SAA Cabin crews on strike

One would think that SAA (like many other airlines) would have standard agreements with hotels which provide breakfast, lunch and supper. The only other requirement should be the out-of-pocket expense for incidentals.

TBH I find a meal-allowance of USD 131 even excessive considering that the most expensive hotel I ever staid in (Mandarin Oriental NYC @ USD 2700/night) the room-service came to less than USD40 per meal (steak) and averages around $20-30. Makes me wonder if cabin-crew does not try to offset mediocre salaries with allowances and cash in on the tax-free portion of it.

Where are the MyBB high-mile-club members to answer this? FWIW: In previous companies our daily allowance was around $50-70 which was always sufficient.
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
One would think that SAA (like many other airlines) would have standard agreements with hotels which provide breakfast, lunch and supper. The only other requirement should be the out-of-pocket expense for incidentals.

TBH I find a meal-allowance of USD 131 even excessive considering that the most expensive hotel I ever staid in (Mandarin Oriental NYC @ USD 2700/night) the room-service came to less than USD40 per meal (steak) and averages around $20-30. Makes me wonder if cabin-crew does not try to offset mediocre salaries with allowances and cash in on the tax-free portion of it.

Where are the MyBB high-mile-club members to answer this? FWIW: In previous companies our daily allowance was around $50-70 which was always sufficient.
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Yeah ours is broken down per city for the US but the highest amount is $74 which is applicable if you have Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner + Incidentals so $131 already seems utterly ridiculous to me never mind the requested $170.

So this just reeks of bull**** "A lot of our members have to use their meagre salaries to supplement the meal allowances‚" he said."

Eat somewhere ****ing cheaper then. It's not hard.

Sure I'm not in the US right now but I'm travelling for work and struggling to even use the whole budget, never mind having to pay out of my own pocket and I'm eating and drinking well.
 
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$130 a day is more than a lot of companies pay high-end management staff who travel for their meal allowance!

What on Earth do they need that money for?!
 
neoprema said:
$130 a day is more than a lot of companies pay high-end management staff who travel for their meal allowance!

What on Earth do they need that money for?!
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I'm going to guess the allowance is given to them each day theyre out of country and nobody checks what it is used for or if it is used at all
 
ToxicBunny said:
I'm going to guess the allowance is given to them each day theyre out of country and nobody checks what it is used for or if it is used at all
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Yep, there's a misunderstanding by the staff - its not a "gift" for spending money, its to allow you to have sustenance while traveling under the assumption that its similar to what you would have back home.

Not Sushi, caviar and lobster every day...
 
SauRoNZA said:
Yeah ours is broken down per city for the US but the highest amount is $74 which is applicable if you have Breakfast + Lunch + Dinner + Incidentals so $131 already seems utterly ridiculous to me never mind the requested $170.
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Thought so much. I only know one person who used to fly with Air France and their allowances where slightly higher as her arrival times was at some ungodly times where not even room-service did a decent job (they then packed their own food to tie them over). I think last year Air India was in the news because their cabin crews took liberties with breakfast buffets where they literally carted away tupperware with food.

Sorry to say, but cabin crew to me is not more than a waiter in-flight (more so SAA employees) - their service attitude just generally stinks and is filled with arrogance.
 
SAA Cabin cres on strike

ToxicBunny said:
I'm going to guess the allowance is given to them each day theyre out of country and nobody checks what it is used for or if it is used at all
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That's generally how sustenanxe/per diems work.

They would simply account for breakfast, lunch, dinner and incidentals in a yes/no fashion.

If the hotel gives breakfast as part of package already paid for the you can't claim for it.

If you eat cheaper/less it's money in your pocket. If not then it's your problem.

No invoices required either.
 
SauRoNZA said:
That's generally how sustenanxe/per diems work.

They would simply account for breakfast, lunch, dinner and incidentals in a yes/no fashion.

If the hotel gives breakfast as part of package already paid for the you can't claim for it.

If you eat cheaper/less it's money in your pocket. If not then it's your problem.

No invoices required either.
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Yeah I know....

Some companies operate differently though and require invoices and accounting for all expenditure during a trip.
 
:wtf: $131 is already more than the UN rate for most countries.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Yeah I know....

Some companies operate differently though and require invoices and accounting for all expenditure during a trip.
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Yeah usually the smaller ones want every bloody detail.

And the balance if you don't use it all.

Previously worked for one of those but then I simply said fine...cash up front and I'll spend it happily.

None of these putting on my credit card and claiming back crap.
 
The Trutherizer said:
$130 = R1700...

How can they possibly not eat for a day using that money? They want to go shopping and put it under "incidentals".

It must be a huge expense for the airline - No wonder bailouts needed in the past.
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i was thinking exactly the same. $170 totals somewhere around R2200, and how long do they stay for? A day maybe? Surely this is a bit over the top, because im sure they can get a decent cheaper meal.
 
SauRoNZA said:
That's generally how sustenanxe/per diems work.

They would simply account for breakfast, lunch, dinner and incidentals in a yes/no fashion.

If the hotel gives breakfast as part of package already paid for the you can't claim for it.

If you eat cheaper/less it's money in your pocket. If not then it's your problem.

No invoices required either.
Click to expand...

this is normally how it works.. If you get a R500 allowance for food, and you go cheaper, thats good for you then.
 
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