Employee Books "Cheapest" Flight For Boss Following Company's Policy. This Happens Next

A company's strict "always pick the cheapest flight" rule backfired when an employee applied it to her boss's travel, eventually landing herself in a meeting with the Human Resource department about "best judgment", the New York Post reported. The story, shared on X by user @ceraliza, has gone viral with nearly 2.5 million views as workers relate to the "double standard" of corporate travel policies.

The employee, who HR once reprimanded for "spending extra to get home earlier," thought her boss should also travel on a cheap and inconvenient flight. 

"Later, I had a work trip with my boss and I had to book the flights cause he'll never book his own travel. enters my malicious compliance: I chose a cheaper flight with a 4hrs layover on a Friday evening, he was pissed cause he had an hour drive from our airport and had to cancel plans so I explained the policy," the employee wrote. 

"Monday morning, we had a chat with HR about using 'best judgment' when it comes to booking," she concluded. 

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See the post here: 

I worked at a company with a strict “always pick the cheapest flight” rule, I once got warned for spending extra to get home earlier.

Later, I had a work trip with my boss and I had to book the flights cause he'll never book his own travel.

enters my malicious compliance: I…

— sugamummy 🧚🏽‍♀️ (@ceraliza) April 29, 2026

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Social Media Reaction

"Funny how the rule only became a problem when he had to sit through a 4hrs layover flight," one commenter pointed out. Another called it "a classic example of 'the rules don't apply to them'".

"Nothing teaches management faster than experiencing their own policy firsthand," one user wrote. 

"I have a boss who is like this. Always wants the cheapest flight but asks me to change his flight at the last minute. Like the one we booked was non-refundable because you wanted the cheapest right??? So I just always book out of policy from now on," another shared.