We have a travel freeze thank God. Will prevent cunts coming to visit me.
1 Like
Here was I thinking International business for you was upstairs.
5 Likes
Have gotten out of it for basically 3 years. I will ensure this is a rarity
We have one in Nov/Dec and tbh, the cost of flying and accommodation and fucking car rental is too high in the summer. Spring and Autumn are the sweet spots for business travel.
I was in Malmo on bidness at the start of the month. Itās proximity to Copenhagen airport and the rail network make it a very easy place to get to. There are some nice squares with bars and restaurants but Iād say it is very quiet and dull midweek in the autumn
Iām away to Zurich again next week. The benefit of 3 potentially uninterrupted nights sleep is offset by the inevitable overload of corporate jargon
3 Likes
I was laughing at the fact I can go by train, across a sea, to a different country direct from the airport, but I canāt get from Dublin airport to Dublin by train.
I havenāt travelled overseas with work since February 2020 & I donāt intend on doing it any time soon. My place has taken cost control to fairly ridiculous levels. You need quotes for everything in advance & all bookings are made centrally. Obviously youāll cite your preferences/parameters but Iāve heard of colleagues waiting around for hours for the last flight back to Dublin because thereās a ā¬50/ā¬100 saving or whatever versus a late afternoon/early evening flight. Thatās kinda on them in fairness though, you need to be strict in setting your parameters.
The admin folk that look after travel are under strict orders to skimp & save on hotels too. Not that Iād expect luxury but I donāt want to be heading off to the airport at 5am ahead of a few auld meetings, have to stay in some Premier Inn type affair & then wait around on the second day until 9pm to fly home. Thereās no comfort or rest in that - getting up in the middle of the night, staying in a shithole & getting back very late.
Weāre also required to take public transport between 8am & 8pm (weāre let get taxis when itās very late in case we get attacked or very early due to lack of public transport availability) & people who havenāt been bothered doing that have had to pay their own taxi fares or Dublin Airport car park charges. For example, if I arrived back into the airport at 7pm, Iād be expected to get a bus into the city followed by a DART to Dublin 5.
These are very serious first world problems - Iām a businessman ffs sake. Itās much easier to cite some spurious reason for being unable to attend in person and instead participate on Microsoft Teams or Zoom from home. You also get the fuzzy feeling of doing your bit to save the planet.
10 Likes
Lovely spot there. Great public transport. Nice and quiet and dull in the autumn 
Head down to the river if you want to go for a run, lovely running tracks down there.
1 Like
Iām heading to Paris next Friday
1 Like
Donāt like Zurich airport.
1 Like
Whyās that? Actually canāt remember much about it, forgettable in my book.
What a penny-pinching shower of gits. Youāre a top-notch business executive and shouldnāt be subject to such levels of parsimony.
Personally Iād threaten to resign, or at least express dissatisfaction to someone above you in the pecking order if you can find one.
You need to get all Mo Salah here - more dough or I go. A man with such sporting achievements under his belt shouldnāt be treated like an indentured slaveā¦ā¦
7 Likes
The premier Inn is grand, but making folk hang round til the red-eye flight to save a few quid is utterly crass and absolutely soul destroying. Stupidity.
3 Likes
Thinly veiled āmy pillar bank employer has benched me for away trips in favour of younger more dynamic go getters who i used to be before the drudgery of family life and middle distance athletics drained my soul of the last signs of ambition and now rather than tell me they donāt want me representing them at europes top table they over burden the travel process to discourage meā
21 Likes
My place are always trying shite like that as well, which is why I have basically refused to travel the last while. Itās pointless anyway, itās easier and quicker to do bidness from the couch these days instead of pointless meetings and conferences. I agreed to this one as a favour, and as I hadnāt done one in ages, and Iāve never been to Malmo.
As it was a favour, I told them straight up thereād be no messing around, Iād pick the flights and the hotel.
Theyāve this ridiculous policy of x amount for a day rate and x amount for a hotel room per night regardless of what city or country you are in. So you might get a grand room in say Budapest, but in an expensive country you can get nothing better than a hostel, usually about 4 miles from where you actually need to be. They have tried to put me in some awful kips going back and Iād have to have a big row with them to get better. Some people I guess just agree to it. Fuck that
Iāve a grand 4* hotel got now, in an ideal location. Nothing mental cost wise either now to be fair, but over the āallowable rateā but theyāll actually save it in transport etc
2 Likes
My accommodation is a grand for three nights, my boss nearly had a conniption but she has to stay there too as her boss suggested the hotel. Fuck it, youāre away from your family so you should have a bit of comfort.
1 Like
A room above a noisy pub would fit the bill if thatās the criteria.
2 Likes
Longest āthinly veiledā in the history of tfk Iāll wager.
4 Likes