If the business trip is required of you and is outside your normal work duties as a non-contract and non-exempt employee, then usually your employer must reimburse you for all business-related expenses, including income you would have accrued while working normal hours. All in all, talk to your employer about your concerns and if they are not addressed, then you may want to contact an employment law lawyer who knows your state's laws.

"Acquire them yourself" or "pay for them yourself"? There's a big difference. Ask your boss for instructions on how to submit such expenses for reimbursement. If your company thinks they can require you to incur thousands of dollars in costs for necessary travel, then you need to talk to someone -- the labor board, an attorney, etc. Assuming that they intend to reimburse you, I'd say that they're being nice if they let you book your plane and hotel yourself, because that lets you make your own choices. It's much better than having people walk up to you and say, "You're going on a business trip. Here's your plane ticket, and here's the cheap dive of a hotel that we booked for you. We thought it would be better for you to get there on Saturday morning, so that you will have plenty of time to rest up before the meeting on Monday afternoon."

That exact same thing happened to me for a trip to Chicago from New York for my company. I paid for everything thinking I would be reimbursed. It never happened. That was 5 years ago. And it was my Dads company...

You need to immediately discuss this with your boss to make sure you understand the procedure. It's not uncommon anymore that employees who travel have to book their own tickets and reservations. Often in these cases there is a company credit card thats used to pay for these - Though sometimes the employee has to use their own credit and be reimbursed. But book no tickets until you understand the reimbursement policy. In the unlikely event you were not going to be reimbursed, then say you cannot because of financial hardship or lack of credit - Better to catch heat up front on this one than to be taken advantage of. Once a pattern starts, it never gets better.

it's probably acquire, not buy. the reason is because you want to accrue miles with your airline of your choice. the company doesn't really care. as per usual, first class is standard. you can then turn in the miles for personal use later. this is generally how companies passively pay you a bonus for the inconvenience of travel.

Pay for the trip and begin stealing small amounts of office supplies daily. Eventually, you can open a bootleg Office Max and make all the money back.

First time my company sent me somewhere, they told me to book it myself, and I took it to me I had to pay. But then, as a logical adult, I asked my manager how to pay for it. She told me to put it on the receptionists company credit card. Be an adult. Ask those "tough" questions.

My company makes us pay for hotel and travel out of pocket up front. Then we submit expenses and get reimbursed. It sucks but that's how it is there even though we have almost 4,000 employees. They just don't want to track a bunch of company expense cards and it is easier for them to dispute charges you make (business vs personal) that way. Also collect receipts religiously on business trips.