Evening meal allowance - London
Discussion
If you're staying overnight in London what does your Company allow you to claim for an evening meal?
Our limit is £35 but we've had quite a few people suggesting it's out of date and should be nearer to £60 per person. In my experience, whilst you may not get a 3 course meal with drinks for £35 it's perfectly possible to get a decent meal for that amount.
Just curious as to what other companies are paying.
Our limit is £35 but we've had quite a few people suggesting it's out of date and should be nearer to £60 per person. In my experience, whilst you may not get a 3 course meal with drinks for £35 it's perfectly possible to get a decent meal for that amount.
Just curious as to what other companies are paying.
I would say £35 is tight.
Sure you *can* find somewhere to eat at that price but now you have to spend your time checking whether or not you will blow the budget by having just a burger and a pint plus a tip.
In my experience, companies with miserly expenses policies are not much fun to travel for and people tend to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.
If that’s what they want to achieve then fine but I’d imagine the actual goal is different. If the company wants people to travel because it helps the business, then a few quid extra on the per diem is a necessary to make it work for all parties.
You can bet your bottom dollar the boss isn’t worrying about the per diem when they travel….
Sure you *can* find somewhere to eat at that price but now you have to spend your time checking whether or not you will blow the budget by having just a burger and a pint plus a tip.
In my experience, companies with miserly expenses policies are not much fun to travel for and people tend to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.
If that’s what they want to achieve then fine but I’d imagine the actual goal is different. If the company wants people to travel because it helps the business, then a few quid extra on the per diem is a necessary to make it work for all parties.
You can bet your bottom dollar the boss isn’t worrying about the per diem when they travel….
There are loads of places in London where you can get a meal for £35. The question is - is the hotel the staff are staying in one of them?
If it is enough to have a choice of items from the menu, and will cover have a main and a dessert, it’s enough. If not, look for a different hotel or up the rate.
If it is enough to have a choice of items from the menu, and will cover have a main and a dessert, it’s enough. If not, look for a different hotel or up the rate.
It depends how you think about expenses.....
If it represents the difference between what an evening meal at home would cost you and what it costs to buy something equivalent because you're not at home - then seems perfectly reasonable.
If it's less than the cost of a basic room service meal, then you could argue it's low.
If it represents a bit of a treat because you're away for the night - and it's compensating you for the inconvenience, then it's low.
If it represents the difference between what an evening meal at home would cost you and what it costs to buy something equivalent because you're not at home - then seems perfectly reasonable.
If it's less than the cost of a basic room service meal, then you could argue it's low.
If it represents a bit of a treat because you're away for the night - and it's compensating you for the inconvenience, then it's low.
fat80b said:
I would say £35 is tight.
Sure you *can* find somewhere to eat at that price but now you have to spend your time checking whether or not you will blow the budget by having just a burger and a pint plus a tip.
In my experience, companies with miserly expenses policies are not much fun to travel for and people tend to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.
If that’s what they want to achieve then fine but I’d imagine the actual goal is different. If the company wants people to travel because it helps the business, then a few quid extra on the per diem is a necessary to make it work for all parties.
You can bet your bottom dollar the boss isn’t worrying about the per diem when they travel….
During lockdown 95% of our business continued without the need for Travel (all meetings were on Zoom. This kind of reinforced the idea that a lot of travel, especially International, was considered a "jolly" rather than essential. As a result of this our Board want us to cut the T&S budget by at least 30% over the next 3 years. It also looks good on our "Sustainability/CO2" reporting. We've reduced out Hotel room allowance to £180 pppn maximum inside London and £150pppn in the rest of the UK. Mileage is down to 40ppm and we've removed car allowances.Sure you *can* find somewhere to eat at that price but now you have to spend your time checking whether or not you will blow the budget by having just a burger and a pint plus a tip.
In my experience, companies with miserly expenses policies are not much fun to travel for and people tend to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary.
If that’s what they want to achieve then fine but I’d imagine the actual goal is different. If the company wants people to travel because it helps the business, then a few quid extra on the per diem is a necessary to make it work for all parties.
You can bet your bottom dollar the boss isn’t worrying about the per diem when they travel….
My current CEO is great - he (or his PA) always books budget hotels such as Travelodge or Premier Inn. However (human nature being what it is) most people will try to book something for £179.99 because somebody else is paying.
QuartzDad said:
Our global policy is bats
t crazy, there is a 100 page pdf listing random towns/cities/regions with max hotel rates such as
Berkshire £66
Coventry £106
Edgware £110
England £88
Heathrow £87
London £125
Salford £144
Wembley £155
Milton Keynes £181
Rotherham £38
Middlesex £42
Salford has a larger allowance than London?t crazy, there is a 100 page pdf listing random towns/cities/regions with max hotel rates such asBerkshire £66
Coventry £106
Edgware £110
England £88
Heathrow £87
London £125
Salford £144
Wembley £155
Milton Keynes £181
Rotherham £38
Middlesex £42
JerseyRoyal said:
Are there no Spoons in London? £35 will get you dinner for a week 
I might have mentioned it before but we had a PR Director who point-blank refused to stay in Travelodges in London "because they were full of builders and Eastern European types who'd perv at her whilst she had breakfast".She also said King's Cross was a dodgy area full of prostitutes - I'm not sure how true that is and I didn't want to go into too much detail.
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