Meh - in all my years as an auditor I never heard of managers and executives getting involved in kickback schemes. Not even the ones who forced staff to use sole source travel agencies when they could get better fare booking online.
And don't even get me started on "the liquid value" of those airline and hotel status programs. They keep management honest by not being forced to sneak their booze on the company expense report.
Originally Posted by
pinniped
People don't always like to talk about this, but conceptually the programs were designed to provide a legal form of kickback to business travelers. That's at least part of the original reason that miles are not an asset, property, currency, tradable commodity, or a binding contract to the traveler. (There are other good reasons as well.) The liquid value of all of your miles and points is $0 - and that's by design. They're bits and bytes in an airline computer - nothing more.
So no, legally they are not a discount program or anything else implying a promise of future travel.