False economy

Why travelling in economy class for business is a wasted opportunity

Having spent the last 2 weeks travelling around the World on business in economy class I can honestly say I feel my age. One thing that Sandhurst taught me was the ability to ignore discomfort and sleep anywhere.  But sleeping in the bottom of a muddy trench, or bouncing around in the back of a tank didn’t prepare me for the horror that is long-haul economy class travel on business.

On the face of it the economics of flying people economy class as opposed to business class are obvious.  A business class fare from London to Sydney is around ￡4,000 compared to around ￡900 for economy, and more and more companies have restricted their usage of business class fares as a cost saving measure, but such a simplistic measurement doesn’t take into account the full cost of economy class travel.

Firstly, there is the impact to health.  At 6’2” I find economy class seats very restrictive.  When planning my travel it’s important to check which airline I’m flying with.  Not all seats are equal and the extra 3” room on a Singapore Airlines economy class seat makes a vital difference over the more compact configuration of British Airways or Virgin.  Crammed into a small seat for 12-14 hours also raises concerns about deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and compression socks, and aspirin are recommended.  Physically after a long-haul flight I feel drained.  The physiological effects of dehydration, back-pain and discomfort are considerable.  Ideally after a long haul flight I feel I need 24 hours of rest before I’m able to perform at an optimal level.  This isn’t a problem if your plan for the next 2 weeks is to lie on a beach, but if you’re expected to represent your company in a customer meeting, or present at a conference its not the best way to prepare.  I often feel the company doesn’t get my best performance because of the way I’ve traveled.

Secondly, I feel that employees forced to travel in this way develop a deep-seated resentment on the basis the company isn’t treating them reasonably.  The reality of business travel is already unglamorous. The cycle of airport-office-hotel-office-airport means that even when you travel to interesting locations you don’t really get to enjoy the experience. My experience is that long haul travel often eats into your weekend, often requiring you to travel on a Saturday or Sunday so you can be available to start bright and early on a Monday morning, or leaving on a Friday to arrive back home well into your weekend.

So what can companies do differently?  Firstly, a sensible travel policy is needed.  In my opinion there is no justification for flying business on short-haul, it’s double the price for a bit more legroom and a nice (?) meal.  However, anything long-haul, over eight-hours, should not be in economy as it’s not good for your employees health or their morale.

Companies can save money on travel in a different way.  Video conferencing, and actually questioning the value of getting on a plane can save huge amounts of money. There is nothing worse than traveling half-way around the world to find that you could have achieved your goals with a call or worse by email.

One of the easiest ways of saving money is simply to plan your travel ahead, and book early. Every year I fly to the TMF Live Event in Nice, France.  I book early so my economy class fare costs around ￡70-80 return.  Colleagues who book late often pay ￡700-800 for the same seats, 10x more for the same economy fare.  However, when booking cheap fares its important not to be too parsimonious. Non-flexible fares can cut costs even further, but companies who book these type of fares shouldn’t complain when travel arrangements change and you find out the low fare is non-refundable.  Paying a slight premium for flexibility is usually worth it.

The best option to minimize cost and maximize employee welfare is to use premium economy.  This combines leg-room and comfort, with a Spartan level of catering that keeps the bean-counters happy.  A premium economy fare from London to Sydney is around ￡1,600-2000, mid-way between economy and business class.  The seats are comfortable rather than spacious, and most importantly most premium economy seats include power for laptops so if you need to work on the flight you can.

So if this article seems like a whinge…it is!  Once I've been to see my osteopath, and the feeling in my left toes has returned, I'll be fine.  Writing about the joys of business travel in economy class is a type of therapy, and hugely more productive than venting my anger at the person in front of me who has reclined their seat and stopped me working on my laptop, and hopefully it addresses some interesting issues.

Some business travel is inevitable, and while companies need to control their costs, they also need to consider the needs of their employees.  If you have to fly long haul on business use this post to justify an “upgrade” to premium economy and remember that if you don’t convince your manager, make sure you don’t get the non-reclining seat adjacent to the toilets, because even in economy not all seats are equal.