Let's also not forget that not everyone is or wants to be in a company or industry that requires constant travel. Plenty of people go to the office from 9-5 and never see the inside of an airplane. If one job requires heavy travel with no personal rewards accrual, it might be time to evaluate other career options.
Also, think about the voluntary denied boarding compensation issues that would arise. Today, that flight voucher could be used to make the expensive impossible possible for leisure travel. So if you can, it could be worth the inconvenience to volunteer. However, if the company controls the FF credits, you'd be volunteering to spend the night in another city...to feed the company. Fewer people would think it worthwhile to bother volunteering, leaving the airline to forcibly bump people and pay more.
Another point: What about those business rewards credit cards being advertised? Ex Chase Ink, with an introductory 40,000 points, good for a $400 travel voucher, intended for a business trip? Theoretically, as a sort of compromise, if the company pays the employees' airfare with that card, the company can still earn business travel rewards, while the employee could still get their personal miles. But the company could still decide to go after those as well. And the business award trip would earn the employee no miles.
Last edited by Auto Enthusiast; Oct 11, 2010 at 10:39 am