The other day a friend and I was discussing business travel, he said "You must have lots of points from all the travel", and I mentioned something about having a large number of tickets and hotel rooms "in the bank".
The next day he asked me if I could give him one ticket to fly somewhere. He then made the statement that he checked and tickets were $600 but he wasn't going to pay that much and wanted to "buy" a ticket from me for cheaper, or if I was willing, just give him the points to book the trip. I was appalled. I informed him that I don't sell tickets and it's not going to happen. (Never mind the bailout mentality of using OPM)
A few years ago a girl I didn't even know said she heard from a friend that I had traveled a lot and wanted to see if I could bum her a ticket so she could go home for Christmas, for cash or else. I declined that offer too. And a girl I was dating asked me to provide tickets so all her friends could go to the Islands one weekend. No, no, and no.
My dad recently asked me to use his FF# with my car rentals so he could get some miles, but I explained to him that I would rather buy him the miles than use that poor conversion rate just to keep his FF account active.
My question is, why do people ask and feel like they are entitled to use the points that I have accrued BIS?
You are unfortunately not the only person that experiences this! I travel 100% on my own dime. The only folks I use miles and upgrade certs for are my parents and my two best friends.....and they are always traveling with me. Otherwise....I provide them with the website and tell them I'd be happy to answer any questions they have about how I do what I do.
I've been, IMHO, quite generous with my miles - giving many international tickets to family, domestic tickets and upgrades to family, taking a friend in int'l J to Bangkok with me, and another friend in int'l J to Kenya with me. But if anyone asked me for a ticket, my response would be "NO", especially if they were mere acquanitances or friends of friends.
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Same here-- I've been generous with points, but I have also been approached a few times. Turns out most people who ask want them for flights that turn out to be a bad value for the miles required. I'd consider charging them for the miles-- I'd rather not use award tix anyway-- but it would usually turn out that they would be better off paying cash, which is the conclusion I would have already come to. So I just say no.
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Odd. I have a hard time convincing people to let me book them flights using my miles. I offer my friends FF tickets in exchange for a small reimbursement that is way below anything they could buy an actual ticket for, yet they don't want to do it, saying, "it's too much trouble". Then they promptly purchase a $400 ticket that I offered to book for $200.
Of course, I'm sure they wouldn't have a problem taking a free ticket from me. But, as was oft said in 1989, homey don't play dat.
I have a hard convincing people that when I redeem points, I am not getting a free hotel stay. I have used hotel points when traveling with friends who have no appreciation to the work that goes in to getting those points. Instead they ask me to pay for half of the Wifi fee. Maybe I just need new friends.
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I think several factors are involved. First, many (though certainly not all) of us travel for companies who pay for the tickets. People do not see the miles and points we accumulate as part of our compensation and think that we have gotten them "for free". They don't realize it's like asking for part of our salary.
Second, they don't realize how much travel actually takes out of someone, how much we actually work for the miles. Yes, some of it is interesting and enjoyable, but more often than not it is tiring and a hassle.
Third, very few people realize how much time we put into learning the system and maximizing our miles. They don't realize how many miles can be earned without traveling and how easy it would be for them to do it themselves.
So bottom line, lots of folks think we have just "fallen into" the miles without any effort and have all of it "for free", so why not share. I do think these people are very much in the minority and that percentage wise, very few people would actually ask us to give them something for nothing.
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I've never had a casual acquaintance try to pinch my miles/points - I think I'd be very taken aback if that happened. "Hey, you and I had a few beers six months ago...can you hook me up with a couple Hawaii award seats and a hotel please?" I think I'd be like the guy in the Capital One commercial, regardless of what was offered in return. The answer's always NO!
I've redeemed awards for close friends and family, but usually at my recommendation because it was a logical place to spend points/miles. When I travel with my infrequent-flier friends, I usually pick up the hotel if using points makes sense.
I offer my friends FF tickets in exchange for a small reimbursement that is way below anything they could buy an actual ticket for, yet they don't want to do it, saying, "it's too much trouble". Then they promptly purchase a $400 ticket that I offered to book for $200.
This is the flip-side of Schadenfreude--
Freudenschade, I guess, which would be sorrow at another's success.
People are often willing to overpay (as you noted) to usurious levels to some faceless corporate entity to not help an acquaintance benefit. It is a weird quirk of human nature.
I've noticed for years friends/people are envious of our mileage accounts, while concurrently valuing them at or near $0.
I've volunteered to help friends for years, to teach them a few things so they can do this for themselves...and these same friends who put a low cash value on our miles have an utter unwillingness to spend even a minor amount of time on managing their accounts, but think I should love to do it for them.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JerryFF
So bottom line, lots of folks think we have just "fallen into" the miles without any effort and have all of it "for free", so why not share. I do think these people are very much in the minority and that percentage wise, very few people would actually ask us to give them something for nothing.
I agree - some people think other people's miles are a windfall that the "owner" should part with freely. Thankfully, these people are in the minority, but the attitude underlies perhaps 95% of the requests.
I also suggest that, were one to propose a "sale" of points (clearly in violation of most programs' T&C's), these people would somehow feel that one proposes getting something for nothing and cannot perceive the situation as one whereby the owner is sacrificing an entitlement.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moman
The other day a friend and I was discussing business travel, he said "You must have lots of points from all the travel", and I mentioned something about having a large number of tickets and hotel rooms "in the bank".
The next day he asked me if I could give him one ticket to fly somewhere. He then made the statement that he checked and tickets were $600 but he wasn't going to pay that much and wanted to "buy" a ticket from me for cheaper, or if I was willing, just give him the points to book the trip. I was appalled. I informed him that I don't sell tickets and it's not going to happen. (Never mind the bailout mentality of using OPM)
A few years ago a girl I didn't even know said she heard from a friend that I had traveled a lot and wanted to see if I could bum her a ticket so she could go home for Christmas, for cash or else. I declined that offer too. And a girl I was dating asked me to provide tickets so all her friends could go to the Islands one weekend. No, no, and no.
My dad recently asked me to use his FF# with my car rentals so he could get some miles, but I explained to him that I would rather buy him the miles than use that poor conversion rate just to keep his FF account active.
My question is, why do people ask and feel like they are entitled to use the points that I have accrued BIS?
Please share stories so I don't feel alone
I would have also said no, no, no, etc. in your position. That's crazy.
Luckily, no one has ever asked me to use my miles, probably because everyone who knows me knows that I am irrationally addicted to them. I have been happy to buy tickets for loved ones, of my own volition, using my miles. My only rule for that is that I will only buy for them the same thing that I would buy for myself -- namely, international premium-class tickets. For anything else, I would rather buy the person the ticket using cash.
