A friend flying on a Government fare in Coach noticed a strange Frequent Flyer number on his boarding pass. Since Government employees are forbidden under penalty from getting miles on their accounts, he was curious if someone else is getting those miles, if there any for his flights.

I thought it strange, that there would be a strange FreqFlyer account number on his boarding pass.

Does anyone have an explanation?
Are there miles that someone higher up the ladder can use?

[This message has been edited by ROADRUNNER (edited 07-20-2001).]

It's most likely a "psuedo" ff number that designates a non mileage earning ticket. The airlines use them on Mileage awards, Bonus Travel Tickets and such.

------------------
Have a great day!!
~~Missy~~

Actually, the travel policies do not prohibit the government employee from accruing the miles, but it prohibits the personal use of them. The miles may be accrued for future use on official business. They may not be used for upgrades, or obtaining a membership in one of the airline lounge programs.

It is something of a pain to keep the records of personal travel vs. official travel, but hopefully it is worth the effort.

There was apparantly a flaw in the records, on that trip. My numbers always show up properly even though I have to use a specified agent who is terrible.



[This message has been edited by katfan (edited 06-27-2001).]

While it's true that miles earned on US government biz do not belong to the employee, it varies from agency to agency how employees can use the miles. In many agencies the employees can use them for business class upgrades while traveling on government duty. With every agency, the miles are not to be comingled with your personal miles. If they are, the government cconsiders all the miles theirs. Of course, what's allowed and what actually happens are not necessarily the same.

Perhaps the person traveling was assigned a new FF account by a government travel secretary or travel agent for their government miles. ???

There are many threads about use of miles earned on government travel. If anyone's interested, you might try a search in General Travel, Buzz and United.



[This message has been edited by letiole (edited 06-27-2001).]

While some agencies do say you cannot use miles to upgrade official business travel, you are clearly within your legal rights to do so. All civilian travel is governed by Joint Travel Regulations, JTR, Volume II. The State Department is the responsible agency for establishing civilian travel policies. The JTR specifically states that FF miles may be used for upgrades and "amenities available to the general traveling public...that contribute to the benefit of the government." Surely, anything that makes your travel easier makes you more productive upon arrival at your temporary duty station and benefits Uncle Sam. If your travel folks balk, either work the upgrade yourself after ticketing is done or have the question run up the legal flagpole. Good luck.

The unlimited utilization of ff miles by government employees has been run up the legal flagpole. The specific State Department employees who flaunted the open, personal use of miles had their legal flag ripped from the flagpole and stuffed in their mouths (they had to payback the open market value of the miles and received reprimands (read in give up hopes of being promoted; or "the price you pay for being a smartass")). That having been said.

I assure you that government employees can accrue miles and use them for upgrades. While I did not retain the official mandate from Congress, I have memorized the gist of it (my specific job position entails three weeks of travel per month forever). In short,

Government employees can accrue miles under any circumstances, assuming that the ticket code allows for miles (almost all do). The specific agency can allow the employee to use the miles FOR WORK RELATED UPGRADES ONLY. These upgrades can be from coach to first on a two-class aircraft, or from coach to business, or business to first on three-class aircraft.

An agency CAN forbid the above utilization of miles, although most do permit the utilization of miles for upgrades. For those agencies that forbid the utilization of miles, most employees accrue the miles until they leave government service, and use the miles at that time.

How about if you are not a government employee but the Feds are paying for your ticket? A co-worker was telling me today that she has to fly to another state to testify at a trial. When I told her to make sure that she got FF miles, she rold me that the ticket says that all FF miles are the property of the U.S. Government. I guess since they pay, they want the miles?

kokonutz has posted in the past that his mother, a retired fed employee, intended to do just that, but upon her retirement received a letter threatening to reduce her retirement pension if she used the miles.

Because these policies do vary from one agency to another (although all forbid personal use), one should consult their own agencies regs for specifics. While I'm not familiar with what agency would allow upgrades from business to first on three-class aircraft, the FAA, for example, does not.



[This message has been edited by letiole (edited 06-29-2001).]

I don't understand WHY those agencies are so protective of the miles, if the employees can NOT use them Who is being so aggressive about preventing the employee from using them? Why do the miles exist if they can't be used.

[This message has been edited by ROADRUNNER (edited 06-30-2001).]

Theoretically miles earned by government employees on duty are supposed to be available for free tickets for other government employees traveling on business so that taxpayer costs are reduced.

