I know people in various lines of corporate work who have each accumulated air miles above the value of the average house in England. That is £235,000. One of them cannot remember the last time he paid for a flight. These are not the gods of finance who score a million miles a year. They are, in the main, salaried professionals who shuttle around to serve clients.
In the course of their travels, they will also rack up hotel loyalty points that, like the miles, are incurred on their employers’ tab but theirs to keep. One has a colleague sitting on almost two million points with a particular hotel chain after a prolonged stay in one of its grand establishments in Asia.
Look around one of those lavish but not very interesting restaurants in the middle of London, New York, Toronto, Singapore, Hong Kong, or any one of the cities that together define the world economy. There is some diligent expensing at work, often aimed at the capture and retention of clients for banks, law firms and consultancies.