mconlonx

A set travel allowance would do the trick, where any expenses above the allowance would have to be covered by the employee and any savings effected by the employee could be pocketed or spent elsewhere.

So for something like a week-long stay, a travel allowance would be set on, air fare, moderate+ hotel rate, taxi transportation, moderate food allowance.

Someone could rent a car, but if it was more expensive than taxi rides, the difference would be on the employee and they could either pay it out of pocket, or make up the difference with a lower-cost hotel or lower food expenses.

Alternately, considering my formerly regular trips to SF, I would do public transport downtown from the airport, walk everywhere, stay at the cheapest airbnb place I could find, and then blow the rest of my travel budget on fabulous meals. Maybe a tattoo. Or just pocket the difference and take the GF out to eat somewhere nice upon return home.

Frankly, unless in sales or doing significant travel upon arrival, I really don't see much benefit in renting a car. Dealing with parking and unfamiliar streets just adds so much anxiety and logistics to any travel situation, that I just don't find rentals worth the effort. For that matter, as noted above, I tried both bringing a bike and renting one, and decided in the end that neither situation was worth the effort.

cooker

I don't know if the allowance would work because airfare and even hotel rates vary quite a bit seasonally and based on demand so there would be very uneven rewards for different people doing the same trip.

My usual main client, a government agency, specifies the maximum you can spend and reimburses based on actual costs. However the Winnipeg event I just did was a self-funded industry event, so the savings went into (or stayed in) my pocket. Mind you, I didn't take the bus to save myself money, I did it because I wasn't on an overly tight schedule, so I had the time to be a bit of a sightseer.

cooker

My last trip (one week) was not so "car-light", since as I mentioned there is no feasible alternate transit to the two fairly isolated sites I visited. Even though I needed a larger check-in suitcase for the 5 day trip, I still lugged it 600 m by foot and on to the city bus and the airport train at the home end, but at the other end I drove a rental car about 750 km to the two more remote job sites over 3 days.

The last couple of days I was back at a hotel near the far airport for a conference. In theory you can walk from this regional airport to the nearby hotel strip, so I planned that when I finished the remote work and drove back to the main town, I would check in at the hotel and then drive to the airport to drop my rental car, and walk back to the hotel. However on scouting the route between the hotel and the airport, it was going to be a 2 km walk through a deserted industrial area on gravel shoulders at 9 pm possibly in rain, so I wimped out and took a cab back to the hotel. At the end of the conference, 5 of us shared a cab to the airport. At my end, I again got home by train, bus and foot.

cooker

So I'm doing it again. I got a 1 km drive from my wife to the subway, then took that and a streetcar to the downtown airport for my flight to a distant consulting site. By flying up, we save some clients having to travel down, so supposedly there is a benefit there. I stayed at the hotel closest to the job (1.75-2 km depending on which route you take) and walked both ways for 3 days of work. The fourth day (today) I took a cab to work as I had my suitcase, and will take an airport limo to the airport, but I expect to take the streetcar and subway home at the end and will walk the last km.


Last night I was invited out to dinner so I took a cab to the restaurant and got a ride back to the hotel from another diner who was going that way.


So that's 3 days out of 4 of walking to and from work, and public transit (mostly) between the Toronto Island airport and home. At the remote end I have to take a limo (shared) to and from the airport as there is no public transit.


A colleague happens to be here on an overlapping trip, and she also walks to and from work from the same hotel.

Walter S

You might even walk together. More safety in numbers

cooker

We just overlapped by one day.

Sangetsu

I used to teach at a university, and give lectures at some of the larger companies in the region. I spent a lot of time on trains and buses. Car travel was not practical. Distances weren't great, but I sometimes had to visit three or four different places per day.

But I quit my job, and opened a home-based e-commerce business. I can do almost 100% of my work from my computer or phone. No more trains or buses, and the money is better.

cooker

Was that in Tokyo? The opposite might be true in many North American cities. When I am in downtown Toronto or just sticking to my own inner suburb neighbourhood, I am happy to walk or take public transit on different errands, but as soon as you get out of the core a car would be far more convenient

KD5NRH

Never seen a boxed bike that actually filled all the space in the box so perfectly that a handful of combination wrenches and a set of hex keys couldn't be stuffed in there along with it, and in that location, it's near impossible for anyone to get suspicious of the tools.

Walter S

Although you're not supposed to according to Amtrak, I stuffed a packed saddlebag and a sleeping bag in my bicycle box (and got away with it, being the rule breaker I am ) Of course we're talking trains here too - excuse me for butting in.

Roody

What would have happened if you had been caught? Would they kick you off the train, or just make you repack stuff?