Originally Posted by ja_user (Post 15486920)

Agreed, it takes entirely too much effort (mainly due to the time and lack of detailed reporting), to figure out what has and hasn't posted.

Originally Posted by gemac (Post 15487331)

It is way too much effort. It is hard enough to handle with one or two fliers. 6 or 8 would be a nightmare. One major problem is that the BE number you place in the PNR doesn't stick there - it comes out pretty regularly for us. There is no way we can see whether it is still there once the rez is put on hold or ticketed. If it falls out, they claim it takes 8-12 weeks to "research" it, but I have always had to call in at 12 weeks, and it gets posted around 14 weeks. It doesn't take any more effort to "research" it at 14 weeks than it would take in the first day - probably about 10 minutes. In my opinion, to make this a viable program, they would need to do the following:
1. Solve the problem of BE numbers coming out of PNRs after they are in there. This may happen because of upgrades, I'm not really sure, but it should never happen. Many years ago, there used to be a similar problem for AAdvantage numbers, but that got solved and now never happens. BE numbers should be the same.
2. Make it possible to see the BE number in "My reservations".
3. Post BE credit within 72 hours of the flight posting.
4. Post BE credit by flight. Now they show you the flights you have been credited for, and the BE points for the quarter as a lump. This makes it impossible to tell if you got anything even remotely close to the right amount of points for a particular PNR.

Also, IMO, they should treat expiring points like they do expiring miles - expire the account if there is no activity within 18 months. As it is, their "three year" use-'em-or-lose-'em policy really is a lot less because of their inability to post automatically and the extremely long times to post manually.

I'm not sure if they intend the BE program to be as annoying as possible, so that they can tell small businesses they have a program just for them (to brush them off) and then end up not giving them anything, but if that was their intent, they have succeeded Admirably.

Originally Posted by chanp (Post 15487303)

Did they give you half of the ticket value as credit?

Originally Posted by ckpeter (Post 15487548)

I was given credit for whatever the fare component was for that particular leg. Not necessarily half the ticket value, as the outbound leg may be more or less expensive than the return.

Originally Posted by niznad (Post 15543647)

Hi guys,

I am a one person business and was wondering if I am allowed to sign up for a Business Extraa account. I know they ask you to have at least 2 employees traveling when you enroll, but just wondering if they make exceptions for sole proprietors.

Thanks for the help.

niznad

Originally Posted by dstan (Post 15544132)

I don't think the enrollment process actually requires you to input anymore than one AAdvantage number for the travel manager. Also, sole proprietors sometimes have to reimburse others for expenses, including travel.

Originally Posted by niznad (Post 15544387)

When you sign up, they ask for the number of employees. The minimum you can put in there is 2.

Originally Posted by niznad (Post 15544387)

Thanks for the response.

When you sign up, they ask for the number of employees. The minimum you can put in there is 2. Since I only have one employee (myself), I can't really put in 2. But I am a registered business and feel that I should be allowed to sign up.

Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by niznad (Post 15543647)

Hi guys,

I am a one person business and was wondering if I am allowed to sign up for a Business Extraa account. I know they ask you to have at least 2 employees traveling when you enroll, but just wondering if they make exceptions for sole proprietors.

Thanks for the help.

niznad

Originally Posted by docr775 (Post 15545908)

As a sole prop, on BE I listed my wife and my daughter. I get BE points for their flights, for which I pay. I also write my wife a 1099 and my daughter paychecks since they get taxed at a lower tax rate than my 35%.

Originally Posted by dstan (Post 14422989)

It's often difficult to figure out BE credits for TATL flights, especially if there are flights operated by other carriers, and also because the fuel surcharge is now folded into the fare. Accordingly, I thought I would let folks know that my most recent JFK-LHR AA fare included $160 each way for the fuel surcharge, which does not count toward BE points. I'm guessing this is standard across all fare classes, but if it matters, it was an N fare each way.

Originally Posted by mvoight (Post 15546185)

As long as they are actually working, that looks valid. Obviously if just doing it to avoid the taxes would not be a good thing. For example, you can't pay your child $10000 to replace a light bulb, and call that pay a business expense.

Originally Posted by docr775 (Post 15584856)

If I wanted to pay someone $10k to change a light bulb, I will hire a union worker.