I work for a large aerospace company. To preserve anonymity, I’ll just refer to it as The Boring Company, or Boring for short. Last week I got some training approved, the first time in 7 years. Corporate policy requires that all travel expenses be put on a corporate credit card. This card is in the employee’s name, and they are responsible for it. They are required to use it for company expenses, and are forbidden from using it for personal reasons. This shifts the financial responsibility to the employee. Now I’ll be the first to admit that for training you asked for, it’s a small price to pay. But that also includes any travel your boss forces on you.
     As a side note, my previous employer had an awesome travel policy. First, they took care of airfare (fully refundable tickets you could change at any time), car rental, and lodging. For other expenses, you got a per diem. Sometimes people at Boring use the term per diem to mean a maximum daily amount you can spend on meals; you don’t need receipts, but people who have spent the max have gotten yelled at for “acting like they’re on vacation.” * That ain’t no per diem. A true per diem is a daily amount you receive before your trip, in the form of a giant envelope full of cash. If you don’t spend it, you keep it! For a 10-day trip to Alaska in 1997, I was given $400. I had heard of guys using that to buy PB&J and a loaf of Wonder Bread, and pocketing the remaining $390. Seems kinda cheap to me, but a nice option if you’re a friggin’ hermit.
     Anyway, I signed up for the training class using the credit card, and right before class they told me the card was denied. Now, the training company was trying to save money by running credit cards themselves, instead of paying a fee to have automatic authorization by the company that ran the registration website. Since they waited so long to run the card, they let me take the training and work out payment later.
     I call up the credit card company (GE), and the automated message tells me the card is active, and I have a zero balance and a high limit. Ok, I must’ve typed in the info wrong. Nope, still doesn’t work. After 20 minutes going through phone menus and holding, a customer service rep asks, “Did you know that Boring changed their credit card provider a year ago? The account is suspended.” Then why didn’t their automated message tell me that??? They seem to be acting like a jilted lover, not wanting to throw away the love letters and photos, on the off chance their ex comes to his senses and take them back. They haven’t told their parents yet, I guess.
     Since my card wasn’t active during the switch, (remember, my employer does not like to keep me well trained), I never got a new one. So I’m still waiting for a new card, and the training company is still waiting for their money. I guess I should count my blessings: my friend had to charge something on his personal card, and Boring took 10 months to reimburse him.

* That may be just my group; I’ve talked with guys in other groups who ate filet mignon at Chart House every night on travel. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend it.