Requesting government rate for vacation

[snickerd3]

The annoying guy here at work just made hotel reservations for his FAMILY vacation to Florida using the government hotel rates (unfortunately ear pluggs don't work against how loud he talks). If he were attending a meeting for work for part of the time, then I would have no objections. I think using the government rate for total personal gain is crossing the fine line...or am I being overly cautious?

 

[SSmith]

I dont think its unethical at all. The rate is set for government employees, much like there is usually an AARP or AAA rate. If you are a part of the club, you get the discount. If they really wanted the discount to be for TDY trips, then they would require showing orders to document the fact. They dont. All they want is proof you're a government employee.

I do it (or try to) everytime I have to use a hotel for private business.

 

[jmbeck]

I dont think its unethical at all. The rate is set for government employees, much like there is usually an AARP or AAA rate. If you are a part of the club, you get the discount. If they really wanted the discount to be for TDY trips, then they would require showing orders to document the fact. They dont. All they want is proof you're a government employee.
I do it (or try to) everytime I have to use a hotel for private business.

Technically, the rate is set for government money, not the employees. We had a document stating the contract we were working under and the fact that all charges were reimbursable by federal funds. Granted, I never had to show it, but just in case we were told to travel with it.

That being said, I too try to use the government rate whenever I can get by with it. I justify my thievery by making at least one work related phone call per trip. And that phone call is usually to my voicemail, the contents of which I by and large ignore until I return.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Every time I got gov rates, I had to show TDY or PCS papers and turn one in to the hotel. Of course, that was at least 13 years ago, too.

 

[chaosiscash]

We're not allowed to use our government rate (or government ID) for personal travel. I don't, as I have trouble enough looking my fellow taxpayer in the eye.

 

[SSmith]

*takes the wet noodle lashings*

For reference, I just finished an exhaustive Friday afternoon survery of people I could find in the office. Out of 11 people asked if they try to get the government discount at hotels on private business, 11 people answered yes.

The key differentiator is that you are using your private credit card to fund the room at the government discount rate. Under no circumstance is it ok to use government travel card at the government discount rate for personal travel.

 

[TouchDown]

Ommmmm!

I'm telling John Stossel!

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I don't see an ethical problem with it at all. However, it isn't much better than the AAA discount, USAA discount, or the teacher discount, is it? That's the way I recall it.

 

[bigray76]

Ethics? Hah. If everyone in life were ethical, nothing would get accomplished.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I never said I was a role model.

 

[benbo]

What I understand about federal govenrment travel it is basically up to the hotel chain what they will accept. Some require government id and travel orders. I don't think it is unethical if the hotel accepts it.

However, as a state employee I would not use the state government rates for my personal travel because I am paranoid. I'm not sure what the policy is, but I can usually find as good or better rates on my own. Plus I usually use frequent flier/hotel points for this anyway.

 

[cement]

AAA gets a pretty good discount too.

 

[IlPadrino]

I would ask for the Government rate and leave it up to the hotel to ask if it was official business. I don't see any ethical problem. Of course, feel free to ask the bean counters, but you might not like the answer they give.

 

[mudpuppy]

I completely agree with IlPadrino. Heck, I might even ask for it. "Can I have the government rate?" If they give it to me even though I'm not even a gov't employee then that's their loss. If they ask if I'm on gov't business, I'll say no. I'm not misrepresenting anything as long as I don't say I'm a gov't employee on official business.

Room rates are negotiable, and there is nothing wrong with asking for a discount--the AAA discount, the gov't discount, or a discount for no reason at all. Often the rack rate at a hotel is really high, and you're getting screwed if you accept it, so try for any discount you can get. If you don't feel comfortable asking for the gov't rate, just ask if they can give you a discount--you may end up with the gov't rate or AAA discount anyway.

There seems to be a notion in the American psyche that the merchant is the party that sets prices in transactions for goods and services, but in fact, pretty much everything is negotiable (unless prohibited by law--in MI liquor prices are set by the state and non-negotiable).

