MD114Ever

I have a pairing with a same duty period deadhead IND-MEM. I plan to take advantage of the contract provision that allows us to get a hotel at the company's expense. The contract says that CRS may assist the pilot in arranging accommodations at a contract hotel.

My questions are, when do I contact CRS to make the hotel reservation? Once the live leg to IND lands or can I get CRS to arrange the hotel ahead of time? Has anyone had success getting CRS to help with the reservation?

Dadof6

No first-hand knowledge, but I would try to coordinate ahead of time, first with CRS and then with Flight Services if the scheduler is busy/can't work it. Good luck and report back with the gouge, please.

Lambo

I did this once a few years back and CRS was of no help.... If you book a room, do it directly with the contract hotel and do not use any of the hotel booking web sites (ie Expedia, Orbitz etc). Make sure to keep reciepts.

Seasick Sailor

I did this about two months ago. I called the Omni directly and they gave me the FedEx rate. (I had a deadhead two days later that layed over at the Omni.) I also called Carey limo directly to arrange the transportation. I called both about two weeks in advance.

MD114Ever

I have arrived early to several destinations. When doing this, you have to book the reservation yourself and expense it as a deviation expense. In this case, since you are using your deviation bank and trying to manage the expenses, you do not have to stay in the contract hotel. And, you can use 3rd party web sites to get the best rate possible. Example, I used Priceline to get hotel rooms in Paris and Honolulu. Neither were at the contract hotel and both were fully reimbursed.

The situation that I'm referring to occurs at the end of a pairing when you have a live leg followed by a deadhead back to base in the same duty period, ie no layover hotel. The contract section 5.1.f allows you to get a company paid hotel room in the city in which your last live leg ends. This section says that CRS "shall" assist the pilot in booking his room. I called the CRS hotel desk today and, sure enough, the scheduler asked which hotel I would prefer to stay in and he booked the room. Now, I'll spend the night on the company's dime and deadhead back to Memphis in the morning to catch my afternoon departure.

FlyByNite

Did the same thing a little over a year ago. Called the travel desk and was told "you have to do that yourself, that's not what we do". After a short chat with the duty officer who reviewed the contract, the travel person was delighted to help.