(Foreign) client thinks MY loyalty points are his. Discuss.
 

About to enter into a very nice contract with a solid company in New Zealand.

Problem is, they feel that points I earn while traveling for them should belong to them. :mad:

(1) I've always viewed points as an unofficial perk of consulting, almost a trade-off for not being able to have a "normal" life.
(2) The headache of tracking what is mine and what is his would be uber-tedious.

I haven't addressed this issue yet, but any collective wisdom you'd be willing to share so my argument is rock solid would be much appreciated!

He that has the gold makes the rules.

Will they pay for you to fly coach or business?

If they're paying for coach then I would argue. If they're paying business then I can understand that they want to buy a ticket or two with points to offset their costs.

The third option is they don't belong to anybody. Make those reservations without an FF number on them. If you can't get them....no sense in anybody enjoying them. Of course, if they are insisting on making the reservations that may not be possible.

I worked for a company that did that, where any points you earned flying with them had to be theirs.

Either way, it's certainly something you want to work out in advance, and not try to deal with later.

How do they propose to transfer the points?

I like the "no FF number" idea. :)

They only pay for coach. Most of the flying will be domestic U.S. and Mexico, with an NZ trip every now and then.

Bottom line, I will likely not work for them if they don't make an exception.

AFAIK, loyalty programs (mine being UA MP, AA, HH, and SPG) are created for individuals - so the question of "how do they expect to transfer the points" helps to make my case.

I'm wondering if this is SOP in NZ? Most all consultants I know in the U.S. get to keep their booty.

Exactly. The points can only be collected in the name of the traveller plus most programms only permit ONE individual membership.

I would advise them to enroll in a small business programm to profit from certain comissions the airlines provide like points, upgrades and even free tickets (LH Partner Plus Benefit, AA Business ExtrAA etc).

In the end say if they want to use the miles for corporate travel you agree but only if you upgrade your current tickets into the next higher COS when travelling for them.

Just curious. Although it is a NZ company, does the person making this policy happen to be Chinese? Having worked for a Chinese boss in the past, and having had many Chinese clients, this type of policy sounds VERY familiar.

If it's a nice contract and solid company, then I would just consider the value of the points as a factor in the negotiations. Perhaps make an estimate of the total miles you'd earn, assign a value to that, and basically build in a "travel credit" for him in that amount.

It respects the fact that the client paid for the miles, but it also respects that fact that you're the butt-in-seat guy who should be able to apply them for your optimal use (such as upgrading those long flights).

As long as the client feels like he's getting a fair value, he'll realize that tracking and transferring miles is a tedious, wasteful activity. If he's still concerned, you could probably "true up" any differences at the end of the year with your actual miles earned.

I wouldn't kill off a lucrative business opportunity over a few grand worth of miles/points. Perhaps the client simply doesn't understand how the programs work - that you can't just log in and zap a couple hundred thousand miles to a buddy via Paypal.

Not to mention you can always have your FF number added to the res at check-in if so desired. (Moral qualms may apply, depending on your stance.)

Problem is you lose out on some elite perks (such as perhaps clearing E500s sooner on UA, for example) by not having the # in there until the end--and risk not being able to get the seats you want for airlines which reserve some seats for elites. (UA E+, exit rows on some others, for example.)


This is a very good point; the T&C of most loyalty programs don't allow for the accruing of bennies to someone other than the named traveler (there are some exceptions to this, of course).

Are they proposing something like, "Hey, you need to track which ones are 'ours,' and then we'll ask you to redeem them as directed later?" That would be a nightmare IMHO to track and manage.

Everyone has deal breakers.

This wouldn't be one of mine.

That's what UNITED959's first post describes, I think. I would do everything possible in my negotiations to retain control over when I redeem. How do I know my client isn't going to say "It's end of quarter, so I need to minimize expenses until next month. That MCI-ORD-MCI trip you're getting ready to do...use miles for that. That HGI you booked in Schaumburg...use points for that."

I'd pursue that middle ground: yes, I acknowledge the value of the points and am willing to compensate for that. But when and where to actually cash them in...I know the programs very well and can make the best assessments on my own.

It depends on the agreement they have with the airline. They could have a corporate FF number they put on all reservations and you never would see the miles.

This can get very messy. If you earn elite status (which you probably will with a few NZ flights in the mix), how will they account for the bonus points you earn, especially if you have some personal travel in the mix? Does their policy also apply to credit card charges you make and get reimbursed for if you use an airline affinity card? Or airline points you might earn staying in a hotel? Where does it end? I agree with the above posters about using this as a negotiating tool when you set your fees so you can retain control over your points.

Exactly. To muddy the waters even more, when I accrue points for personal travel, AFAIC those are 100% my points, so I'd need to keep track of my points -- annoying! And what about the 50-100% bonuses resulting from status I earned prior to ever working with the client -- they didn't spend the money to get me there, so I don't think it's theirs.