Mickey Mouse Versus Money Management

I am given permission to attend a conference (Monday to Friday) about a software package I support. The conference is being held in a hotel/convention center in Anaheim, California, next door to Disneyland. The travel coordinator approaches me.

Travel Coordinator: “A Sunday flight is several hundred dollars more than a Saturday flight. Would you consider saving the company a lot of money by flying on Saturday?”

I talk to my boss, who agrees to approve it if I am willing to give up my Saturday. Fine with me. There’s even an extra session on Sunday that sounds interesting.

My boss talks to his boss to approve the travel request and then comes back to me.

Boss: “I talked to [Boss’s Boss], and he said you’d have to pay for Saturday night’s hotel room and your meals. He doesn’t think the company should pay for your vacation trip to Disneyland.”

Me: “Fine! I’ll fly on Sunday!”

Boss: “But then, I pointed out that you flying on Saturday would save the company enough money to pay for the extra night’s hotel stay, meals, and the extra conference session, and we’d still have enough money left over, and that having you fly Sunday would just be a poor business decision.”

I flew on Saturday, and the company paid for everything.