EK CHEAP LIKE CHIPS

[Airbuspilot72]

last month did London Flight Allowance was £61, today arrived on same flight allowance £44:{:{. REASON change of time from Day light saving. So 1 hour is worth 17 Quids....wow didn’t know that...similarly allowance of JFK 207 from $194 to $138.......God knows who is this Finance Guy who is justifying his worth in this company by making our lives CHEAP LIKE CHIPS. this should go in OMA like MAKE IT CLEAN KEEP IT CLEAN....our policy is to make your life CHEAP LIKE CHIPS ..... eat chips and drink your half remaining water from the bottle given to you in the Aircraft and enjoy .....:D:D:D:D
This Finance manager should work for some government since he seems to be too smart in financial planning

[fatbus]

How long you been there?

[Emma Royds]

To be fair, the rules for the calculation of meal allowances are clearly defined and there is bound to be a change or two, with the local time in Europe going back one hour last weekend.

It looks like the departure time of the trip in question now falls outside one of the time windows to qualify for that allowance. On the other hand, there will be trips in winter where the earlier arrival time will now qualify for an extra payment.

Swings and roundabouts as they say.

[ruserious]

YOU are correct Emma, but when the UK allowances are less than over 20 years ago, something is awry

[sealear]

I find it really depends on the layover. Some allowances are ridiculously low, some are ok.

[harry the cod]

Airbuspilot72

For starters, pardon the pun, it's a meal allowance, not flight allowance. Some airlines have fairly generous 'meal allowances' that crew use to subsidise their salaries. EK's never been like that and has always based it on the hotels and the discounts available. Yep, some seem tight but in the 15 years I've been here, I've never gone hungry or lived off pot noodles.

It might not cover a session in a London pub or fancy restaurant but I've always found it more than enough to cover a nice meal and a few beers at the Pheasant with the prospect of stuffing your face with a full English the next day for £5!

Now that's cheap as chips!

Harry

[White Knight]

Although Harry if you've had a good meal and ales at the Pheasant you'll be at the Marriott where brekky is free for us in the lounge. Saves a fiver!

[Talparc]

[QUOTE=Airbuspilot72;9944595]..... eat chips and drink your half remaining water from the bottle given to you in the Aircraft and enjoy .....:D:D:D:D

but remember you are officially not even allowed to take an half full/half empty
water bottle from the aircraft

[Monarch Man]

Certain unsociable timings and destinations not withstanding, I’ve always worn as a badge of honour not eating in the hotel. Yes you could argue it’s a known quantity but with precious few perks these days I find a meal out in a local establishment a far more satisfactory experience than what is often a soulless amount of mastication in an equally soulless hotel eatery. The added bonus is of course that partaking an ale or 7 is completely off the radar of the company should anything transpire the next day and better yet, if crew misbehave on a layover you were never there!
To me it’s free money to be used and abused, and if you do it properly....you can check out of the hotel in 5 seconds.

[flyinthesky]

The meal allowance is exactly that! It is clearly laid out in the manual how it is worked out dependant on time ‘on station’.

My friend in P&L is partially responsible for allowances at some of the hotels. If an allowance drops, it’s because P&L have negotiated a bigger crew discount not because he is feeling tight. Some of our colleagues comments about him and his team are a little disingenuous!!! He has targets set by his boss and the 9th. He either hits his targets or looks for another job!!! What would you do???

Personally, we have a few nationalities for whom the ‘meal’ allowance is considered part of their salary and therefore constantly moan. For me, it’s beer tokens or a duty free allowance provided by EK.

We have far more pressing issues!

[glofish]

The meal allowance is exactly that! It is clearly laid out in the manual how it is worked out dependant on time ‘on station’.

So for you anything laid out in our fantastic manuals is "exactly that".
You are the model EK employee ....

My friend in P&L is partially responsible for allowances at some of the hotels. If an allowance drops, it’s because P&L have negotiated a bigger crew discount not because he is feeling tight.

A discount in the hotel is what you are after? What did you tell HR at your joining interview? I guess not that you wanted to pick up this job because you wanted to discover new cities, meet new people, no, you wanted to study hotels and stare at your room wall ..... Again, the perfect employee.

Some of our colleagues comments about him and his team are a little disingenuous!!! He has targets set by his boss and the 9th. He either hits his targets or looks for another job!!! What would you do???

Extremely cheap argument. It served as lame excuse for many No2's of many very unpleasant leaders ....

Personally, we have a few nationalities for whom the ‘meal’ allowance is considered part of their salary and therefore constantly moan. For me, it’s beer tokens or a duty free allowance provided by EK.

Very inconsistent. Read your first paragraph again and then think ....

We have far more pressing issues!

Yes, like inflation for example. Ask any economist of any color: Discounts don't takle inflation, they are an excuse for inaction and thus degradation of T&Cs.

Sorry for my tone, but you hardly hide your silly management spectacles.

