Who Gets To Fly in First/Business?

[The High Flyer]

I'm really curious about something. Those of us here who fly in F and J frequently (whether exclusively or with Y thrown in too), what sort of positions are you in? Are you in senior management? Or is it the job nature rather than your level on the corporate ladder that makes the difference? No doubt, the size of your company plays a part too.

My company never flies anybody in J; Travel, whether long-haul or regional, is always in Y. The only exceptions are perhaps the SVPs and CEO. When I travel in J (1-2 times a year) I'm always on sponsored trips. My company works with major IT vendors, who fly us to the US for briefings. Of course, not every vendor is generous.

So, care to share your story?

[SQflyergirl]

Not relevant post

[Savage25]

I worked for the Singapore office of a global IT/Business Consulting firm. Our travel policy was Y for up to 6.5 hours flight time, J above that. Execs flew Y for everything under 4 hours, J above that. Of course, all my work-related flying was intra-Asia in Y

All my leisure flying (and now that I'm back in school, that's all I do) is on cheap ex-CMB or ex-India J tickets or upgraded to J on SQ using the miles I accumulated flying in Y and on my Amex card.

[9V-JKL]

For me:
Intra-continental: Y
Inter-continental: C
F is not allowed regardless of position

I know of 1 company:
All flights C or F depending on level
CxO level: Corp Jet

[SuperJonJon]

I know of 1 company:
All flights C or F depending on level
CxO level: Corp Jet

Care to intro this company?

[SuperJonJon]

My travel is solely dependent on my customers. They pay for all my travel expenses so it depends on how generous they are.
Recently, I have been getting my company to pay the difference between the Y & J fare so that I can fly J.

[9V-JKL]

Care to intro this company?

Not publicly

[jhm]

I'm really curious about something. Those of us here who fly in F and J frequently (whether exclusively or with Y thrown in too), what sort of positions are you in? Are you in senior management? Or is it the job nature rather than your level on the corporate ladder that makes the difference? No doubt, the size of your company plays a part too.

As Savage25 identified above, not everybody travels J/F on their company's dime! The rest of us have jobs which enable us to pay for J/F ourselves and/or use miles and RTW and other tix to ensure that the cost is not excessive.

As far as business travel goes, one point which hasn't been mentioned above is that whilst a corporate travel policy may require Y for a particular trip, it may depending on the company be a fully flexible Y (even when the circumstances don't require it and even when an inflexible Y or J will be a lot cheaper)! If so, just pay a small amount of your own money to upgrade it to J.

[LukeGT]

My company : till 6hrs Y, over C/J, no F.

[SQ168]

Same here for me, for flights less than 6 hours: Y, anything over: J

Like Savage25, almost all of my work-related trips are in Y If I fly in J, most likely it'll be from my own pocket or miles.

[upright man]

My travel is solely dependent on my customers.

Same for me.
I would say 40% of the time its in Y, and 60% in J. Also often on other airlines besides SQ.
(Only once was I in F on a regional SQ B777 to Melbourne).
Also, my opportunity to travel is totally unpredictable and irregular, so I don't worry about it so much.

[Lobster]

My company travel policy is Y no matter how long the flight. I have been very lucky to twice get to work on projects where the sponsors paid out for F/J. But now that these projects are over any travel in premium cabins is going to have to come out of my own pocket.

One of the major benefits to me of sites like this one and TOF is to get information on how to maximise my miles earning and spending. Status for me really pays off only when travelling in Y, lounge access, use of buisiness check in, extra luggage allowance make the whole experience so much better.

[The High Flyer]

As Savage25 identified above, not everybody travels J/F on their company's dime! The rest of us have jobs which enable us to pay for J/F ourselves and/or use miles and RTW and other tix to ensure that the cost is not excessive.

As far as business travel goes, one point which hasn't been mentioned above is that whilst a corporate travel policy may require Y for a particular trip, it may depending on the company be a fully flexible Y (even when the circumstances don't require it and even when an inflexible Y or J will be a lot cheaper)! If so, just pay a small amount of your own money to upgrade it to J.

Yep! I have redeemed Business tickets for leisure travel too, however, when it comes to corporate travel, unfortunately it's been mostly Y and the occasional J. I'm lucky that most of my Economy tickets have been full-fare Y tickets or at least E tickets where I can accrue miles. I do recall that there was once when I joined a whole bunch of colleagues on an off-site client summit and got a full-fare ticket while they went on discounted tickets (two-to-go). It was only then when I realised my company only buys full-fare tickets only when we travel individually (eg. invited to give presentations overseas).

[The High Flyer]

For reference:
Grade 1 - General Hands/Drivers
6 - Fresh College/Uni graduate
11 - Full fledged managers
Band I (lowest band) - Director level
Band G - VP

Government-linked company?

[SQflyergirl]

Government-linked company?

Couldn't be further from that I assure you