It is now commonplace for companies to offer signing bonuses, cars and other large perks to entice candidates into accepting employment. It is doubtful that relaxation of the current rules will open the door to waste. Tight budgets vs. the need to hire a particular employe will dictate the amount at which reimbursement will be granted. Benefits from any airline promotion program such as free tickets for frequent fliers or credit vouchers for bumping belong to the State of Wisconsin and must be turned over to the agency fiscal officer. Members of the programs accumulate frequent-flyer miles for free air travel or other benefits.
Airlines create the rules that govern the use of frequent-flyer miles.
Only individuals are eligible to enroll and only one person can be enrolled per account. Corporations or other legal entities cannot be enrolled as members. According to business travel industry publication Business Travel News, the trend is away from collecting awards, and the number of corporations doing so, about 5 percent, is declining year after year. The findings and conclusions of most major studies in this area suggest that policies which state that such benefits are owned by the employer are difficult and costly to properly administer, provide little benefit to the employer, in practice are not adhered to by employees, and may even be unenforceable given the fact that the frequent flyer accounts are contracts established between the traveler and the airline. Additionally, it seems inconsistent to attempt to regulate one facet of travel perks when employees readily earn points and benefits from other facets of State reimbursed travel including but not limited to car rental, lodging and charge card payment.