That story reminds me of the 'crew unaccommodations' I had to deal with recently. Used to be these were in house people. Not anymore. I called to ask for an airport hotel on an inbound deviation, as I had to fly an all nighter from that station. Since I didn't want to spend all day sitting in a hotel not sleeping, I figured an airport hotel would be perfect for a couple of hours nap before the flight.

In the past, I'd been told to hold on while they checked inventory at the airport hotel. Often it was no problem. This time, I was told flatly "no", that is against company policy. You MUST go to the downtown hotel, 45 minutes away. Which of course, by the contract, you are on your own dime getting there. Now, on the back side of a rotation, if you deviate, there is a template that allows you to select airport or downtown. But if you're on the front end... forget it!!