>>For comparison, what do I get if I travel overseas, arrange and pay for my own hotel and claim it back later, I bring back any reciept I have for legitimate expenses (meals and transport) and get reimbursed. No profit made.<<
With respect - and I obviously don't know your own job - cabin crew and pilots' allowances are a bit different to most employments' reimbursements.
If one is to spend a whole career basically living away from home when working, it only seems reasonable to me that the employer should not only pay for your hotel etc but also something towards leisure activities.
At home you can enjoy life at very little cost - as well as doing all the myriad things that are necessary such as decorating the house, cutting the grass etc. Being stuck in a hotel room - whatever the standard - would be a waste of a life if you didn't get out of it. And "getting out of it" is pretty expensive when you are away from home.
IMO over the years the allowance system has provided a quick and dirty way of giving crew sufficient "extra" to be able to actually do the things that most people take for granted.
(Nothing to do with the strike issue but since allowances have been brought into the argument....)