Value of Frequent Flyer Miles

[athena53]

I met other road warriors where their c*rp clawed back all those points. Man, that had to really, really suck. The status was theirs, but that's all. In our case, I know that points added up to tens of thousands of dollars in free travel for us.

How do the logistics of that even work? First of all, the points/miles are in your name. Do the bean counters monitor the points you've accumulated on their dime and then require that you use those for future business trips? That's about the only way I can see them doing it and not only would it be a lot of bookkeeping, but there's no guarantee you can use them for a trip to be when and where the company wants to send you.

And then- let me twist the bean counter's brains in knots. I started at my last company having already obtained Lifetime Elite status on AA. So, every time I fly AA, I get bonus miles because I'm Elite. Does my employer also "own" those miles? Oh, and can I ask for reimbursement because I've saved them baggage fees because I don't have to pay them?

AND if they claim Elite bonus miles- what about the employees who obtained Elite status in the previous year through a combination of business and personal travel and would not have Elite status on business travel only? Should the bonus be pro-rated?

To go back to the OT- I've been checking to find the best use of about 100K miles I'll have after a credit card bonus posts. I have future plans to go to Hawaii and also to Europe. Business class airfare to Europe is about $4K and to Hawaii it's under $3K. Yet, it takes more award miles to go to Hawaii. I know where I'll be using my miles!

 

[FIYes]

Finished an initial spend for DH a few months ago and just finished an initial spend for me to get sign on bonus miles. We now have enough miles for our return flight for our transatlantic repositioning cruise next year. Happy dance!

 

[kgtest]

I will use some for a FL booking. Then I buy one with my Delta Platinum and get one free. I will do that for 2019 and 2020s booking and cancel that card. I call this one my FL card.

I have like quarter million points, with kids and local events it really slows the travel and/or changes it to a bit more local.

 

[marko]

And then- let me twist the bean counter's brains in knots. I started at my last company having already obtained Lifetime Elite status on AA. So, every time I fly AA, I get bonus miles because I'm Elite. Does my employer also "own" those miles? Oh, and can I ask for reimbursement because I've saved them baggage fees because I don't have to pay them?

Off topic but this reminds me of a friend years ago who's company wouldn't allow travel on company time; you had to fly on your own time.

As most of the travel was to really cool places (Paris, Rome, St Pete, Tokyo, Hawaii, etc) with no night flights, most of the guys would conveniently finish up their work on Sunday afternoon just after the last plane left --or fake extra work over the coming week--and would have to stay until the next weekend at company expense.

Talk about the original passive aggressives! The guys were, of course, splitting hairs but often got to spend an entire week just sitting in sidewalk cafes drinking and eating.

 

[Red Badger]

How do the logistics of that even work? First of all, the points/miles are in your name. Do the bean counters monitor the points you've accumulated on their dime and then require that you use those for future business trips? That's about the only way I can see them doing it and not only would it be a lot of bookkeeping, but there's no guarantee you can use them for a trip to be when and where the company wants to send you.

And then- let me twist the bean counter's brains in knots. I started at my last company having already obtained Lifetime Elite status on AA. So, every time I fly AA, I get bonus miles because I'm Elite. Does my employer also "own" those miles? Oh, and can I ask for reimbursement because I've saved them baggage fees because I don't have to pay them?

AND if they claim Elite bonus miles- what about the employees who obtained Elite status in the previous year through a combination of business and personal travel and would not have Elite status on business travel only? Should the bonus be pro-rated?

To go back to the OT- I've been checking to find the best use of about 100K miles I'll have after a credit card bonus posts. I have future plans to go to Hawaii and also to Europe. Business class airfare to Europe is about $4K and to Hawaii it's under $3K. Yet, it takes more award miles to go to Hawaii. I know where I'll be using my miles!

Well, a bit snarky ^^, but I'll try.

Employees had to use corporate travel office and corporate credit cards. Nothing involving accounting. Every plane ticket is linked to a ticket number (ditto hotel and car reservations), as are any award miles, points,etc. These in turn are linked to the payment method. Hence a very easy tracking of who paid for the travel. Harsh as it may seem, some companies position is that they paid for those awards and they are company property. While I did not go into the worm hole of every perk (but I will bet the MC legal team did), clawing back the gravy is very simple. In a tight fisted company, that could be tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

I also just read a post on this thread about only travelling for work on personal time. WTF??

And I once, many years ago, worked for a company that made me pay for travel, then reimburse me. I worked there for about months.

 

[gcgang]

I've never flown enough to have a big bank of miles. Use what I have to redeem for magazines/WSJ.

 

[athena53]

Well, a bit snarky ^^, but I'll try.

Employees had to use corporate travel office and corporate credit cards. Nothing involving accounting. Every plane ticket is linked to a ticket number (ditto hotel and car reservations), as are any award miles, points, etc. <snip>

And I once, many years ago, worked for a company that made me pay for travel, then reimburse me. I worked there for about months.

Yeah, I do get snarky about mega-corps once in awhile. I understand that they can track what gets booked through their system and determine the points based on the fare class. Hotels are even easier since it's just a function of dollars paid. But do they track Elite bonuses? Let's say I took a 1,000- mile flight in a class that gives me 1,000 frequent flyer points. A low-tier Elite member would get another 200 miles as a bonus. Does the company track that and expect you to use it for company travel? Most years I maintained Elite status only through a combination of business and personal travel. Generally I got hotel Elite status by getting their credit card and paying the fee- again, not due to business travel. So who keeps the Elite bonus points?

I never had a problem with using my own credit cards and being reimbursed as long as the company was good about prompt reimbursement and the expense account system wasn't too clumsy. My boss, who was usually good at promptly approving expense accounts, once dropped the ball when I had an $8,000 airfare (US to India with a stop in Zurich, Business Class) and I had to move some money around to pay it on time but I loved the credit card points!