Effective immediately, German politicians will be traveling a bit less comfortably (thanks to Klaus for flagging this)…
German Bundestag members to fly economy on most flights
Germany’s Bundestag (federal parliament) has updated its travel policy, in hopes of slashing travel costs by roughly half. Up until recently, Bundestag members have had the option of traveling in business class on virtually every flight.
That’s no longer the case — effective immediately, business class travel is only approved on flights of four hours or longer, while members must only book economy on shorter flights. In other words, on flights within Europe, these politicians will no longer be booking business class. Admittedly intra-Europe business class isn’t much to get excited about, but it at least gives you priority services, a blocked adjacent seat, and premium food and drinks.
Per a memo from the Bundestag’s president:
“In order to be able to approve business trips over the entire course of a financial year, if possible, this will in future be done for flight durations of less than four hours for economy class and no longer for business class.”
The Bundestag has arranged for members to be able to purchase access to lounges and fast track security lanes, in order to improve the quality of travel. However, the cost for these services isn’t known.
What’s prompting this change? In 2023, the Bundestag’s annual travel budget was dried up within five months, as few members voluntarily chose to save on travel costs by booking in economy. Rather than increasing the budget, the travel policy is just being changed, as it’s believed that resources can better be used in other ways.
The interesting travel perks politicians receive
Travel policies aside, it’s interesting to see how travel perks differ around the globe for politicians. Some examples come to mind, including ones that involve Germany.
For one, up until 2022, German Bundestag members actually received Lufthansa Miles & More Senator elite status. This benefit was cut due to an update to the ethics policy for politicians in Germany. Bundestag members have a limit on the gifts that they can receive for ethical reasons, and that limit is 25 Euro, and obviously that status was worth more than that.
So now Bundestag members have lost both Miles & More Senator status and business class travel privileges, meaning that flying is a lot less pleasant for them than it was in the past.
Beyond that, in Germany many politicians can actually request to skip the security checkpoint at airports (I believe this policy is still in place, but I’m not 100% sure). This policy doesn’t get much publicity, and it’s my understanding that while politicians can make this request, a vast majority don’t take advantage of this.
On a different note, I’ve always found it strange how politicians in Australia are given an invitation to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge, which is an invitation-only club for VIPs. I know companies and organizations exercise soft political power in all kinds of ways, though creating a special lounge and inviting celebrities and politicians sure seems to create a pretty major conflict of interest, if you ask me.
Bottom line
Effective immediately, members of Germany’s Bundestag can no longer fly business class on flights of under four hours. This decision comes after last year’s travel budget was depleted within five months, so the goal is to manage costs by not increasing the budget. I’m sure this is something that many politicians won’t be happy about…
What do you make of Germany’s travel policy change for politicians?
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