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Frequent-flyer miles have their perks.

But this boss wants those perks too.

So when personal miles become company property, one traveler spends them first.

The balance disappears fast.

See why the new policy never gets airborne.

Company requires using our airline miles for work trips?

As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I used to travel a lot for business, between 30 and 35 weeks a year.

Our boss was a frequent traveler as well, and taught us the tricks of the trade for accumulating frequent flier miles (and especially status – a really great perk).

Eventually, he retired and sold the company to a new boss.

New Boss overheard that I had over 500,000 Frequent Flyer Miles with my airline (not credit card points), and said he should implement a new policy that we had to use our personal Frequent Flyer Miles for our business travel, since the company had paid for our trips.

He was quick on his feet.

That weekend, my wife and I sat down and booked weekend trips all over the country over the next year.

Boston for Clam Chowder? Check.

New York City for a Broadway Show? Check.

Garlic Fest in Gilroy, CA (a real and delicious thing, BTW)? Check.

By Monday morning, my Airline Frequent Flyer Mile account was down to about 15,000 miles.

His new boss kept asking things of him.

Later that week it was time to book a trip and he said I had to use Frequent Flyer Miles.

I brought up my account and showed him I didn’t have enough miles. He asked where they went and when I said I had booked some trips, he demanded I re-deposit the miles.

I pointed out there was a $150 charge per-person and that since it wasn’t policy, I wasn’t going to pay it.

Furious, he announced that going forward we needed approval for personal use of our personal Frequent Flyer Miles.

He had a plan already.

OK, boss. You bet.

My next step was to spread my flights over any and every airline I could find to prevent accumulating the 20,000 miles required to redeem for a free ticket.

I was on United, Frontier, American, Delta, Northwest, Continental, US Air, Southwest, etc.

At one point I think I booked a trip on the Mrs. Grace L. Ferguson Airline and Storm Door Company (Google it – it’s a Bob Newhart routine – and more true now than when he performed it 60 years ago.)

Things reached a boiling point.

He eventually figured out what I was up to, and he lost what little patience remained for me. Then the following (paraphrased) took place.

Boss: “I suppose you think you’re a smart guy.”

Me: “No, I know I’m a smart guy.”

Boss: “Don’t get cute.”

Me: “No, I’m smart. Cute is just a bonus.”

His new boss was about to get schooled.

“Look, I see my wife about 10 days a month. I live out of a suitcase. I know the aircraft evacuation speech by heart. Most of my meals are handed to me through a window.”

“And thanks to my willingness to do this, you make hundreds of thousands of dollars. Can you please just let me keep the only perk I get from all this?”

Boss thought about it for a bit, grunted, “Fine, keep your miles” and walked away.

It’s like his new boss just wanted to make sure he wasn’t enjoying his life too much.

Let’s see how Reddit feels about this.

A reader shares some thoughts.

Another story.

Yikes.

Good.

Another person chimes in.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employer who has an unexpectedly hard time retrieving a company vehicle from a fired employee.

This commenter shares their opinion.

OP burned through most of his 500,000 miles on trips with his wife, then spread future flights across airlines to avoid rebuilding the balance.

After more arguing, the boss finally gave up and let employees keep the personal travel rewards they had earned.

He tried to claim the miles and accidentally funded a vacation spree.