CargoCan

As long as we are talking about housing allowance, has anyone gotten a real idea of what it costs to rent in Cologne/Bonn? I've gone through a few websites, including the German ones, but still do not have a good idea of what you can get for 1000-1500 Euro. Certainly an apartment with one or maybe two rooms (not bedrooms). Just wondering if anyone has a better ballpark figure for what it costs to find an actual house, maybe even three bedrooms, maybe 1200 sqft (or whatever that equates to in sqmtrs) in a Cologne/Bonn suburb???

Underdog

I believe a huge issue here is the tax equalization issue. To go to an FDA you basically sign over your tax benefits (as a US citizen earning income abroad) over to the company. In the case of a captain "living" in HKG, that could mean well over $60,000 is returned to the company for those benefits on that individual's tax returns. However, residency abroad must meet the IRS's sniff test as well. Red flags will go up if family(wife and/or dependent children) reside in the states.

As for the 100nm residency limits, those were in place at Subic as well. A couple of guys lived in Manila...no problem. One individual was going through a divorce when he moved to Subic. Wife was in the states. He merely needed to show a copy of the filing of his divorce paperwork to the HR folks.

O'DarkThirty

Here is a link to the Kaiserslautern American's (KMC newspaper) house for rent section to get an idea on rental costs: Classifieds English | Free classifieds :: Classified World, Free Ads, Free advertisement, Business Opportunity

This link is for some of the rentals available around the military bases in Germany. It gives you an idea of what’s available.
Here’s a non-military link; Corporate apartments: Cologne, Bonn, Dusseldorf.

One thing to keep in mind about European rentals..the kitchen sink may not be included. No lie! The whole kitchen maybe gone, it’s up to you to install it!! Most landlords will work with you and install a kitchen if needed for an additional monthly charge, say 150Euro/mo. OR, you may need to pay the old renter for the kitchen they put in or bought.

Here’s what a friend who lives over in Germany pays for utilities based on 130 meter 3 BR, 1 1/2 bath apartment; monthly were about 150 Euro for heat and electric (gas heat and hot water), 50 Euro for water, 50 Euro for tel and internet. Depending on the size of your home, utilities will run between 250-500 Euro per month. 100 meters is about 1,000 square feet.

From my research, 1200-1800 Euros plus utilities will get a 2-3 bedroom apartment (higher end for a house). Again, the kitchen may add another 150 Euros.

Gas prices are also wicked high - 1.58 Euro per liter in the local area for Super (they basically did away with regular). That's $2.25 per liter or about (hope you are sitting down) $8.75 per gallon. Here's a web site that lists average current prices by city: BENZINPREIS.DE - Preisunterschiede zwischen einzelnen Städten (30-Tage-Mittel)


Hope this helps.

FDXLAG

So what the Captain is trying to say is it cost Fedex big money if the if thay cant claim the overseas exemption for it pilots. I am sure they planned on using the overseas exemption to offset the housing allowance. Every penny of that housing allowance can also be exempted for US taxes because it is no where near the allowable rate. When a pilot cheats fedex they are essentially cheating Uncle Sam through Fedex, Fred dont need those headaches.

That is what we get for selling out so cheaply.

CargoCan

Thanks, it really does help. I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that it will be a money loser for us. I canl live with that. Just trying to nail down how much of a money loser it will be!

HumptyDumpty

The problem is, they didn't move there. That's the problem. I think.

O'DarkThirty

TA/LOA #2 housing allowance is a minimum of $3500/mo plus COLA adjusted quarterly for CGN. You get the full amount to use. More than enough for housing/utilities with some left over for a beer or two.

HumptyDumpty

Exactly. O has said many times, it's nearly impossible to get fired from FedEx unless you 1) Lie 2)Cheat 3) Steal.

I think that maybe some of the guys didn't use any judgement and did all 3. Not good.

golfandfly

This may or may not be true.

Fedex wants it's pilots to live in the FDAs. They are much more useable if they are in domicile rather than living in the states. Their benefit is having warm bodies that can take a trip at a moments notice. If they wanted to give guys time to fly in from the US, they'd never open a domicile.

Fedex cannot make you live in domicile. However, they can withhold the housing allowance if you choose to commute. This makes commuting to one of the world's most expensive cities difficult. How much is a decent crash pad in HKG? Food is pretty expensive too without per diem. Makes commuting a bad deal. Honestly, I wouldn't do it even for the extra cash.

I'm not sure how Fedex is on the hook for the overseas exemption. We had guys commute to Subic for years and they still got the exemption.

Remember how this was sold to us. It wasn't for everyone, they were looking for certain types (non family types). They didn't have much success with LOA 1, and my guess is it will only get worse, even with the improvements.

Make it simple. Bid out of HKG ASAP, or change your bid out of HKG or CGN and show that the deal is too cheap. They've shown they will come to the table to make it better if they can't fill the domicile.

Honestly, it doesn't matter too much to me. Guys that chose to bid HKG under the current terms deserve what they get.

iarapilot

It seems that is the situation that precipitated the whole thing.