Entertainment?

[STREAKS]

Folks, a question for a research: Do companies/individual owners spoil their pilots while on RON/layovers with entertainment funds for golf, skiiing, movies, what ever the flavor (not counting prostitutes)?
Any input is appreciated.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

Folks, a question for a research: Do companies/individual owners spoil their pilots while on RON/layovers with entertainment funds for golf, skiiing, movies, what ever the flavor (not counting prostitutes)?
Any input is appreciated.

I have had some of those perks (yeah baby) working for individuals but not for big evil companies.

Standard expense report stuff. Very liberal on spending (hotels, meals etc) but putting in for a round of golf on a layover would most surely get rejected - unless previously cleared etc... Like any other employee our expenses go halfway across the country to get approved by some bean counter and they look at them pretty thoroughly.

My best expense gig was working for a small company who simply wanted the front page of my amex bill so they knew how much to pay...their theory was that they trusted thier lives to us, so they trusted our expenses. Nobody cheated or abused either. good stuff. small outfits can get away with this.

Of course, all it takes is one jackoff pilot trying to cheat $50 out of the system, then next thing you know you are on one of those absurd $20 lunch $35 dinner fractional pilot gov'ment cheese plans.

 

[some_dude]

That's not the norm, but...

I did some contract flying for a company which owned a number of resort properties. We were required to stay at their properties whenever possible, which was not all great, but the plus side was that if it could be charged to the room we could do it, no questions asked. Golf, massage, whatever (and they had a lot of golf properties).

I enjoyed it, but I think the regular guys got a bit tired of those same hotels (and especially the hotel restaurants!).

Folks, a question for a research: Do companies/individual owners spoil their pilots while on RON/layovers with entertainment funds for golf, skiiing, movies, what ever the flavor (not counting prostitutes)?
Any input is appreciated.

 

[xdrvr]

I've had trips where we were included in all the activities, fly fishing off the owners yacht, sightseeing, REALLY NICE dinners, etc and all expenses are covered if the owner is on board. Bcuz really the way it goes down is you're invited, so you're their guest. Now as far as expenses without the owner, ie company card.. nice meals are standard but extras like snorkeling or catamaran trips in the islands are on my dime. There's no hard set rule, of course its going to vary with the owner, in TRUE corporate departments... most are pretty cool and not tight wads.

 

[G4G5]

I know that Conoco Phillips has an entertainment expense for their pilots. I don't recall the exact details but it was something like. 3 days on the road and the company gives you $50.

Where I am, no entertainment expense.

 

[some_dude]

Be careful about that, though. It's a small step from "Hey, why don't you guys come hang out on my yacht" to "Hey, while you're hanging out on the yacht, the deck needs some swabbing."

A friend of mine ended up in exactly this corner. He was invited to use the owner's jet skis and speed boats, and ended up having to clean and work on the jet skis and boats every trip to that destination.

I've had trips where we were included in all the activities, fly fishing off the owners yacht, sightseeing, REALLY NICE dinners, etc and all expenses are covered if the owner is on board. Bcuz really the way it goes down is you're invited, so you're their guest. Now as far as expenses without the owner, ie company card.. nice meals are standard but extras like snorkeling or catamaran trips in the islands are on my dime. There's no hard set rule, of course its going to vary with the owner, in TRUE corporate departments... most are pretty cool and not tight wads.

 

[G100driver]

Only once. When we had a 3 week trip to Europe the boss handed us $750.00 at the start of trip just for this purpose and told us to purchase train tickets on the company CC if we wanted to go anywhere. We did not abuse it and only did it a couple of times for day trips to get away from Milian. (YUCK ... except the food!)

Definately not the norm.

As for the jet ski thing .... well, you are NEVER the bosses buddy, chum or pal! Stay away when you are on the road. Never stay at the same hotel or eat at his resturants. The boss is the super millionare ... not you.

 

[con-pilot]

Never stay at the same hotel or eat at his resturants. The boss is the super millionare ... not you.

Truer words were never spoken. I really liked an ex-boss of mine. Two or three times a year he would charter a 150 to 200 foot yacht for a couple of weeks. The first few times he invited us to cruise on the yacht with him, I alway found a reason not to do so.

Bottom line was/is no matter how much I liked the guy, on those yachts I could never be more than a 150 to 200 feet away from him. So thanks, but no thanks.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

hang out on a yacht with your boss??

no thanks..talk about uncomfortable.

