Business Travel

I can't believe there's not a thread for this that I can find.

I've been "offered" (as in, I've still gotta go thru the process, but basically been handed) a job that's 75% travel. They say it's closer to 50% after no holiday weeks, no travel from mid Nov to mid Jan, but usually out for a week, 3 times a month.

My kids are older now, my dog is on her last leg (literally more than figuratively), it seems like I would be an absolute retard to pass this up.

This would be new for me, and quite the lifestyle shift. For all of you that travel for work, what is some shit you wish you had known when you started? Pro tips? Tricks?

I'm 98% sure I'm gonna take it when it finally gets to me, but I'd like to hear from some folks experienced with this what it's like living out of a suitcase in an airport for that long.

I was under the impression business travel is on a business credit card. At least it was when my ex wife was working for the government.

Is that not how it works nowadays? You book your own shit on your own card? If so, I've got an Amex Platinum just waiting for me, I simply refuse to pay the annual fee because I never travel now and would never make it worth it.

Alex said:

Yeah almost all businesses have you pay for your expenses and you're reimbursed anymore.

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Must suck for the tards with shit credit/maxed out cards!

BrutulTM said:

I had to pay and get reimbursed but they made us use a card that they issued us so no rewards. People complained about it constantly to no avail.

I never traveled that much but I did enough to discover that if you eat 3 meals a day in restaurants you will gain weight very quickly.

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Thankfully I have reached the point in my life where I only need to eat once a day, so i'm not too terribly worried about that.

My current employer issues what they call P cards to managers to book travel/buy lunches and shit. I had assumed it was the same for everywhere else. In any case, I'm not super worried - Amex Platinum is 5x points on all flights and hotels, which I'd gladly take, and I've got a 30k limit on that card so I'd never run into issues.

Captain Suave said:

Go for it if you really like airports and hotels. Personally, I'd take the pay cut not to be on the road. I worked for AT Kearney after college and noped out of that lifestyle as soon as I realize how much it sucked for me.

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Ain't a pay cut for me...would literally be doubling my base salary, and also be the next natural step in my skillset.

I told the GF about it and she said I was fucking crazy for thinking about leaving her alone that much. I told her she can either be okay with it or not, but it's irrelevant because I've gotta take the job. Not taking it would be suicide for my career. Can't just be passing over jobs like that where you have a buddy vouching for you and pulling you into.

My plan was this is a one or two year thing, after that, I move into something that requires less travel - either up because I'm good at what I do, or take a small pay cut for convenience to stay home. I figured in every new job, you've gotta pay your dues - the fucking rookies always get the shit end of the stick. If the shit end of the stick means being a Delta Platinum member and earning a free hotel night every week and being able to take the kids on real vacations for essentially free, that's a whole lot better than the shit end of the stick was at my job.

And no...it's not customer facing. I'll be traveling wearing jeans and a t-shirt, just the way I like it.

Falstaff said:

Sounds like this solves your girlfriend problem.

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It'll solve it in one way or another.

She came around pretty quick on it, however. Realistically the money I'd be making would be about what we both make right now. And when you explain that to them and explain "alright, how much more do I need to make for you to do nothing but take care of the house and kid and dog and we can live comfortably?" it starts turning the tradwife wheels pretty hard. It's not out of the realm of possibility to be a few career jumps away from being able to do whatever I want, so it's an easy sell.

Plus if you don't like it...no problem, I'm sure I can find someone who will!

Lanx said:

are there kids involved or just a whiney bitch?

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The kids are mine, not hers.

Oldest is a non issue...22. Youngest will be 12, and requires little supervision since she's out riding bikes and whatnot at that age.

Don't take it too literally - she did just have a moment of neediness and came around on the idea quite quickly. It just was her initial reaction.