Letiole, Whoa! She actually received such a letter? Never heard of that one before, but I guess that it could happen. My specific Fed gig entails a very high level of travel; and not a single one of my coworkers have ever rec'd that. Either working or upon retirement; and I have stayed in touch with a number of the retirees.

-As to the poster who mentioned that a friend was flying on the govt's nickel and wondered as to the miles; the "all miles are property of the U.S. government" is boilerplate on all tickets. The government cannot accrue the miles, only the person can. IF you are a government employee, then I guess that your agency could make you cough up the miles on some future flight. As far as being a civilian, have at it.

For the gubment folks out there, most can and do use the miles for upgrades while on official business. No, this is not quite as generous as open market companies. However, it is a very good option and one that makes a lot of sense. As for the agencies that do not allow you to use miles for upgrades; I would opt for squirreling the miles up for year after year and using them when you leave government service.

Hey, there was a hyperlink to the Congressional mandate on this that was posted sometime in the spring of 2000. I searched for the posting a little bit, but could not locate it. Does someone remember which thread it was in? Three UA drink certs to the first person to find it and post the html in this thread. Thanks!


[This message has been edited by Butcher Bird (edited 06-30-2001).]

I can only speak for DOD employees, of which I am one. Official policy is that FF miles can never be used for personal use of any type, including upgrades or free tickets. In addition, for official travel, miles can only be used for upgrades to Business, not First, so if it is a two-class cabin, you are out of luck. Don't even get me started on the lunacy of that provision, because no one understands it.

AFAIK, there is no policy, DOD-wide anyway, on whether it is appropriate to use 500-milers/EUs, since those are provided gratis.

Finally, while DOD prohibits the use of TDY miles for personal use even after an employee retires, the real world answer is that, having retired, the employee is no longer subject to administrative sanctions by the employing agency (such as suspension or termination).


[This message has been edited by jmiyazawa (edited 06-30-2001).]

Here ya go ... I posted this in January of 2000 on a thread on the UA board. Top part's about Congressional travel, but at the bottom is the stuff on the regular folks.

This is from US Code, Title 2, Chapter 24, Subchapter V on Congressional travel:

(a) Limitation on use of travel awards; exception (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), notwithstanding any other provision of law, or any rule, regulation, or other authority, any travel award that accrues by reason of official travel of a Member, officer, or employee of the Senate shall be considered the property of the office for which the travel was performed and
may not be converted to personal use. (2) Travel between the Washington metropolitan area and a home State Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any travel award relating to air transportation for a Member of the Senate, the spouse of that Member, or a son or daughter of that Member, between the Washington metropolitan area and the State of that Member. (b) Regulations The Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate shall have authority to prescribe regulations to carry out this section. (c) Definitions As used in this section - (1) the term ''travel
award'' means any frequent flyer, free, or discounted travel, or other travel benefit, whether awarded by coupon, membership, or otherwise; and (2) the term ''official travel'' means travel engaged in the course of official business of the Senate.

For other federal employees Section 301-53.5 of the Federal Travel Regulations states that federal employees are allowed to earn miles and, if their particular agency allows it, they may redeem the miles for business-class upgrades while on government business, but not for first unless for reasons relating to safety, and never for personal travel.

And here's the link to the FTRs:

http://policyworks.gov/org/main/mt/h...TR/FTRHP.shtml

And this link takes you specifically to the FF program regs:
http://policyworks.gov/org/main/mt/h.../ch301-53.html

Not so for personal business with any agency. Yes, for government business, but not to first unless you meet special safety concerns as outlined in the FTRs.

[This message has been edited by letiole (edited 06-30-2001).]

I interned at the US Embassy in Bern.

For a person of my age, it was the experience of a lifetime. While I was never bored, one of the less exciting parts was working in the administrative section, except the day I got to work with the travel manager to process vouchers.

I of course showered her with lots of questions about gov�t travel policies (like when does the gov�t buy you a biz class ticket). One involved miles. Quoth the travel manager:

Employees are encouraged to open a second mileage account and credit their gov�t miles to it. If they deposit these miles to a personal account, they can be prosecuted. They cannot redeem the miles for personal travel, but when on official business can use them for upgrades and of course take advantage of any elite perks.

According to her, almost nobody at the embassy bothers to collect miles!

I thought that most airlines did NOT allow you to open a second FF account. So, how can you get the gov. miles if you are not supposed to "mix" them in with your personal miles. Am I incorrect about the rule on more than one FF account?