[Rick Lee]

My company makes us book through Amex's Axiom travel site. Their prices are usually the same as Kayak's or Priceline's and we're not allowed to book outside of it unless there's a >$100 difference. The site keeps our frequent flyer numbers and gets the points added to our accounts too, also lets us choose seats. I never see a bill for it. The flights that are crazy expensive are marked "outside of policy" and we can't select them. But as long as we're able to click on them, they're fair game. So I go for the most convenient flights on airlines with which I get miles.

Also, we have some stupid T&E rules that really defeat the purpose. I have a $71 per diem for food. But if I save $200 in hotel fees by staying with friends (as I always do in Irvine, CA), I can't expense more than $71 even if I take those friends out for a nice meal and still save the company a lot of money. We can't use the minibar, even if we skip meals and the minibar is cheaper than a meal would have been. Once my boss told me he pads his expense reports because of this BS, I stopped caring so much.