Accumulating points as a consultant?
 

Hello,

I am on a ~4 month project for one of the major consulting firms and am set to travel quite a bit. I want to maximize my points on airfare/hotels/cars without annoying everyone at the firm with special requests. The policy is usually that the firm will book my airfare/car/hotel and I will fly/drive/stay. I am already a member of just about every loyalty program. What can I do to maximize my points, given that I am not booking? (Obviously, I would like to book and be reimbursed, but that's not going to happen)

Sorry if I missed a thread on this when I searched

p.s. if anyone is in the consulting industry in Atlanta, I would definitely like to grab lunch sometime. I am a (young) attorney trying to move into consulting permanently.

Recommendation:
Focus on the project and have great success there.
Don't bother anyone at this early stage with your travel requirements- later when you make partner you will have plent of time for that ;)

you should be able to put the air mi on 1 carrier w/i an alliance, but that is ff 101.....

date someone in the travel dept!.....thats business/politics 101...

I'm a consultant and book all of my own travel.

If you're tied to using the travel desk of the company you're consulting for, then you need to give them the flight numbers of the flights that you want to take. As the previous poster says, stick to the same airline alliance.

If you do some research on fares in advance, you should be able to give them flights that are reasonable value compared to the cheapest available. This way they will have little argument about booking the flights you want, rather than the cheapest ones available.

I really don't want to annoy anyone at this point. They are booking all the travel as I'm pretty entry-level and trying to work my way up. Is it possible to get any credit for hotel stays or car rentals if they book cars/stays for me, using my name as the driver/guest?

Usually yes. When checking in for your car rental/hotel/airline show your membership card and verify that your number has been entered. Note there are certain (very very few) companies which have negotiated NET rates without points- however the only consulting company I know of that has done is this is the successor of HAL.

Maybe. Who makes the booking is not as important as how the payment is made and the terms of the rate. When you pickup the car or check-in to the hotel simply present your membership card and ask to have the rental or stay credited. If the rate is ineligible they will probably tell you, but nothing bad will happen.

I'd highly recommend adding in member numbers after everything is booked.

Much worse chance of airlines/hotels not giving the benefits one would earn if you wait.

OP - When everything is booked, simply add in your member number. Be it Alamo/National, Marriott/Hilton.

For airplanes - use one number for US/UA/CO flights or others in the *A.

Please follow this discussion in the Miles Buzz forum.

--jpdx, MR Moderator

For hotels just add you loyalty number on the reservation. If the stay is paid directly by the company, ie masterbilled, then chances are you won't get any points but you may get stay credit.

I once did 4 months at a Residence Inn that was masterbilled. I didn't get any points but did get stay credit that made me Platinum.

Thanks for the help!

Ask first
 

OP is an entry-level doing work for a client which is clearly persnickety about travel. I would ask other more experienced co-workers how this is all handled before I did anything.

Most companies which do this, find that it cuts their costs and cuts down fraud.

I agree with this. Take it slow. Even if you leave some miles in a program that you end up abandoning with 17124 miles or some odd amount because you had to take those 3 round trips on some other airline alliance big deal. If you do a good job at your firm and consulting in the next couple years, you will set yourself up to not have to ask these questions for the rest of your life, for you will be in the drivers seat. We all have to start out somewhere. Good luck.

Since you're based in Atlanta, you will probably end up taking Delta more frequently than other airlines. If you don't have a credit card associated with Delta, it might be worthwhile to get one that offers 30k-40k (or more) bonus miles on Delta for obtaining the card and meeting certain spending requirements.

Doesn't the group that arranges your travel keep your FF numbers on file? It would be odd, in my experiences, to have any issues with that. You may not be able to specify airlines or properties, but should have no problems getting credit for every stay.

Unless all stays/travel for all consultants are master billed, but that would be out of the ordinary, IME.

I'd call the travel group and ask. They won't have input into any performance evals/etc. and are surely used to answering a couple questions, in their area of experts, for newbies.