I was at an auto parts store once and rememberd that a store in town gave employees of my company a discount. I couldn't remember which store it was, and I asked if they gave a discount for Company X. They said, "No, but I can give you a discount anyway." It may be surprising what you can get just for asking.

 

[Dleg]

Hotels are private businesses and (as far as I know) don't get subsidized by the government in any way. They would never set a "government rate" (or an AARP rate, or a visiting royal moose lodge rate) at a level they won't still make a profit off of.

Thus, "government rate" is about the same thing as an early bird special or Tuesday two-for-one. It's just a "sale price" and designed to bring in more business, and is not unprofitable in and of itself. As I look at it, I can ask for a government rate, or just ask "hey, can you give me your sale price on this?" and it's all the same thing. It's up to the hotel to say yes or no, or to ask for proof.

But I'm always too chicken to do it, so I only ask for it if I have some government business I am doing.

 

[DVINNY]

We need to sign EB'ers up for an ethics training seminar I see.

I have a government card to use for that (government contractors get them too), but can honestly say I've never remembered to use it, even on business stays.

I'm an idiot.

 

[maryannette]

I recently made hotel reservations for government-sponsored job training. The reservation clerk told me that I would need travel orders to check in with the government rate.

I also recently reserved a room for my daughter to finish her semester at college after her whacked-out roommate kicked her out. I looked on the internet and found the lowest rate and quoted that rate when I made the reservation. I also shared that my daughter was a college student and it turned out they had a student rate and a rate for the college. I ended up getting a better rate than any I had found.

You can negotiate a rate if they want to fill the room. As far as using a government ID to get a better rate, you can get it sometimes even if you tell them that you're not on official travel. I just don't like using deception to save $20. That's MY choice.

And my :2cents:

 

[Guest]

I am on govt sponsored travel right now in Tampa. :happy:

I didn't ask for the govt rate when I showed up at the hotel, I asked if there were any rooms available and for the rate. I presented my govt-issued charge card (P-Card) and the lady initially quoted me one rate but then dropped the rate by $10.00/night upon seeing my card and Tax ID Exemption.

My thoughts on this FWIW:

1. In my experience, the govt rate offered by many hotels doesn't really save you that much money if any at all. I have found you can do far, far better by booking hotels through some of the online intermediaries like Expedia.com, Priceline.com, Hotels.com, etc. At least that is what I do when my travel is unrelated to my job.

2. As other people have said, the govt rate offered by a hotel is a savings they offer in order to attract business. I can assure you there have been plenty of times when I have tried to book hotels during PEAK TOURIST SEASON when the govt rate = typical rate or the hotel would simply say we aren't offering a govt rate at this time. :true: So my impression is that the hotel has the sole discretion of offering savings to encourage patronage of thier facility.

3. Note that I mention that I use a Tax ID Exemption upon my stay at a hotel. While I don't think seeking a more favorable hotel rate is wrong - using the Tax Exempt ID would be VERY wrong if my stay were not related to business travel. I thought about that when DVINNY mentioned ethics.

:2cents:

JR

 

[engineergurl]

When ever I have traveled I always say, we are military and members of AAA, can we get a discount. Military members usually get 10 to 15% off so thats what we end up getting, but I think that is more of an "appreciation" thing then a benefit to be expected. We have never had to show orders, just an ID card. This isn't just with hotels though. As a previous state and local government employee, there are plenty of other opportunities for discounts just by showing your badge... the Weiner Works here gives 10% off! The discounts are a ploy to get your business and wouldn't be offered if they were loosing money. BUT I can say when our admin people book the hotels, the rates are equal to that of per diem, not a percentage of discount, so I guess it depends which one you are getting... and your own personal feelings.

 

[SSmith]

the Weiner Works here gives 10% off!

You had to open the door, didn't you?