[Letter], B-276403, May 19, 1997

B-276403 May 19, 1997 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) requested advice on whether frequent flyer miles earned through an employee's personal travel on one airline may be exchanged for frequent flyer miles earned through official travel on a different airline where the exchange would allow RRB and the employee to each obtain a usable ticket at the time of the exchange. GAO noted that: (1) such a trade of mileage credits appears to fall within the spirit and intent of General Services Administration (GSA) guidance and appears consistent with the purposes of Public Law 103-355 regarding employee participation in frequent traveler programs; (2) the fact that some of the government mileage would be traded to the employee would not violate the requirement that such mileage be used only for official business travel, since ultimately its use in this manner would result in the government obtaining a free ticket on another airline for use on official business; and (3) the matter should also be brought to GSA's attention, since the disposition of mileage credits accrued on official travel is within GSA's purview. View Decision B-276403 May 19, 1997 DIGEST Catherine C. Cook, Esq. General Counsel Railroad Retirement Board 844 North Rust Street Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092 Dear Ms. Cook: This is in response to your letter dated February 26, 1997, requesting advice as to whether frequent flyer miles earned through an employee's personal travel on one airline may be exchanged for frequent flyer miles earned through official travel financed with appropriated funds on a different airline where the exchange would allow the agency and the employee to each obtain a usable ticket at the time of the exchange. You state that consistent with travel regulations, Railroad Retirement Board policy requires that frequent flyer miles earned through official business travel may be used only for official business. Your question arises because some employees have frequent flyer accounts on several airlines containing miles earned on both personal and government travel, but without sufficient government or personal mileage alone to qualify for a ticket. [1] You have provided an example of an employee who will be leaving the agency this year who has frequent flyer accounts with Delta Airlines and Trans World Airlines, each account containing both government and personal mileage. While the total government and personal mileage in each account is sufficient to qualify for a free ticket, neither account has sufficient government or personal mileage alone to qualify for a ticket. The employee involved would like to trade the personal mileage from one account for the government mileage in the other account. This would enable the employee to qualify for a ticket for personal use on one airline and for a ticket for official business use on the other airline. You have indicated that if this trade is not permissible, the alternatives would be to allow the miles to expire, or never use them if they are non- expiring miles; or for the employee to use his personal miles combined with government miles to obtain tickets for official business, which he would prefer not to do. We understand that it is your view that not only the employee, but also the agency, would benefit from such a trade, since each would obtain a usable ticket. It is also your view that since the agency would obtain a ticket in the exchange, this arrangement would not appear to violate the rule that mileage earned on official travel belongs to the government and may be used only for official travel. You ask our opinion, however, because you have not found a decision of our office addressing this issue. As you know, frequent flyer miles earned on government-financed travel are the property of the government and may not be retained by the employee for personal use. 63 Comp.Gen. 229 (1984). See also, Federal Travel Regulation (FTR), 41 C.F.R. Sec. 301-1.103(b) and (f); and Federal Property Management Regulations, 41 C.F.R. Sec. 101-25.103-2, promulgated by the General Services Administration (GSA). In the absence of GSA property disposal regulations providing otherwise, an employee may not retain such miles for his or her own use even if, ultimately, the government is unable to take advantage of the miles. 69 Comp.Gen. 643 (1990). What you propose, however, is not simply allowing the employee to retain for personal use miles earned on government travel; you propose an exchange of such miles in consideration for miles rightfully belonging to the employee with a resulting benefit to both the agency and the employee. It is relevant to note that in an effort to encourage cost savings in official travel, Congress enacted section 6008, Public Law No. 103-355, 108 Stat.