And to add to this thread, it seems a majority of the hotels we stay in are in such areas either by the airport or in areas where there is nothing to take your mind off of the four hotel walls. SFO..an office park? Really? Perhaps those are the only hotels that can accommodate the number of rooms required nightly. Who knows?

On one side the co says eat well to keep your BMI in check and help with your fatigue management; on the other, with the money they give us outstation we can only afford McD or other low quality/low cost outlets. Says it all...

single chime

Really? Let's cut to the chase here. Granted, the discounted allowances are hardly going to pay the mortgage but that's not what they're designed for. In all the time I've been in this Company, not once have I been 'forced' to eat McDonalds or any other crap that wasn't suitable. Not once have I come away from a layover either hungry or out of pocket as I don't eat 3, 3 course meals a day and neither, I suspect, do you. If you are Fat Bastard and can eat a baby on every trip, send in the itemised hotel bill/receipt to fleet.

I agree that there are some layovers with hotel facilities and timing combinations that aren't ideal but put your complaints on the voyage report or better still write a CSR. It's not going to change overnight but it may eventually if enough reports are written.

As much as it pains me to say, the allowances are not for swigging copious quantities of potent ale and paying for wenches or for the weekly supermarket shop so all this rubbish about not having enough money to eat properly is complete and utter tosh.

Please, stop embarrassing yourselves! :sad:

BYMONEK,

Please, at least be honest with yourself!
The meal allowance given is far insufficient to pay for most of the hotel restaurant we are staying at.
Be honest, open your eyes and compare the menu vs what you can afford with the allowance (discount taken into account).
If you are honest enough, you will do, and get back here saying that indeed, it is most of the time impossible to pay for a normal dish + a bottle of still water, and please, do not jump over a meal, it is breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Then why do most other comparable airlines, to start with the one down the road, pay substantially more per diems than EK?
Are they all stupid?

I've already stated that the allowances are low, that's not the argument. The argument is whether the allowances are fit for purpose. In my opinion, with the discounts offered in the hotels, they are. The clue is in the title. 'Meal Allowance'. It's not 'salary supplement allowance'.

Although for the F/O I recently did a Luanda with might thing differently. 3 this month, 3 last month. Maybe the $170 he gets for 24 hours sitting in his room eating pot noodles works for him.

But why would you want to eat in the hotel? When you go on a layover you should have allowances that enable you to eat to a certain standard where you choose not just the hotel discount list.

EK copied GF in using the cafeteria menus minus the discount that GF negotiated as the basis for the meal allowance. It always caused the same kind of comments as it was considered a tight fisted policy.

ByMonk--I agree with the concept of the allowance. What I do NOT agree with is the seriously declining standard of the hotels themselves! When we have poor hotels we have poor food choices.

I don't think it is too much to ask to make sure the hotels have food available 24 hours per day (and not just a 'midnight menu' during the night) or to have us located in the city so that avail ourselves of proper food if teh hotel cannot supply it.

But the fact is someone, somewhere is finding a way to 'save money' and we are paying for it. Chicago, Venice, Paris--just a few examples of substandard accom.

It is simple--put us in a proper, clean hotel with food available 24 hours.

Trader

Agree 100%. Have stayed in Chicago on a freighter trip and shocked to find out room service not 24hrs. I wasn't prepared to eat self prepared microwavable meals that were provided in the shop next to reception.

AirTaxiDriver

"..most of the time impossible to pay for a normal dish + bottle of still water.."

No, it isn't. Most of the time, if not all of the time, it is possible. Maybe you need to be honest with yourself. Are you seriously telling us that you're out of pocket on most layovers? You need to start bidding for Singapore, Vienna, Manchester and a few others that give you lounge access where you can fill your face for free.

BYMONEK: "that give you lounge access where you can fill your face for free"

Does a lounge give you any normal meal or dish?
NO! it is sandwiches, canapé, pickles and else...

I am talking about a normal lunch or dinner with something to drink (water), not like you mean, getting liquid diner on a sofa...

So, who's honest here?

Its all in a name
 

Back when I joined the Education allowance was called the "Education Allowance" When it failed to keep up with inflation it was surreptitiously changed to "Education support allowance"

The justification given at the time was that they are your children so you should show an interest in their education by sharing some of the cost.

Perhaps I will get an HR Najm award for suggesting that the "Meal allowance" be renamed "Meal support allowance" I could also write an accompanying letter explaining the change by stating that whilst the company wants you to be well nourished thus they will supply enough to buy a Big Mac, however it is your body so you should show an interest by coughing up for a salad and bottle of water. I could probably put myself in contention for the Presidents award by adding the line. Compliance with the company nutrition policy will be monitored and audited on a regular basis. Failure to comply will be dealt with under the provisions of the Company HR manual.

And that's not all folks.....
 

Just to add to the balance between the astounding increasing costs of everything in Dubai, and decreasing contractual entitlements, supplements or whatever you can call them to try to make yourself feel better, you should know that now hotels have been told that if you don't arrive with the crew at check in, they can keep your room for you, but it's goodby allowances!

Increases + decreases equals balance! right?

Apparently I missed that snippet among the 100's of non operational emails I have received in the last few months, or perhaps it was in among the countless contractual or employer, sorry typo, employee handbook changes?

:ugh:

Been that way for years and if you bothered to read the OM-A you'd find it clearly documented.

There's many valid issues on allowances, yours isn't one of them.

The bottom line is that if you find something wrong with the hotel or allowance then write about it.

At EK if 'management' aren't told there is a problem then they can continue to think everything is rosy and then can deny any knowledge of a problem!

Point out the lack of 24 hour room service (especially valid on freighter with its stupid departure and arrival times), point out if tax isn't included, in US if they haven't included a little extra for the "compulsory" tip then say so! Safety in the location of the hotel could be also valid point!

This forum is a good point to raise issues with various destinations. It could be a point of reference! However if things are to change then the guys that go to these destinations MUST write about the problems don't leave it for others to do and don't just leave it here as a general whinge!

And yes I have written reports and continue to write about issues down route amongst other things! Things have changed in a couple of destinations, if you do it politely, state facts and put forward clear valid points they can't deny knowledge of the issue! Then its up to them to either deal with it or give a reason why they haven't!

As of next week and in preparation for pax ops...ORD hotel changed to a very nice hotel downtown.

I deleted name for security reasons. Check Outstation briefing sheet this week.

Now if they can work on the KLM deadhead class of travel...

f.

Has anyone ever sent you a reply to any of your reports about hotels or allowances?

With all the CSRs I have sent in, the answer is a big fat NO!

Very impressive, Myekppa, but I, and likely everyone also knows about the OM-A paragraph.


My point was to let every one who has enjoyed the flexibility that hotels and I suppose Management have allowed for those of us who take the opportunity to get "home" to see loved ones in the tight time frame that some of our layovers allow, know that Hotel and Airport Managers have recently been sent a Memorandum for hard enforcement of the Allowance on arrival rule.


Important to me, as it is very likely to others. Definitely not the most pressing allowances issue. Definitely related to allowances though. And wouldn't like others to be caught out as I have recently been.


Regards.

mjb777

I think you'll find it shouldn't matter when you pick up the allowances, just so long as you do so within the layover period. Hotels will keep hold of it whilst your room is available. Once you're checked out, you forfeit the allowance. That's from my experience anyway.