I know what you're talking about. I was a road warrior for 7 years doing
SAP consulting. We're not the first contractor they've had in house. They
know what they're paying for airfare already. Typically, they pay
refundable Y fare rates. It's spelled out in the P.O. what we will expense
to the client and what the cap is.

I wonder how your clients knew how you flew. Most of my teams have enough
miles that they are traveling platinum elite status and almost without
exception, fly first class for the price of refundable coach. I'm not aware
that the clients have any idea that my teams are traveling first class. The
clients certainly haven't complained. If we went to private jet, I would
expect the same level of discretion from my team.

Ed

"C Kingsbury" wrote in message
nk.net...

"nobody" wrote in message
om...
Not looking for cheaper. We are hurting on point to point travel,
scheduling, long security delays, last minute changes, no advance
purchase.
In our favor, much of our expense is billed directly back to the clients
up
to a pre-determined amount.


Good luck getting client reimbursement if you're flying private. I'd be a
little concerned about how it appears to them- clients like to feel like
they're getting MIT Ph.Ds at the same price they pay for Mexican
gardeners.
When the team shows up in a private jet it screams "money coming out the
wazoo" which makes me wonder whether you're charging me way too much for
the
software. Even getting them to cover the equivalent of an airline ticket
might be touchy. Last IT consulting shop I was at, the clients screamed
bloody murder about covering any ticket over $300, even cross-country. It
may be worth it ultimately, but if you're billing $100k of travel to
clients
now, that money might be out the door if you do get a plane.

-cwk.