I’m currently booking business trips to FL and TX the same week. I will be flying from OR to FL, then to TX, then back to OR.
My clients in each state are going to reimburse my travel expenses. The question is, what’s the fairest way to divide the costs?
Here’s the breakdown:
COMBINED ITINERARY
OR - FL - TX - OR
$1445.68
SEPARATE ITINERARIES
OR - FL - OR
$1395.45
OR - TX -OR
$501.20
My initial thought was to subtract the TX round-trip airfare from the combined multi-city trip fare, so that the payments would look like this:
FL: $944.48
TX: $501.20
… but is it fair that my client in FL gains all the benefit from the cheaper combined fare? Both clients are peripherally aware that I will be in the other location that same week (there was schedule juggling to make both visits work), and they’re both going to need to see (a) the actual itinerary I book and pay for and (b) the alternative ones that determine any savings.
If I just split the cost down the middle, then I’m looking at
FL: $722.84
TX: $722.84
… and that seems completely unfair to TX, that a cheaper flight costs them MORE.
So two scenarios I have now:
FL saves $450.97
TX saves $0
FL saves $672.71
TX loses $221.64
Any suggestions on the most ethical way to divide the costs (or rather, the savings)?
ETA:
On Preview, I may have another solution.
The combined cost of both RT direct trips is $1896.65.
The savings from booking a combined multi-city trip is $1896.65 - $1445.68 = $450.97.
If I split this savings evenly between the two parties, then our new totals would look like:
FL: (direct) $1395.45 - $225.485 = $1169.965
TX: (direct) $501.20 - 225.485 = $275.715
(and $1169.965 + $275.715 = $1445.68, the amt. of the combined itinerary)
Reactions? Does that seem fair? Does that seem too complicated to explain to the parties in question? More importantly, if YOU were the client, and someone spelled this out to you, would you feel it was fair? Or would you feel swindled?