"Have expenses, will travel" is a wistful mantra of the past to the present generation of road warriors as they struggle with tougher rules and scrutiny of travel and entertainment expenses.

In my corporate days we faced a dialectical dilemma between the creative exploitation of the rules and grand larceny: like weighing the legal difference between "tax avoidance" and "tax evasion," between being smart and being dishonest. This meant that travel expenses, however outrageous, should be transparent: The best place to hide something is out in the open.

The assumption was that one could get away with (almost) anything if one could show that one was (1) saving the company money with astute travel planning and (2) getting results beyond the call of duty. It was important to be virtuous. But one needed to be seen to be virtuous.

So I was intrigued to read that more than a third of U.S. and European corporate travelers questioned by American Express admit it is "somewhat" or "quite" common to submit an expense report with "one or more false or bogus charges." And that "padding" or fiddling expenses is commonplace.

The poll of 500 travelers in Britain, France, Germany and the United States, conducted at the end of 2004, also showed that half of the respondents faced tighter corporate scrutiny of travel and entertainment expenses, compared with two to three years ago. As a result, 23 percent said they were either "somewhat" or "much" more careful in following spending rules. More than one third (37 percent) said their companies were more careful in reviewing expenses to check for "non-allowable" items.

Americans are the most compliant: 77 percent said all expense vouchers should be checked, followed by 72 percent of British respondents, 70 percent of Germans and 64 percent of French.

The poll indicates that Europeans are quickly adopting the "cost-control mentality" that has been an accepted practice in America for years.

The French adhere most to tighter expense policies - 33 percent reported that to varying degrees, they were "more careful" than they were in the past; 26 percent of respondents in Britain said the same, followed by 16 percent in the United States and 15 percent in Germany.

Business entertaining presents a famed opportunity for "embellishing," "hiding" or "falsifying" expenses reports. Meals were cited as the most abused travel and entertainment expense by 70 percent of the French, 59 percent of Germans, 53 percent of Americans and 48 percent of the British. Tips, taxis and telephone calls were cited as other "windows of opportunity."

Around-the-world tickets seem set to become the flavor of 2005, judging from readers' letters so far this year. They are the ultimate one-way ticket - cheaper and often more flexible than a conventional round-trip fare, especially if you are traveling at least way around the world in the next 12 months.

The airline alliances Oneworld, Star Alliance and Skyteam offer a raft of prices and routings, usually with just two airlines - British Airways from Europe to Sydney, Qantas across the Pacific, and thence, via a variety of gateways, BA back to Europe. Star Alliance partners, like Lufthansa have similar offerings.

Cathay Pacific has won the right to fly from London Heathrow to New York's JFK. But it probably won't have the slots it needs at Heathrow until late this year. Cathay already has a nonstop Hong Kong-New York service, and Singapore Airlines has introduced a daily New York-Singapore service. When it gets the Heathrow slot, Cathay will offer an actual around-the-world service on one carrier. By then Singapore Airlines will probably be flying the North Atlantic, and Emirates, with global aspirations, may be offering nonstop flights between Dubai and New York.


Roger Collis is the author of 'The Survivor's Guide to Business Travel,' published by Kogan Page in conjunction with the Inrternational Herald Tribune, and edits an online newsletter at www.truthintravel.com