This makes me so angry. This was one of the reasons I got out of consulting. Every fucking time, I would get an enhanced check. Surprisingly enough, it is nothing new. This is something you face if you are a minority. Hell, I remember a friend from back in Africa whose dad got blacklisted in the nineties because he had a beard. Brown catholic guy with a beard got blacklisted. The only difference now is that at least this guy is articulate enough to vocalize organized discrimination.
If I were a consultant today, I'd look into buying an RV. No more dirty hotel rooms or questionable restaurant food. And a much lower chance of a TSA encounter.
#1. I have a MiFi device, so I can get started with the preliminaries as my spouse drives. And of course, once I arrive I'll be on-site with your team.
#2. Because I provide my own living arrangements, my expenses will be much lower. I'll charge you diesel from my current location instead of a round-trip business-class airline ticket, and the RV park is $300 a month, vs. $150 a night at a hotel. Since I tow my car, you won't be paying for a rental. And you won't be billed for bi-weekly weekend trips home, as I bring my home with me.
#3. (fudge it a bit...) I can be there as soon as I finish wrapping things up with my current client. Probably on the 9th.
#2 A huge enterprise company would probably reject you for nickel and diming on their behalf. The billing rate is incredibly high mainly because they just want their job done.
#3 A consequence of high billing rates is that you will be required to be there as soon as possible.
And Fuck Jet Blue while we are at it.