 

[Fernando]

The boss took a couple of expensive and BEAUTIFUL looking Russian escort girls to Cancun....but he didnt share!

Then also took a couple of hot looking models, well not models but the type of girls they hire at conventions or expos to walk around with a banner wth the company logo on their chest, you know just to look pretty, i dont remember the exact word in english now....anyway we took that pair to do some shopping in San Antonio, but again he didnt share...even when we keep our mouths shout to his wife! hehehe

One guy told me once that when other pilots from his same Air Taxi company took a famous Mexican singer named Luis Miguel to play in Argentina, that they were invited to a party at the hotel and were told "to choose one" each, if you know how hot Argentian girls look like, youll know what im talking about! tehy were lucky

On one Chirstmast the boss made us both buy some fine jewelry and we told the wife it was for our girlfriends, like if i was gonna be spending 1200 dll on
some earrings! he gave us the cash to pay in advance....

 

[Dr Pokenhiemer]

Usually entertainment on the road consists of hanging out in the hotel room surfing the net!! I flew a few weeks for a NASCAR driver who had Super 8 as an associate sponsor. He always only booked 1 room at the Super 8 for both pilots to shack up in together. The only lasted a short while--besides that, it took 2 1/2 months to get my money out of him!! No names, but he drove the Tide car last year, earned $1.8 million--you'd think he could do better than that--I can (and did).

 

[mobie]

I flew for one that made us stay in his condo with him. Great condo with lots of windows to see the ocean, each bedroom had large bathroom. We got to go shop for him and wash the windows and clean the condo just before we were due out. We also got to dog sit.

Will never do that again.

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[PHX767]

Best - Contract job where the owner invited me to lunch, happy hour at the pool and dinner each night. Stayed at resort, on the beach. He said put what ever you like on the room, that was fine. Movies, drinks, food , whatever. Flew 3 legs in 5 days, $2,500. Nice.

Worst - $10 bkfst, $15 lunch, $25 dinner, no bennies except internet paid for at the hotel. Wait, that's what I get now!

They don't squawk about rental cars, though.

 

[xdrvr]

I flew for one that made us stay in his condo with him. Great condo with lots of windows to see the ocean, each bedroom had large bathroom. We got to go shop for him and wash the windows and clean the condo just before we were due out. We also got to dog sit.

Will never do that again.


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OMG did you fly on the Holy Ghost also?

 

[xdrvr]

Ya hear you on that one sometimes just better to say no thanks than have to draw the line down the road

 

[hotwing]

ConocoPhillips gives 35.00 a day for entertainment... No cap on meals...

 

[Tonala2k]

It must be all about who you know

What I'm gathering from all of this is this. Corporate gigs rock if you know your employer and know you get along. I do some contract flying on the side. One guy wants me to take him and his wife vacationing. He told me to bring my wife. Perdiem - $850.00 per night. I drop them off and don't see them again until we leave.

I don't expect to always be treated like this. My thaught is to treat it like a perk-free regional job and count the blessings one by one.

 

[Diesel]

G100- you're right about milan yuck. I did find some nice bars at Lanzo Stop which was cool. But walking from the hilton ment you got to watch people shooting up at the train station. I really enjoyed how the cops walked around in groups from coffee house to coffee house. It was a long month of waiting.

In a previous life before G200 puts it my low life job, everything was expensable. The owner and his family asked me to go out to dinner every once and a while but I think this was more to make sure I was doing okay. Meals, hotel and internet plus taxi's or a rental car is all i ever really expensed. I don't play golf but i do a lot of sightseeing. Plus how do you expense a lapdance?

Besides internet in europe was 29 bucks a day plus it was megabyte limited. I had to checkflightinfo. you know that was expensed.

 

[G100driver]

Plus how do you expense a lapdance?

Got to a very cheap resturaunt. Buy it yourself.

Go to stirp club. Pay cash for a "bottle of champaine" (Europe only)
Negotiate tranaction. Pay cash.

Turn in cash receipt for dinner in the amount you feel will get by the CFO. Sleep well that night!

 

[Hawker800]

I go deer and bird hunting with my boss. Refused to go once and got spoken to. He does not like to hunt alone. Other than that, different hotels and restaurants. We do get a rental car to go where we want. Company expense handles it. Company credit cards are issued and we do turn in an expense report. Not a bad life. Have a good evening everyone.