MBB travel policy

i saw the other thread on laptops/bberries and decided to ask something ive been thinking about -- what's the MBB policy on travel and hotels? i heard (but only informally) at sell weekend that it's first class for flights > 1.5 hrs. can anyone verify this (or another policy) for their firm? also, do we get to choose which hotels we want? or does your team stay at the same hotel? just curious!

 

At my MBB, it's first class for flights >3 hrs, but if you use preferred carriers you'll sometimes get first on shorter flights (favorable rates). I have AA's Airpass, so usually get first if I fly with them.

Hotels, the rate depends on the city you're in, but we go mostly with Starwood - so Westin / W / Luxury Collection / St. Regis (sometimes). Teams typically stay at the same hotel to make things easier - share rental cars, going to dinner, etc. If you're just doing a summer, I wouldn't request to stay somewhere else separately.

One thing you can do is offer to take the lead on booking travel, and therefore have more control over hotel, car, etc.

 

sweet thanks charlie. is that what it's like at everyone else's firms?

also, i know there's the flex travel option where you can travel from the client site to anywhere else as long as the flight is less than what it would cost to fly home. what about if you want to stay at the client site? could you use that flight money to stay at the hotel over the weekend??

 

so what's all the fuss about too much travel? From what i can see you can travel as little as once every 2-3 months (or whenever you have a project)..isn't that right? I keep hearing about ppl talking down consulting cuz of the 4 days on site then fly back stuff....that's optional so I don't understand it???

 

I don't understand what you are talking about. You are saying that staying at the client site for 2-3 months straight is much better than flying home every week because the travel sucks? Have you ever stayed in the same hotel room for 5 consecutive days?

Yeah it sounds exotic to spend the weekend in London or Paris or whatever (if you are lucky enough to get staffed there) but after 1 or at most 2 weekends you will really want to go home. Just sleeping in your bed, seeing your friends, watching some TV, etc. all are things you will miss. It's almost a necessity to get recharged for another week of work.

Best Response
boozer:
I don't understand what you are talking about. You are saying that staying at the client site for 2-3 months straight is much better than flying home every week because the travel sucks? Have you ever stayed in the same hotel room for 5 consecutive days?

Yeah it sounds exotic to spend the weekend in London or Paris or whatever (if you are lucky enough to get staffed there) but after 1 or at most 2 weekends you will really want to go home. Just sleeping in your bed, seeing your friends, watching some TV, etc. all are things you will miss. It's almost a necessity to get recharged for another week of work.

NO, I am saying OTHER consultants think travel sucks. If you cannot physically take the traveling, then stay at the work site and recuperate. Go home next weekend, or go home once a month or whenever. Not seeing your family for one weekend ain't gonna kill you, there are tons of situations where people don't see their families for extended periods (going off to college, expat assignments, biz trips, war, etc) plus if you miss them so much you wouldn't be complaining about the travel. What I don't understand is people who travel every weekend and then complain about it, when it's optional. If you want to stay home everyday, you shouldn't be a consultant.

Not to mention there are plenty of young and single consultants who don't have families. For them, there's no reason to "go home".

 

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