Another point of view.....
I actually have to agree with Cockpit Door Closed. He only has to select a different Flight Level next time he goes to LAX to cost/save the money the value of a Christmas party.
What Qantas has basically done is reduced it's largest Australian ambassador to a bunch of bottom lines, watched by a bean counter.
It is truly a time of the year that the bean counters should be told to back off.
At my employer, we are bought crew meals at any landing and whatever time of the day or night we want. We go millions of dollars over budget on hotels and meals every year, but the boss is scared we'll go somewhere else if he doesn't take care of us.
Last year I did a whole tour, doing short hops in the mountains in heavy snow. I got a call on the first day of the next tour and was told I would be doing 48 hours in Barbados, and that my hard work was really appreciated. I even got sent a leather jacket by a customer.
People wonder why I don't go back to Australia to fly and without knowing it, each time I go back there for an interview, I almost talk myself out of it before I get into the room. Is it any wonder.
It's not the sharks in the ocean you have to worry about, it's the ones with two feet. The management profession is justifying itself with end-over-end improvements in the bottom line and destroying the very lives of the people that make it possible.
I'm sure they would be charging for recurrent training long ago if they thought they could get away with it.