PART
VIII

Memberships in Travel Rewards Programs

Public Law 107-107 allows government travelers to retain a promotional item for personal or business use if the promotional item is obtained under the same terms as those offered to the general public and at no additional cost to the federal government. For example, an employee may keep a prize won in a contest or lottery sponsored by an air carrier if the contest was open to the general public and was not limited to ticket-holding passengers.

However, if you are offered promotional or travel benefits as a result of your role as a conference or group travel planner or if you were involuntarily prevented from boarding an aircraft while holding a valid transportation ticket, you may not retain those benefits for your personal use. You may accept such benefits only on behalf of the federal government and those benefits may only be used for official government business.

200 Who owns the compensation provided by an airline if a traveler either voluntarily gives up his/her seat or is involuntarily prevented from boarding the aircraft (“bumped”)?

The reimbursement an employee may receive depends on whether he/she was forced to give up the seat or did so voluntarily.

In GSBCA 15523-TRAV, In the Matter of Brian E. Havitz (August 15, 2001), a civilian employee of the National Guard Service of the Army and Air Force in Blue Ash, Ohio, was authorized for a TDY assignment in Utah. Havitz’s agency purchased round-trip airfare for the assignment. His flight itinerary included a layover in Chicago on his return flight. After completing his assignment, Havitz departed Salt Lake City and landed in Chicago. Unfortunately, he was unable to take the connecting flight to Ohio because it had been overbooked. Instead of taking a later flight that day or staying over in Chicago and catching a flight the next day, Havitz rented a car and drove home.

Havitz turned in the unused portion of his ticket when he returned to work. In addition, he submitted a voucher for reimbursement of the rental car. Uncertain whether it could approve his request, his agency requested an opinion from the GSBCA.

The GSBCA stated that it needed more information to reach a decision. Specifically, the board needed to know whether Havitz voluntarily relinquished his seat on the overbooked flight or if he was denied boarding.

FTR section 301-10.117 permits employees to voluntarily vacate a seat on a flight if doing so will not interfere with official duties. The employee, however, must bear any additional expenses.

When an employee is “bumped” involuntarily, the employee is generally entitled to reimbursement for additional subsistence costs that may be incurred, but is required to ensure that any remuneration provided by the airline is made payable to the “Treasurer of the United States.” (FTR 301-10.116) The GSBCA noted that GAO has previously ruled that the rationale underlying this provision is that the government has contracted with the airline for the service and therefore is entitled to compensation for the non-performance of the service as a form of liquidated damages.

In this case, if Havitz volunteered to give up his seat, he was fully responsible for the cost of the rental car. Although his agency could not reimburse him for this expense, he was entitled to keep any compensation the airline provided him for giving up his seat.

The government is entitled to such benefits only if it pays the extra costs caused by the disrupted travel. If Havitz was involuntarily denied a seat on the plane, the airline would have been required to book him on another flight as soon as possible. Under such circumstances, if Havitz chose to rent a car instead of waiting for the next available flight, he would have been entitled to reimbursement up to the cost the government would have incurred for lodging and per diem as a result of the delayed travel.

201 Can an agency take any administrative action against a government traveler for voluntarily giving up an airline seat to obtain personal compensation from the airline?

Government employees are not expected to give up their reserved seat on a scheduled flight voluntarily if it will interfere with the performance of their official duties. For example, if a government traveler gives up his/her seat voluntarily and the rebooked flight is delayed, causing the traveler to miss work hours or a scheduled meeting, the traveler may be charged annual leave in accordance with FTR section 301-10.117.

202 The FTR states that travelers are required to use a government contractor–issued travel charge card for transportation but not specifically for lodging. Can a traveler use a personal credit card to earn lodging benefits since government travelers are allowed to retain promotional benefits?

No. FTR section 301-53.4 states in part that “you may not choose a travel service provider to gain frequent traveler benefits for personal use.” Also, the FTR states that you are “required to use the government contractor–issued travel charge card for all official travel expenses unless you have an exemption” (section 301-51.1) and you are “required to use the government contractor–issued travel charge card for expenses directly related to your official travel” (section 301-51.6).

