What are 25k miles worth to you?

Old May 3, 2012, 2:07 pm
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What are 25k miles worth to you?

I have an upcoming trip for which my travel will be reimbursed. As I see it, I have two options:

-Buy a ticket, roughly around $480 at present and be reimbursed.

-Use 25k miles, bill the company the cost of the ticket and recoup $480 in place of the 25k miles.

Before I'm asked, yes!, I can find availability at 25k miles at present for multiple flights on the dates of travel, so that won't be an issue. It is a short mileage trip--at most 1200 MQMs. The 25k miles represent about 5% of my total balance, so not a big dent.

To use the miles or not. What do you think?

Last edited by CGNC; May 3, 2012 at 2:13 pm
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Old May 3, 2012, 2:11 pm
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Do you have any specific award you would like to reach (e.g., business class to Asia)? Are you trying to attain a certain level of status? If not, and it is within company policy, then I would use the miles and take the money.
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Old May 3, 2012, 2:24 pm
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Originally Posted by CGNC
-Use 25k miles, bill the company the cost of the ticket and recoup $480 in place of the 25k miles.
Careful with this one... quick and easy way to get fired at plenty of places.
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Old May 3, 2012, 2:29 pm
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I could still splurge on biz tix and DM is likely in the bag for the year.

This wouldn't be going through a formal reimbursement process either which is the only reason I thought of it!
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Old May 3, 2012, 2:29 pm
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DELETED...

Beware, you may get flamed for this idea as some here consider it "stealing" from your company. There was a pretty heated thread about this a few months back.

After reading more of the points in this thread I think I would just let my company pay for the trip and save my miles for myself... no use in causing potential tax issues, or even legal problems.

Last edited by bajrbajr; May 3, 2012 at 10:56 pm
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Old May 3, 2012, 3:57 pm
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Originally Posted by bajrbajr
Beware, you may get flamed for this idea as some here consider it "stealing" from your company. There was a pretty heated thread about this a few months back.
Don't worry about all the naysayers. Sounds to me like you are billing the company you are going to do the work for so you would have to fire yourself if you are self-employed .
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Old May 3, 2012, 5:53 pm
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Originally Posted by bajrbajr
IF your company is cool with your plan to use the miles and bill them for $480 I would do it. I would do it for considerably less than $480... maybe as low as $300... factoring in the diminished chance of upgrades and if I needed the MQMs.

Beware, you may get flamed for this idea as some here consider it "stealing" from your company. There was a pretty heated thread about this a few months back.
A while back a few NBA refs were caught doing basically this. Were fired and convicted of tax fraud.

I would only do this if I had an agreement with whoever was paying me. Even so, that means the money would be taxable which makes it difficult to get a good value.

A better solution is similar but to use your miles for a co-travelor so you at least get the MQMs.
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Old May 3, 2012, 7:15 pm
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Originally Posted by exwannabe
A while back a few NBA refs were caught doing basically this. Were fired and convicted of tax fraud.

I would only do this if I had an agreement with whoever was paying me. Even so, that means the money would be taxable which makes it difficult to get a good value.

A better solution is similar but to use your miles for a co-travelor so you at least get the MQMs.
The NBA thing was a little different, they downgraded their tickets and then pocketed the difference in cash.

The difficulty with this type of thing is that airline miles have typically been regarded as discounts, almost like coupons. This presents a problem for employers who would reimburse you for your mileage ticket: technically, it cost $0. I am neither a lawyer nor an accountant, and there are thousands that would love to debate this topic, but just be aware that there might be more than you're bargaining for. If your employer says fine, then make your call, but no way I'd try this without telling my accountants exactly what I was planning to do.
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Old May 3, 2012, 7:47 pm
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Save the miles and book with the airfare.
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Old May 3, 2012, 7:57 pm
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25k miles for a $480 ticket is a very good exchange rate... almost 2c/mi as opposed to the 1c/mi pay-with-miles rate.
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Old May 3, 2012, 9:28 pm
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Originally Posted by rylan
25k miles for a $480 ticket is a very good exchange rate... almost 2c/mi as opposed to the 1c/mi pay-with-miles rate.
Except the $480 should be treated as taxable income, so the OP might only see half of it.
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Old May 3, 2012, 10:41 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Except the $480 should be treated as taxable income, so the OP might only see half of it.
Agreed. I'm not a lawyer but as I understood it companies who pay for their employees to fly are listing those costs as "expenses." They are not paying their employees extra money to buy tickets, even if it's a reimbursement to the employee. Class of service does not matter.

However, if you use your miles and then get extra money from your company and get caught, you could be in trouble. Depending on how its interpreted, it could be listed as fraudulent. Again, I'm not a lawyer, but I understand that skymiles are only to be redeemed through Delta approved sources for flights, merchandise, etc., but never for cash unless given a very special exception.

I would not risk this. Use miles or have your company pay. Delta would not care about the outcome most likely (they would prefer cash of course) but it would be risky from a business perspective. Just my thoughts.

Also, this is NOT an attempt to start another heated discussion, so please let's not get one started. Let's keep it civil and constructive.
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Old May 4, 2012, 1:50 am
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How would you demonstrate that your ticket redemption value is $480? If you need to book a ticket, then print out your receipt and then cancel the ticket to get "proof" that it was $480, then I think you're definitely beyond the borderline of grey area. Essentially, if you have to "create" a receipt, it seems questionable.

If there is no need to make up a receipt, and can easily claim the cost of the ticket, then I think it should not be an issue.

I'd favor pocketing $480 and parting ways w/ 25K miles, but at the same time, I wouldn't do it if it required "gaming" the expense claim.
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Old May 4, 2012, 7:13 am
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What are 25k miles worth to you?

My company has a policy that allows this practice. Our travel agent will validate the ticket cost and then book your flight with miles. The associate then expenses the flight cost and gets reimbursed.
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Old May 4, 2012, 7:40 am
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This is an interesting conversation.

One other reason I was contemplating doing this was because I know with an award ticket, I could make changes in the future and not incur a cost, yet I need to book the ticket to be reimbursed by Monday. Maybe the best thing to do is ask those paying and see if its ok on their end.
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