737823 said:
The offer letters I have seen over the years for corporate positions at AA, CO, DL, and UA all highlighted space available systemwide travel as part of the package, in fact listed before other traditional employer provided benefits.
Yeah, not quite. I'm looking at offer letters *I've* received. Travel is quite clearly not listed as either compensation or as a benefit.
Profit sharing? 401K match? Yep. That's compensation. It has a cost to the company, and you can sue over it when it's not received.
If you want to consider anything you get as an employee as compensation, then go for it, but employee travel programs are considered privileges, not compensation. That wording is quite deliberate.
Compensation is something you receive in exchange for your labor, and you can file a lawsuit when you don't receive it. Benefits are something you receive in exchange for your labor, and there's a quantifiable cost to the company to provide it.
Privileges typically cost nothing to the company to provide, and they can be revoked without recourse.
Travel is no more considered compensation than the ability to telecommute, receive professional training, expect toilet paper in the restroom, get a 10-20% discount on retail travel, eat free donuts at meeting or in the breakroom on holidays, or receive discounts from other companies.
None of those things are guaranteed. They're intangibles. They have no value to the employee unless they choose to use them, and there's no real cost to the company to offer it.
Sure, it's part of the overall employment package, but it's not compensation, and it's not a benefit.
As a banker, I'd think the fine print would be meaningful enough for you to notice the differences.