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Travelling for work and business is hard yakka. Flight delays and jetlag can make one’s job even harder. The frequent flyer points accumulated through work travel is often a welcome reward for putting in the hard yards. So is the public
furore over politicians refusing to use their frequent flyer points for work-related travel really necessary?
The Australian last month reported that just four federal MP’s over the last six months have dipped into their points stash to save on government travel costs. Together they took just $2,060 worth of flights on points. But politicians took more than $8.7 million worth of domestic and international flights in the same period. The public are furious that “tax-payers” dollars can be used to secure politicians a wealth of free flights and other rewards.
Frequent flyer points accrued by politicians are
not disclosed anywhere, allowing them to be used for family travel without the
public's knowledge. Prime Minister John Howard has recently ruled that frequent
flyer points should be used whenever possible for official travel. However,
given seat availabilities and the need for politicians to travel extensively,
using frequent flyer points may not always be a viable option.
Should frequent flyer points accrued in the
course of business be used strictly for business travel? We’d love to hear what
our members think!
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