Well no doubt this is a slippery slope for sure.
At one operation I flew for, government, when I started the rule was eight (8) hours off every twenty four (24) hour period.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
The senile chief pilot at the time told me 'exactly that' when I inquired.
So, I inquired again, so counting crew duty time plus flying we are working sixteen hours a day, with only eight hours off for eating, sleeping and travel time, yes?
He replied, "Oh no, were only allowed to work eight hours a day, 08:00 to 17:00 with an hour off for lunch. If we go over that, I have to authorize overtime and Washington doesn't like that."
Well as it turned out, at times we didn't even get the eight hours off. They had this nifty little regulation called 'operational necessity' when all duty rules were overridden.
My longest crew duty day was thirty six (36) hours, in a 727 with the standard three crew members.
I finally, after that trip, working with the Department's safety Division Chief and OSHA, was able to change the crew duty regulations to something we could live with.
But sadly there were still abuses, all in the name of 'for the best interest of the country' of course.
Oh, the senile chief pilot, one day he bragged to the wrong person*, laughing, about a crew that had only been able to spend ten hours in a hotel on a three day mission, on his orders. After that he was ordered to transfer to Fairbanks, Alaska and he retired instead, after 42 years of government service.
Bottom line, we need more effective time off. I've been there and done it, I know what I'm talking about. No one can help about the conditions in hotels. I've checked into a hotel at 09:00 in the morning after a long international crew day, crossing multiple time zones and under the best conditions it is hard to go right to sleep. However, I can't see the airlines, from what I know, ever giving adequate crew rest to crew, both cockpit and cabin crews.
* That person was the Attorney General of the United States.