
> I don't spend company, nor Samba Team (in my case) funds in a way I
> wouldn't spend my own.  There must be a lot of folks doing the
> opposite
> for this to even be an issue.
> 
> I really with the travel rules were simpler, not more difficult.
>  When
> I last travelled under this policy, I had to get exceptions for every
> flight and I recall the hotel was also a problem.  (GSA rates not
> covering things because we are not the Government). 
> 
> The single most valuable commodity in my view is not money, but
> time. 
> 
> We should ensure we also optimise for time of both the conservancy
> and
> project volunteers, not just cash. 

I too would like to see us optimize for time, in a reasonable balance
with cost.  

> 
> Andrew Bartlett
> 
-- 
Deb Nicholson <deb at sfconservancy.org>
Software Freedom Conservancy