per diem and food reimbursement

[acapilot2003]

Coming from the airlines where per diem is a given, I don't know if there are any laws governing per diem or some kind of reimbursement for food in the corporate world. Does anyone have any insight into this? I just took a job, and am not getting per diem. Although, I am supposedly going to be reimbursed for all of my meals excluding lunches for whatever reason.

 

[MNR]

The maximum per diem a company can reimburse and claim the full amount as an expense is set by the IRS. There are a number of different ways it can be calculated. You can go on the IRS website and pull up the per diem tax tables.

As far as corporate flying goes. Most 91 jobs I know just use a company credit card and give you some guidelines about how much per day is appropriate. 135 jobs are more all over the place. Some do it by the hour i.e. $1.60 per hour was what EJM gave you when I worked there. Some places give you a daily rate my current job is $36 for low cities, $46 for high cities (we have a list in the plane but it matches the IRS list on the IRS website) and $55 for international. Some even reimburse for hotel ie $141 for low cities and $226 for high cities but then you pay for the hotel yourself and you get reimbursed.

BTW that 91 vs 135 stuff is not a hard and fast rule just in general what I have noticed over the years.

 

[Spooky 2]

Generally speaking accounting departments have problems with the per diem concept, especially if others in the company are not on the same page regarding expenses. I once worked for a very large flight department that had written "guidelines" for meal expnses. Something along the lines of BKF-$12,00, LNCH-$16.00 and finally dinner at around $36.00. When asked if it was okay to go over the pre set dinner allowance of $36.00 if you had no BKF or LNCH charges for that day, they responded absolutely not. Well guess what, out pure spite some pilots made sure that they ate every meal allowed. Dumb, yes, but no dumber than the initial ruling.

Happy to say now that I work for a company that wants to be sure that we are "happy and comfortable" when on the road. No rules, just common sense. Amazing how well it works when we are treated like professional adults.

 

[sleepy]

$10 for breakfast, $15 for lunch, $25 for diner. $50 per day, but you have to play some games with it sometimes to stay in the limits.

 

[g4800xp]

We are part 91, no set limits and certainly no per diem, just be reasonable and order as if you were paying for it your self. If you want Ruths Chris o.k but not the best idea to do it again the next night. My boss wants me healthy to fly him and his people, a per diem can lead to Mcdonalds and burgerking, yes there are healthy cheap meals out there, but why work at finding them and ripping back to the airport when there is a better option close by but cost more.
Eat healthy, tell your boss you are worth it, a bypass may not end your career but heart attack will. " Hey boss, I saved you $10 a day this year, worked 200 days, saved $2000 bucks, but my bypass was $200,000 and long term disability will be $ 200,000 nice! just my 2 cents

 

[Raskal]

Sore subject. Corporate is all over the place on this, we get $48 per day per pilot as an example. It can be carried over on multiple day trips but it's use it or lose it per trip. I say $48/day, but it works out to $6/pilot/hour on trips shorter than 8 hours.

 

[Tgaug6300]

Company Credit Card is the way to go. Just be reasonable, and treat the money as if it were your own.

 

[SNAFU22]

Company Card, don't leave home without it.

 

[BoilerPilot]

135 Trips - We get GSA Per Diem... www.gsa.gov - Use it however you want - Depending on the location the company will usually just pay for whatever the hotel cost.

91 Trips - Use the company card, like the others said treat it like it was your own, but repeated trips to the fast food restaraunts are not expected and most cases frowned upon.

 

[g159av8tor]

Part 91 - we get $51 per day and $25.50 under 8 hours. I prefer per diem cause if I feel lazy and don't want to leave the hotel, my meal and drinks go on the room and are deducted from what the company owes me, just less out of pocket initially.

Tailwinds...

 

[BushwickBill]

They don't pay for my porno movies anymore

What gives?

 

[cptsesso]

I eat whatever, stay wherever, drinks, movies, etc. I just don't get carried away with it. Never a complaint. Now, if I ate surf and turf every night and ran up big bar tabs, then maybe someone might take notice.