Frequet flyer mavens - help!!

I don't follow the math, but a penny a mile is $1K to transfer 100K miles. But I don't understand how your boss can give you a "gift" that has a fee for implementing it and not pay for that fee himself. That's no gift. Besides, your boss is just giving you something he got free. What a cheapskate. Surely your boss is not telling you he is giving you these miles but you, as his secretary, have to do the work of transferring them (pretending he doesn't know what it costs) on a day supposedly to honor you.

I would find out if your boss knows that it costs to transfer these miles. You shouldn't be begging your boss for him to pay for his own gift.

<Can I call Delta and book two seats, one with my miles and other with boss's miles?>

Yes you can, but your boss will have to give the OK to Delta. Call Delta they will tell you exactly how to handle it.

Hey Christina, I was requesting advice not opinions. He did not realize there was a fee and since he is also providing us with accomadations in Italy and offered the miles so we can upgrade our flight seating. It would seem a bit selfish to say "how about adding a couple more $$" after all the $$ he is already putting out. That might be your style but its not mine. If you can't offer advise, don't waste my time with opinions!

Thanks Lydia, I will reach out to Delta.
Take care, LisaS

Lisa
ANother suggestion - post the question on flyertalk.com - there are serious frequent flyers there who have probably done this.

Have a great trip - your boss sounds great

I personally think its a great gift. I really don't consider earning miles as a free gift, since I pay (or the company pays) the airfare to get those miles and it can take quite a while and quite a bit of money to get to 100,000 miles. I think its a very generous thing to do....is your boss hiring?

Tracy

Lisa,
Are you purchasing tickets and then upgrading or just getting business seats using miles? There would be a diifferent way to handle either one. If you are just using miles then I would get Delta on the line (while your boss is present) and explain what you are trying to do and first ask if there are 2 seats that you an use miles on. Then make the first reservation using your miles and then have your boss make the second reservation for your husband. He can make a reservation using his miles for whomever he wants to without a transfer fee.

You cannot "give miles" to someone else, but you can use your miles to purchse tickets for anyone else.
I've arranged tickets for two people using the ff account of a third. Once the tickets are reserved (the airline will hold the rez for a day or week, policies differ), the ff account holder must call to complete the transaction and charge the taxes to his own credit card. Ticket/confirmation is sent to the ff account owner, who then gives teh ticket to the lucky giftee.

Hi Kayd,
just got off the phone with Delta and thats what we plan to do; I'll buy one ticket and my boss will buy the other. But you can transfer (give) Delta miles, it just costs .01 plus service charge per mile transferred.
Thanks all, looks like we are on our way!
LisaS

I'm glad is is working out so easily, Lisa. Buon viaggio!

While you're working on this, you may also want to have the PNRs linked so that if something happens to one of you, it will happen to both. Hopefully everything will be ok but if they have to change a routing or schedule you're both more likely to stay together with the PNRs linked.

Actually Delta stated I can make one reservation for both seating, I just have to have my boss present to give the OK for his miles transfer for the one ticket. So it looks (hopefully) that it will be one reservation so any changes will affect both. But thanks, I will make certain when the actual booking day comes that the tickets are linked.
Take care and thanks everyone, you have been extremely helpful. I just love this site!!!
LisaS

One thing you should watch out for is the possibility that you won't be able to change your flights once they're booked using miles. Airlines vary in terms of how much they restrict changes, but they often provide that if you book a ticket for someone else, it's "use it or lose it", exactly the way you booked it. So, check the rules very carefully for Delta's FFP and make sure you're absolutely sure about travel dates. You wouldn't want your boss' gift to go to waste.

Lisa,
The agent you spoke with is correct in that when you make and hold your initial reservation it will be under one PNR. Once you go to ticket your reservation, they'll need to split your PNR into two because the miles are coming from different accounts (my husband and I do this all the time). From that point forward, you'll have two record locators, one for your husband's ticket and one for yours. Most agents will automatically link the PNR's but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Delta doesn't have a use it or lose it policy when it comes to award tickets (regardless of whether it's for your own use or someone else). All changes however do incur a $50 per ticket reissue fee. This includes changes to date/time without changing the origin or destination. The reissue fee doesn't apply if you were on the waitlist for a flight at the time of ticket issuance and that flight later clears. You can only waitlist Delta (not partner) operated flights. Award tickets are valid for one year from the date of issue and can also be redeposited into the original Skymiles account for a $50 per ticket fee.

There's an award fee waiver for Platinum Medallions effective April 4 https://www.delta.com/skymiles/about_skymiles/medallion_program_updates/index.jsp so if this applies to either you or you boss, then reissue/redeposit fees won't be charged on award tickets issued from the respective account(s).

Even without the hotel accomodations, I would consider 100,000 miles is a very generous gift. Good luck with your reservations!

Depending on trust level of boss, but here is how I get around this. I have my boss's delta skymiles number and pin. He has me book tickets for other people all the time, using his miles, through the delta site. My boss just recently gave me a gift of 100,000 miles as well. I think this is very generous and I'm grateful, and I don't want him to have to pay additional money to transfer to my account. So, when I am ready, I'll be able to just go through his account and book the tickets for myself.