Originally Posted by Efrem
I confess to seeing some fairness in employers keeping miles, even though as a "mileage whore" myself I'd be upset if mine did. Of course, they can't really keep the miles, but they can track them and require employees to get award tickets for themselves or colleagues.
I know some people consider it part of the compensation for the hassle of travel, but I don't buy that. If travel is part of the job, compensation for the job ought to be enough to pay for that hassle too. Asking to keep miles is like asking for more compensation of any type. Also, in my experience the people who say this the loudest are those who like to travel anyhow.
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The same is true for airline employees. They get unlimited NRSA travel as part of their compensation. If the airline wanted to reduce their fuel cost slightly by ending the NRSA program, they would have to pay higher wages so that the employees could buy tickets instead. The marginal fuel cost is much, much less than the value of an airline ticket, so the airlines stick with the NRSA travel.
The same is true for employers of business travelers. If my employer wanted to pay me 2 cents per mile, they can have the miles. I would much prefer to use the cash to buy tickets rather than issue award tickets. Of course, it would be cheaper for my employer to let me keep the miles at no cost to them than to use my miles but pay me 2 cents per mile.
If an employer wanted to keep the miles but not pay the business traveler 2 cents per mile, that is no different than a pay cut. In the same vein, it would be cheaper to cut an employee's salary than to keep miles from business travel.