[White Knight]

[QUOTE=Airbuspilot72;9944595]..... eat chips and drink your half remaining water from the bottle given to you in the Aircraft and enjoy .....

but remember you are officially not even allowed to take an half full/half empty
water bottle from the aircraft

Yes you can. As long as the seal has been broken! It was somewhere back in a Flight Ops weekly email IIRC

[Gunman returns]

Negotiate a discount at the hotel. Fine no problem. Then take that discount from the allowance is theft. Pure and simple.

Look at the allowances we get on the freighter, Thats what it should be. Hotel discounts should not come off our allowance.

[PositiveRate876]

My friend in P&L is partially responsible for allowances at some of the hotels. If an allowance drops, it’s because P&L have negotiated a bigger crew discount not because he is feeling tight.


This discount scam is what has decimated the allowances over the years. Before the allowance was based on a realistic meal cost in that city, now it's based on whatever discount can be applied to a sometimes mediocre food selection.


But with a vacuum of power in flight ops, the P&L has free reign to cut our benefits.

[Trader]

....or how about the fact that the allowance does not, in most cases, cover room service or the tray charge. Especially frustrating when room service is the only food available in the wee hours of the morning.

How about the hotels (like ORD) where you cannot even get food 24 hours a day!

[JAYTO]

I wonder if the hotel managers know of this scam EK is using. They negotiate a discount then give us a smaller allowance. They are ripping both of us off. Its win win for EK.
Maybe a quiet word to the hotel managers to enlighten them on this little money saving scheme.

J.

[fatbus]

It ends up being more money for the hotel. Per crew per room total cost. 100$ room + 100$ allowance = 200$ or 125$ +75 $ =200 , "same same but different "

[JAYTO]

So Fatbus,

You are saying that what ever discount they get is added to the base room cost. Where do you get this information.
Secondly. What the point of getting a discount then. If only to transfer allowance from employee to hotel?
Maybe its a good way to force the employee to eat at the hotel thus giving the hotel the full allowance.

J.

[ruserious]

The bit that gets my goat, is the free breakfast or heavily discounted breakfast, in a timezone where you are sleeping during that period. Then they only have 10% discount on a really limited room service or like SFO there is no room service for several hours of the night. But who cares it is written in the OMA, jeez Harry sometimes you really miss the point.

[Visual Procedures]

The allowance is for 3 hots and a cot. Always has been, always will be. The cot is generally comfy, and Harry nailed it, the allowance sometimes covers the hots, if you eat at the buffet, otherwise generally does not. Its never masqueraded as something its not.

So whilst you're concerning yourself over whether you're gonna have to throw $20 down after enjoying a few pints and a good meal at the local on your 24ish hour layover, just remember, there is someone out there, who's entire job revolves around setting allowances based on targets set by his boss and the 9th, worrying himself sick at night about his targets, and whether he'll have a job the next day..

Cheers..

[glofish]

So let's start a collection for all the poor executives who can't sleep at night for not meeting their bosses target. Then let's start working 100 hours+ for the very same reason ..... and so on.

You are really, really pathetic. :ugh::ugh::ugh:

[Jack D]

Inform your boss the targets are unrealistic and he / she might want to reevaluate the perceived savings !

Then start looking for another job where bullying is not the norm ..

[Schnowzer]

Call it what you will, in 2000 I got £55 at LHR, inflation means it should be about £95. Do we get that?

[harry the cod]

ruserious

I'm not missing the point at all. It was a lighthearted comment about a particular layover, in this case LHR. Some of the routes work well for allowances, some don't. East bound can be a bitch, I agree, but I suspect in the many years you've done here, not one CSR has been submitted regarding allowance discrepancies. Yet you come on here and happily moan all day. Pathetic.

And for the record, if you're only getting a 10% discount, it probably means the actual allowances are far higher. Geneva is a case in point. Wasn't that the crux of the original argument, the more discount, the less cash? Perhaps it's you who's missing the point.

Harry

[Old King Coal]

And if things get really tough you'll have to start improvising (http://www.instructables.com/id/Hotel-Cooking-or-how-to-NOT-empty-your-wallet-eat/).

https://cdn.instructables.com/FGX/X4YB/GIH8NAGK/FGXX4YBGIH8NAGK.MEDIUM.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/CCwsfvb.jpg

[alwayzinit]

Don't worry Guys and Gals, from what I hear this will all be academic due to the issuing of meal vouchers replacing actual money, in 2018.
Keep Discovering Tomorrow!:ugh:

[ruserious]

Harry, you are correct no CSR's but several emails to Fleet.
Again you missed the point about the 10%. Many of the layovers have 50% disc on the restaurant prices, as well as super cheap breakfasts, but only 10% on room service. The allowance of course is based on the 50%. If you stay on Dubai time at many of our destinations then the restaurants are closed for much of your wake time. Still you can always plan your rest around the cheap breakfast.

OKC, loving that pizza warmer, mmmm melted cheese with added starch