Using RAF 'Air Miles' ??
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http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FreedomOfInformation/
To request details of all 'Air Miles' and similar rewards systems received by members of the Air Force Board in the course of official duties, and full disclosure of such reward points and air miles returned to the MOD.
Perhaps?
To request details of all 'Air Miles' and similar rewards systems received by members of the Air Force Board in the course of official duties, and full disclosure of such reward points and air miles returned to the MOD.
Perhaps?
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Clearly this is proving to be an imotive subject.
Beagle, I agree with you entirely on every point. The problem as I see it, is whether or not it is illegal. I am sure there have been a number of people CM'd for lesser evils, and as you and I know, common sence does not feature in the RAFs logic or mentality.
I raised the point because I was having a beer with a good friend who is still in the mob the other evening. He was somewhat arrogantly telling me that he is going on holiday to the States, at absolutely NO COST whatsoever to him or his wife. All of the air miles have been collected during his time too and from the states on 'business'.
I say good luck to him, but I am sure there will be many who regard it as a serious breach of rules.
The Winco
Beagle, I agree with you entirely on every point. The problem as I see it, is whether or not it is illegal. I am sure there have been a number of people CM'd for lesser evils, and as you and I know, common sence does not feature in the RAFs logic or mentality.
I raised the point because I was having a beer with a good friend who is still in the mob the other evening. He was somewhat arrogantly telling me that he is going on holiday to the States, at absolutely NO COST whatsoever to him or his wife. All of the air miles have been collected during his time too and from the states on 'business'.
I say good luck to him, but I am sure there will be many who regard it as a serious breach of rules.
The Winco
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Interestingly a German court ruled last week that German companies could force use of miles redemptions for work-related trips.
Obviously not under German law, but the thinking certainly exists in some companies who don't understand the idea of morale...
Obviously not under German law, but the thinking certainly exists in some companies who don't understand the idea of morale...
With all respect - and I am not military at all but this appears to be an anal directive from a desk bound who is jealous that non desk bound people might just earn a perk.
Joining a loyalty club is optional and by the individual. If the 'company' wishes to benefit the company should join the club and collect the points accordingly. However it would then be accused of choosing travel not based on budgetary reasons or schedule but on collection of perks. Which may bias judgement.
If the individual who chose to join a voluntary scheme collected 'perks' whilst following all other rules concerning trip selection then any perk acrual does not bias judgement and is purely a nice privalage. Great if you get it - tuff if you can't; such is life.
If the company wishes to restrict or limit the joining of air mile or reward programmes it would have to apply the same rules to all other programmes and to forward all rewards from all programmes to the MoD; I guess that might be interesting.
When I worked for an international FTSE 100 company with a significant logo this idea was mooted by 'Human Resources' - questions were asked and the idea was quietly dropped.
Joining a loyalty club is optional and by the individual. If the 'company' wishes to benefit the company should join the club and collect the points accordingly. However it would then be accused of choosing travel not based on budgetary reasons or schedule but on collection of perks. Which may bias judgement.
If the individual who chose to join a voluntary scheme collected 'perks' whilst following all other rules concerning trip selection then any perk acrual does not bias judgement and is purely a nice privalage. Great if you get it - tuff if you can't; such is life.
If the company wishes to restrict or limit the joining of air mile or reward programmes it would have to apply the same rules to all other programmes and to forward all rewards from all programmes to the MoD; I guess that might be interesting.
When I worked for an international FTSE 100 company with a significant logo this idea was mooted by 'Human Resources' - questions were asked and the idea was quietly dropped.
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Load Tool is probably accurate when he talks of AR however before we shout off too loud it is definitely not a light blue or even purple rule but one from the Scottish Ministry and predated even that organisation.
Indeed it is not only air miles (or nectar points) in its sights. Nor is it confined to gifts and freebies a la cherry
.
It even extends to messes.
Messes are seen as elitist and open to abuse by a select, minority group -AOBs.
Association of Old Bores.
Traditionally, those previous mess members retiring into a base area could be given honourary membership of the mess. There were sound reasons for this. One was the links that they gave between station and local community. However it was not on and Honourary membership went out the window. A new, and more expensive, category was introduced, Retired Member. Same person, same perks, different procedure and greater cost.
Not content with that the treasury then had a hack at the clear and transparent billing process for mess bills with every account itemised - 10p for silver, 50p for retirement gifts and so on. Not good. Now there is just one annonymous sum of money.
So even the social aspects of messes have been subject to interference and a potential tax grab.