In addition, to ensure that travelers take advantage of certain government lodging agreements through agency or other government lodging agreements, FTR section 301-11.11 states in part that “when selecting a commercial lodging facility, first consideration should be given to government lodging agreement programs.”

203 Can a traveler be reimbursed for an airline ticket obtained using frequent-flyer miles?

Travelers are reimbursed for actual expenses incurred. Because there is no statute or regulatory guidance on how to calculate the value of frequent flyer miles, airline tickets obtained through the use of frequent flyer miles are not reimbursable even for an emergency.

In CBCA 2470-TRAV, In the Matter of Marc V. Dinger (January 26, 2012), a civilian Army employee was stationed in Japan on March 11, 2011, when an earthquake and tsunami devastated the nation. In the aftermath, an evacuation order was issued, authorizing dependents of employees of the United States to voluntarily leave the island. The evacuation order provided for reimbursement of transportation expenses for travel that occurred between March 16 and April 15, 2011. Dinger’s family elected to evacuate.

Dinger’s family members used frequent flyer miles to obtain airline tickets and paid a surcharge of $145.80 in taxes and fees. They flew from Japan to Los Angeles on March 20, 2011.

After the travel was completed, Dinger contacted a representative of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and asked whether he could be reimbursed for the use of frequent-flyer miles for air travel. The agency responded that he could not be reimbursed, so he submitted his travel voucher without requesting airfare reimbursement. Later, on June 27, 2011, Dinger filed a request for reimbursement with the CBCA.

The CBCA found that Dinger was entitled to reimbursement only for the actual expenses he incurred. As a general rule, authorized emergency travel is reimbursable. Under federal statute (5 U.S.C. 5725), the government can pay the transportation expenses of an employee’s dependents to a safe haven location when an evacuation is authorized. JTR C6200 provides for the travel and transportation expenses for dependents of civilian employees authorized to depart the permanent duty station.

Reimbursement for purchases made with frequent flyer miles is another story, however. There is no statute or regulatory guidance on how to calculate the value of frequent flyer miles. As the board explained: “In the absence of specific statutory or regulatory guidance, it is not possible to conclude that an employee who redeemed frequent-flyer miles or a coupon to obtain a ticket for government travel actually incurred an expense, and it is not possible, with any certainty, to ascertain the amount of the expense.

The board acknowledged, however, that Dinger is entitled to reimbursement for the cost of actual expenses incurred—in this case, the $145.80 in taxes and fees—and directed the agency to reimburse Dinger that amount.

204 Can a traveler be reimbursed for the administrative fee that a car rental agency assesses as a part of the traveler’s participation in its travel incentive rewards program?

No. Any costs associated with an incentive rewards program are to be paid by the traveler. This fee is considered a personal expense and should not be reimbursed to the traveler.

205 Can a traveler be reimbursed for the cost of purchasing an official airline ticket using flight coupons received for personal use from an airline?

No. Travelers are reimbursed for actual expenses incurred related to official travel. The government is unable to ascertain the value of a flight coupon because no expense is incurred by a traveler using flight coupons to obtain an airline ticket for official travel.

In GSBCA 15636-TRAV, In the Matter of Lawrence Baranski (October 25, 2001), instead of purchasing his airfare for an official assignment with the federal travel charge card, Baranksi redeemed flight vouchers he had received from United Airlines for relinquishing his seat on a previous personal travel flight. He requested reimbursement of $361, the market value of the airfare.

The GSBCA found that he could not be reimbursed because he did not incur any expense. In addition, the board reasoned that permitting reimbursement would be problematic because of the:

Substantial difficulty in ascertaining the value of the frequent flier miles or coupons

Problems of control and accountability in allowing reimbursement for frequent flier miles and coupons

Lack of guidance in statutes and regulations on how to value such items.