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                         January 25, 2002

Official travelers can now keep promotional items

Compiled  by Jim Fox
Staff Writer

The 2002 Defense Authorization Act now allows official travelers to accept promotional items, including frequent flier miles, and use them for personal travel.

According to the new law "any promotional items through official travel belong to the traveler," said Dwight Moore, staff attorney at U.S. Transportation Command and a principle writer of the proposal. He said TRANSCOM recommended the change to Congress.

"It effects the people who travel a lot," said West Point’s CarlsonWagonlit Branch Manager Lynn Karbiener. "Now they can gain mileage and get free tickets."

Mileage received by service members and federal employees before the bill was passed is also "grandfathered," Moore said. People who have accumulated mileage in frequent-flyer accounts through official travel over the past years own all of that mileage, he said.

Moore explained that frequent-traveler benefits include points or miles, upgrades, or access to facilities.

The change in the law was the result a legislative proposal forwarded by TRANSCOM in 1999 as part its yearly package of proposals for consideration by the Department of Defense and Congress, Moore said.

The proposal went to all federal agencies for coordination and comment and eventually was sponsored by legislators. The president signed the FY 2002 Authorization Act last month.

One stipulation in the law is that government travelers cannot accept special promotional items that are not available to the general public.

Local travel offices can provide more information on the new law, Moore said.

According to USMA Administrative Law Attorney Capt. Claudia Lynch, "the promotional material must be obtained under the same terms as those offered to the general public and must be at no additional government cost.

She also said that as for "bumping rules" (the rules for relinquishing seats on airplanes), the guidance permits travelers to voluntarily give up their seats, but no additional expenses such as per diem will be paid as a result of the delay.

"Additional travel expenses incurred as a result of voluntarily giving up a seat are the employee’s financial responsibility. An employee that is involuntarily denied a seat, while on official travel, is entitled to per diem and miscellaneous expense reimbursement. Any monetary compensation, however, including meal and/or lodging vouchers for the denied seat belongs to the government," Lynch said.

Editor’s note: Some information provided by the U.S. TRANSCOM News Service.