Indeed it is not only air miles (or nectar points) in its sights. Nor is it confined to gifts and freebies a la cherry
.It even extends to messes.
Messes are seen as elitist and open to abuse by a select, minority group -AOBs.
Association of Old Bores.
Traditionally, those previous mess members retiring into a base area could be given honourary membership of the mess. There were sound reasons for this. One was the links that they gave between station and local community. However it was not on and Honourary membership went out the window. A new, and more expensive, category was introduced, Retired Member. Same person, same perks, different procedure and greater cost.
Not content with that the treasury then had a hack at the clear and transparent billing process for mess bills with every account itemised - 10p for silver, 50p for retirement gifts and so on. Not good. Now there is just one annonymous sum of money.
So even the social aspects of messes have been subject to interference and a potential tax grab.
Presumably if you use your own vehicle for a Duty Journey, you'd be expected to hand in the Air Miles you might have received by paying with an Air Miles-earning credit card?
Say you filled up the car with £45.67 worth of petrol. Enough for 262.98 miles (decent aircrew zoom machine, not some wimp diesel cr@p). But the 'Duty Journey' round trip mileage was only 135.6 miles. So, of the 45 Air Miles, 23 have somehow to be 'handed in'? Do me a favour... Same thing if you pay for a duty hotel bill with your own credit card?
If I'm needed to fly on business, I ask the company to book flights which are suitable. They do so according to their internal travel policies, the cost is normally passed on to the customer. Any Air Miles are mine - but on occasion I've volunteered to use some for travel, so long as they pay the airport taxes. No problemo. Also used them to buy new luggage after mine finally became too battered by baggage handlers - an entirely fair use of Air Miles earned by travelling!
Say you filled up the car with £45.67 worth of petrol. Enough for 262.98 miles (decent aircrew zoom machine, not some wimp diesel cr@p). But the 'Duty Journey' round trip mileage was only 135.6 miles. So, of the 45 Air Miles, 23 have somehow to be 'handed in'? Do me a favour... Same thing if you pay for a duty hotel bill with your own credit card?
If I'm needed to fly on business, I ask the company to book flights which are suitable. They do so according to their internal travel policies, the cost is normally passed on to the customer. Any Air Miles are mine - but on occasion I've volunteered to use some for travel, so long as they pay the airport taxes. No problemo. Also used them to buy new luggage after mine finally became too battered by baggage handlers - an entirely fair use of Air Miles earned by travelling!
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I bet Cherie Blair collects Air Miles on the trips she does with her husband on BA.
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Similar thing with Rail Warrants...
I was issued with a 3 month season ticket as I was commuting to central London for 3 monhts a few years back. The performance of the service was so bad that Great Westernb Trains said they would refund about 20% of the season ticket price. Great thinks me after all it is me that has been inconvinienced and spent more time on over crowded trainins than I needed to.
Put the claim form into GWT and got told the refund will be made back to the card or whatever payment means was used to buy the ticket....... Great!! Back to the rail warrant and not to me.
Or you could have a discount on the next season ticket you bought.
I was issued with a 3 month season ticket as I was commuting to central London for 3 monhts a few years back. The performance of the service was so bad that Great Westernb Trains said they would refund about 20% of the season ticket price. Great thinks me after all it is me that has been inconvinienced and spent more time on over crowded trainins than I needed to.
Put the claim form into GWT and got told the refund will be made back to the card or whatever payment means was used to buy the ticket....... Great!! Back to the rail warrant and not to me.
Or you could have a discount on the next season ticket you bought.
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Just a thought on MOD air fares.
They may not attract airmiles at all. Some tickets for sale to Joe public are "deeply discounted", and attract either 25%, or 50% of air miles. I would have thought that the MOD would have negotiated a supplier agreement along the lines of "we aren't interested in air miles, just make it as cheap as possible".
That does seem to be the corporate thinking.
I'd have thought an FOI application to reveal the airmiles collection of say 3* and above would see a change in the boards of all three services. Same for the Cabinet, no doubt.
They may not attract airmiles at all. Some tickets for sale to Joe public are "deeply discounted", and attract either 25%, or 50% of air miles. I would have thought that the MOD would have negotiated a supplier agreement along the lines of "we aren't interested in air miles, just make it as cheap as possible".
That does seem to be the corporate thinking.
I'd have thought an FOI application to reveal the airmiles collection of say 3* and above would see a change in the boards of all three services. Same for the Cabinet, no doubt.
