A recent incident highlights some contradictions in corporate travel policies.
Regardless of personal opinion on company rules, employees are generally expected to adhere to them. One particular employee believed she was following the rules, only to discover that the same standards often don’t apply to higher-ups.
A user named @ceraliza shared their story on X, detailing a company where the policy mandated choosing the least expensive flight. Having faced backlash from HR for opting to spend more for convenience in the past, this employee assumed that same scrutiny would extend to her boss if she booked a cheap, inconvenient flight.
As fate would have it, the employee traveled for work with her boss, who usually didn’t handle his own bookings. Unfortunately, this led to her booking a flight with a four-hour layover, leading to frustration on her boss’s part since it clashed with his schedule. In a tweet, she recounted explaining the policy to him.
“We later consulted our HR about how to make the ‘best decisions’ regarding travel.”
This situation serves as a classic example of how rules can seem selective. The tweet resonated with many, racking up nearly 2.5 million views and a multitude of comments, reflecting a widespread alignment with the employee’s experience.
One commenter pointed out that the policy only seemed to matter when it inconvenienced her boss—specifically during that lengthy connecting flight.
“It’s fascinating how some business owners only grasp the impact of their policies after experiencing it directly,” another user noted.
Several others chimed in with their own experiences, echoing sentiments about similar policies. “I have a boss who insists on the cheapest tickets but often asks me to make last-minute flight changes. So now, I just book flights that go against the policy,” one person shared.
“I wouldn’t work for a company with such policies. It just doesn’t make sense,” someone commented. Another recounted a time her company booked inexpensive accommodations, only to later be restricted to list of approved places.
As one witty observer remarked, “Policies seem to shift when they start causing trouble for the wrong individuals.”
