Boss - but completing six sigma ticket process of cost to administer this program.

This is very helpful!
Thank you!

OK, this is scary. I work for a sub of a large co. I'll call Giant Enterprise- also a Six Sigma organization. Hope you're with another company.

Tell those Black Belts to go back and do VOC (Voice of Customer) again!

Another thought: the Elite status I get by combining business and personal travel on the same account (couldn't do it with one or the other alone) has many benefits for the conmpany.

When upgraded, I have a restful and more productive business trip.
My current HHonors status means free breakfasts in Hilton properties.
Elite security lines and check-in lines mean I;m more likely to make the plane.
If I miss a connection I'm more likely to get re-routed promptly.
In general, I just feel better about business travel- because it's less hassle and because I'm building up points I can use for my own travel.

Finally- they may over-estimate the value of "valuable points". I redeem mine only with a lot of advance planning. Apparently the airlines do open up Reward travel at the eleventh hour for seats they can't sell- but your employer may find that they can't redeem points for the travel they want you to make unless it's flying from Kansas to Kenosha on a Tuesday. If it's travel to Europe, they can forget it. You may want to do a test of availability of sample trips (many airlines let you do reward travel searches on their Web sites).

The last time I traveled frequently for business, most of my trips were no-weekend-stay short-notice trips from AA hub DFW to places like NYC & BOS. Those tickets usually ran $1500-$2000 RT. At those rates, even an AAnytime 50K award would be a bargain.

That said, a policy saying I couldn't keep my miles would have had me looking for another job. The way I see it, the miles are compensation for all the extra hours I spent on planes on Sundays and weeknights. Unless the business travel were entirely between 9am and 5pm weekdays, then I'd object strongly.

As I have mentioned in another thread, the IRS and Congress have historically avoided (or been unsuccessful in) trying to value and regulate tax implications of FF miles/points, likely in part because they are not very liquid and thus difficult to value. IMHO, if companies start schemes to make these more transferable, that might cause renewed attention to these issues. Some of the results could include reduction of the company's tax deduction for travel costs by the "value" of any FF awarded (regardless of whether the FF were used), along with a host of other undesirable and complex consequences.

There are several large German corporations that require employees to hand over their miles. The corporations then use the miles company-wide for free flights etc.

I don't recommend you follow this path for a six sigma project -- having been there and done that on this specific area -- and/or if you do, then make sure you monitor some baseline measures that may capture the negative byproduct produced (and there are several).

In most cases, the employees most likely to accumulate sufficient mileage for an award ticket are those that are also amongst the most capable to move on (literally). The better way to gain advantage from employee's frequent flier programs MAY be allowing the employees to redeem their miles for tickets and get the amount 1099ed with X% of the savings passed on to the employer. This is a very mutually beneficial item when it comes to "international" business class or first class business travellers. Monetizing the frequent flier account can work to both parties advantages if done right, but it will be, regardless, an accounting headache.

not so rosy...
 

au contraire, I know the corporation where travel department is responsible for managing employee's frequent travel account... they automatically enroll person to FFP if they have to fly any particular airline.. if ee have enough bonus miles and there is award availability, travel dept issue award ticket instead of "paid" ticket...

It's been a few years since I say my friend back in Oz who works in the gov't. but she told me that she had to keep her own log of what was her privately earnt miles and gov't earned ones. She then had to redeem the gov't earnt miles when the balance was big enough. This was subject to audit controls and spot checks. The rational is that you earnt those miles using taxpayers (or the companies) money so they should benefit from the savings. The flyer was getting the benefit of status and priviliges they wouldn't of otherwise got.

With the amount of miles I earnt in my last job, the full fare equivelant would of been more than my yearly salary, so a very nice bonus for me! :D However I think that this didn't compensate me enough for the time I had to spend away from home. :( Catch 22. If my employer tried this I wouldn't of been loyal to any particular airline alliance and not bothered with the miles.

Speaking of Wal-Mart, they require all flights to be booked through their Travel department. I know for a fact that their employees (associates) don't get the frequent flyer miles. I wonder if they negotiate better fares in lieu of FFM because of the sheer volume?

I guess if the fare code purchased is some Priceline-type code, then there would be no frequent flier miles.

In terms of a company forcing an employee to give the company miles, I don't think it's workable. Obviously, the company could fire an employee who wouldn't play the game. Absent this, what's to prevent the employee from saying, "no, I don't want to be a part of those FF programs -- they're all scams." Then, in order to do an end-run around the Travel Dept., the employee just sends the BP to the airline after the fact and gets the miles anyway?

business travel is hard and stressful enough without a greedy employer taking my miles. If the company asked me to enroll in a program for their benefit, I would just decline. I guess a way around this problem is to add the FF number after ticketing and the boarding card is issued - then add the number for credit, or submit the BP for credit after the flight. It would keep the miles out of the boss' hands, but certainly keep the upgrades out of the employee's.

Bottom line - if my job required frequent business travel, I expect to keep my miles and upgrades provided I follow a normal corporate travel policy and my earning activities do not result in additional costs to my company.

I turned down a travel job a few years ago where the employer frowned upon FF memberships and forced employees to travel in coach, declining upgrades (good for team morale, they said), stay in 2* motels, and rent economy cars from second-tier agencies. My answer was to cut the interview short and say 'thanks, but no thanks'. If they want me on the road for their benefit, then I should at least have a shot at being comfortable and stress-relieved.

I have a friend that works for a publication company. She has just 1 frequent flier account for her personal & work travels. She has to provide copies frequent flier statements after her travels for work related reasons. After enough miles have accrued she is then forced to take a mileage ticket to her next destination, of course for work reasons.

Just plain sucks I think. Companies should let us keep our miles.

Ric