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D-IFF, look in the cupboard marked DCI/DIN or do a search on the intranet. It is probably in the instructions on hospitality books. It does not refer to air miles, if I remember correctly as that is a particular scheme. More likely it will refer to frequent flyer rewards or the like.
Now in addition to the FOI query on 3*, why not an FOI query to the Government - "How much official air travel in each department is funded by staff donation of frequent flyer rewards?"
Jackinoko do you know any journos who might pick that one up?
Now in addition to the FOI query on 3*, why not an FOI query to the Government - "How much official air travel in each department is funded by staff donation of frequent flyer rewards?"
Jackinoko do you know any journos who might pick that one up?
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Sorry to piss on the bonfires of freedom, but this is from DIN02-085 (31 May 2006). All generated from an RN Warrant Officer who used to run the Travel Cell in London. He attached his Air Miles card to every single trip, and was charged with fraud. He had over 6 million air miles on his account when he was caught....
h.
h.
Complimentary vouchers. Crown servants travelling by air on government business, paid for from public funds, must not make private use of frequent flyer bonuses that arise as a result of that expenditure
e.g. Air Miles, two-for-one or companion tickets, or equivalent schemes. They may, however, collect such bonuses to enable them to use the associated benefits (e.g. priority booking, special lounges) in respect of
official travel. The receipt of any benefits accruing from official travel must be recorded in Hospitality Books (see paras 12 - 14) which should be annotated to show that the bonuses have been notified to the Budget
manager, against the possibility that they may be used at a later date for official purposes. In the case of gifts or benefits given for using particular modes of transport, it is important that the mode of transport should be
chosen in accordance with Departmental guidelines on economy, and that a decision to travel in a particular way should not be taken in order to qualify for such gifts.
e.g. Air Miles, two-for-one or companion tickets, or equivalent schemes. They may, however, collect such bonuses to enable them to use the associated benefits (e.g. priority booking, special lounges) in respect of
official travel. The receipt of any benefits accruing from official travel must be recorded in Hospitality Books (see paras 12 - 14) which should be annotated to show that the bonuses have been notified to the Budget
manager, against the possibility that they may be used at a later date for official purposes. In the case of gifts or benefits given for using particular modes of transport, it is important that the mode of transport should be
chosen in accordance with Departmental guidelines on economy, and that a decision to travel in a particular way should not be taken in order to qualify for such gifts.
Another bent RN CPO ('warrant officer'??) screwing things for the rest of the armed services? Just like the food fraud scandal of the late 60s or early 70s....
Red On, Green On
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So I'd better hand in all those glasses I used to collect from Shell garages when I POLd the Sqn 4 tonners. I took three in one day and ended up with enough glassware to host a decent cocktail party.
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Originally Posted by BEagle
Another bent RN CPO ('warrant officer'??) screwing things for the rest of the armed services? Just like the food fraud scandal of the late 60s or early 70s....
Warrant Officer is, erm, Warrant Officer - used to be called Fleet Chiefs before we gave in and came into line with the junior services.
Ignore Warrant Officer 2 as far as the RN is concerned. It's just a name change to massage the egos and pension plans of senior Chief Petty Officers.....
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Originally Posted by rafloo
What if someone (no names etc) were to refuel a pussers tilley with fuel and claim tescos club points..? is that legal?
Thanks for the clarification regarding the RN Warrant Officers. I'm surprised that the RN lost the more colourful terms of rate and succumbed in such a way.
But I suppose now that the 'Fleet' is so small, there is no need for Fleet Chiefs?
But I suppose now that the 'Fleet' is so small, there is no need for Fleet Chiefs?
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Beags "Do me a favour... Same thing if you pay for a duty hotel bill with your own credit card?"
Unfortunately now I am in Blunty purgatory (DLO - yes, it's ALL my fault
) it is policy that all hotels are paid for on our own credit cards and then claimed back. In all my previous posts I have had a 'company' card but am not allowed one now I could actually do with it. It never crossed my mind that the points I accrued from meetings should be tx'd back to HMG. Also the repayment is so slow you end up paying interest on duty payments.
Maybe it will be better with JPA
Unfortunately now I am in Blunty purgatory (DLO - yes, it's ALL my fault
) it is policy that all hotels are paid for on our own credit cards and then claimed back. In all my previous posts I have had a 'company' card but am not allowed one now I could actually do with it. It never crossed my mind that the points I accrued from meetings should be tx'd back to HMG. Also the repayment is so slow you end up paying interest on duty payments. Maybe it will be better with JPA