Value of status and points in salary
 

NO please don't tell me to search. This is not another what is the value of my points post. I am currently in a job that allows (makes) me travel a fair amount. As you can see on my profile I am 2p with UA but on pace to make 1P this year. And I have DIA with HH. I am considering changing jobs to a position that will not require travel or have very minimal travel. So I will be losing the airline status and at least dropping back to Gold with HH (amex card will keep it at gold).
What kind of salary equivalent would you put on the benefits of elite status and the associated points that could be used on and for "upgraded vacations" and/or more frequent vacations? I know I could project out the cents per point earned to get a number but what are your feelings on the intangibles of that "upgraded vacation" and the elite status? Is it worth 1k, 5k, 10k per year?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

you can put the value better than others....what has been the value of the mi's/pts that you have used?...

many people feel that the time w/family is worth something....

i would think that i wouldn't use the loss of company paid travel as a reason that you should be paid more....

good luck....

Status to Pay
 

well here are my feelings on this. I have looked at this because I was offered a position back at work with almost no travel
Value of airline miles would be the following
1. How many tickets can you get with your miles?
2. Figure out the cost if you were to buy those tickets.
3. would you take a trip with your family if you had to pay for it? If you could negotiate enough money to be able to take trips with the family and be at home then it would be well worth it.
4. Really can't put a proce on elite status if you are not travellign that much. If you travel little then Elite status may not be worth very much except whenthere are issues while traveling and you could use the elite status to get you home from the trip

Hope this sparks something or helps

Two jobs, otherwise equivalent; A involves 50,000 miles/year travel and four weeks in hotel rooms; B has negligible travel. Are you asking how much more B should pay? Most people would put it the other way around, since elite status doesn't make up for all the time on planes, in hotels, sitting in airports away from home, etc., etc. Ask yourself: if I had job B now, how much of a cut would I take to get A?

If you tell the folks with job B that you think you should be paid extra for giving up all the travel hassles, I suspect they'll laugh out loud. You may feel that way, but unless you're the only qualified applicant they have, be aware that most of the world - including folks who claim to enjoy travel, such as myself - feel the other way around. Yes, I enjoy travel, but I like being able to decide where to go and when to go there, too.

Also, while earning status on the company dime and then taking advantage of it in your personal travel is not unethical, people who are not frequent travelers may not understand the nuances of how this works. They may see it as taking advantage of company money to get some sort of poorly-understood (by them) personal benefit outside normal channels. Keep this in mind when you plan how to present the issue to them, if you do.

You must really enjoy traveling and/or be single to put it this way. Many would take a pay cut to get off the road and be home with their peeps.

If elite status is really important to you, how much would you pay to earn it? either outright or via mileage runs on your own dime. That's a good starting point. I personally don't fly enough to qualify for status legitimately, but enough to justify wanting it. Therefore I do MR's when I can't buy my way in somehow. It is still cheaper than paying for premium seats.

I'd play it cool with your bosses. I don't think many would consider loss of elite status as something to negotiate salary over.

Traveler

To add some more info to my original post. I am married but no kids at this point but no plans for kids anytime soon. I am able to work from home when I am not on the road. The new position would involve a 30-45 minute commute each way. After talking with Mrs. Cayenne92 she said if all things were equal she would rather have me travel rather than commute each day. Her rational is we would have more time together when home.

Your thoughts have been helpful for me so far. Thanks.

Cayenne,

In light of your last post, the advice of this total stranger is that you should keep the current job. It sounds like the flexibility of working from home allows you a good bit more time with your wife. Commuting would add 1-2 hours to an ordinary 9 hour workday. Plus it's commuting. Ack. To my mind, the ability to work from home when you are not traveling is a big plus.

My best advise is "listen to ms. Cayenne92" and figure out if all things otherwise are equal. I assume that you love her more than your wallet-candy and your priority boarding and us here at FT? :)

The new information puts a new face on things. Most of the time, less travel means more time at home. Here, the job with less travel gives you less time at home. The new job would have to offer more money, not to make up for travel perks, but to make up for that. They're asking you to give up a lot of time with your wife, and the rest of it doing something you get a personal kick out of, instead of sitting in a cubicle. Personally, I'd say it has to offer enough more that you couldn't turn it down and she'd agree - not just go along, but because she really sees professional advancement in it for you.

It sounds like your current position is probably the better choice if it is a job that is acceptable to you.
Is your wife at home or does she have a commute? That might factor into it... if you both commute and arrive home at essentially the same time it is a wash. If she is at home and you have the benefit of having lunch together and being free as soon as you are finished working for the day then you get to spend a lot more time together. For me - that would be the biggest benefit.

Another thing to consider if you are going to commute is the cost of fuel (likely to go up) and wear and tear on your vehicle? I think they figure the cost of wear and tear at something like $.32/mile - though it may be higher now. When my husband changed jobs - we saved about $50 week on fuel alone.

Now our situation is a little different because I go with my husband when he travels (he does 80% travel 20% telecommute). I can work from anywhere so the only added expense is my flights which we pay for ourselves. Don't know if that would work for you folks but we sure love it!

Forget about the salaries: do you think you'll like the new job more than the existing one?

I've had jobs in the past that ranged from 100% travel - every M-F in airports - to zero travel - a solid year where I didn't have to board a plane for business purposes. Now I travel about 20% of the time: one or two trips a month.

My current situation is probably my favorite scenario now that I have a family. Why not 0% travel, you ask? It's hard to put a finger on it - it definitely doesn't have to do with miles/points - I think I've always liked being out working directly with clients, whereas going to the same office every day is more of a dull grind.

Your current level - the "1P" level in United terms - sounds a lot like what I do. I would probably not be nearly as happy if I had to do this so often that I became 1K. I just made Marriott Platinum, which was sort of an Oh-sh** moment - 60 nights away from home in the past 12 months, not counting a few HH and SPG nights...

Anyway, on the surface it sounds like you're in a good situation...if you enjoy the work itself of course.

Don't know if your head works the way mine does, but if I were offered a new job where everything else balanced out and I could discern, say, $10,000 extra for the "loss" of travel benefits, I could, on paper, make the analysis suggested above. That is, I could tell myself, "Well, self, if I use that extra cash to take the personal trips that used to be free, and/or to enhance the pleasure trips I take, then maybe I'll come out ahead."

I could tell myself that, but I know that's not the way it would actually work out. In practice, I'd put that extra cash toward retirement or a nicer house, and end up taking fewer, less wonderful pleasure trips.

One of the things I really appreciate about miles and status, and other things like free companion tickets is that they are currency that can only be spent on travel, and so I have to travel to derive the value. The way my psychology works, it's a way of making sure the inertia of the daily grind doesn't get in the way of my love for travel.

...so long as she has not ulterior motives in favoring the job with a lot of travel for hubby.:D

And as for how much of a value to assign to elite status with UA, one way to answer that question is to see what value FTers put on "gifts" of 3P (gets you E+ seating) and 2P (a bit more than E+ seating) status. The value of points (miles), RDM rather than EQM, is even easier to set.

This had me laughing out loud.

Concur.