The President and government officials should donate their frequent flyer miles to a fund for sick children and others requiring treatment abroad

Dear Editor,

Almost all airlines around the world offer incentives for passengers to use  their respective airline and one of those enticements is the Frequent Flyer Programme. This works by awarding miles or points for each mile travelled by a passenger. After miles have been accumulated, a member of the programme can exchange or cash them to travel and or obtain other benefits.

Caribbean Airlines has this programme, and when you travel for instance to Trinidad you get seven hundred and six miles, as this is the distance from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport to Piarco Airport.

It is three thousand nine hundred and fifty-two miles to Miami International Airport, five thousand one hundred and four miles to JFK, New York, and nine thousand five hundred and forty miles to Heathrow Airport, England.

Each airline has their own exchange rates for tickets to different destinations.  Caribbean Airlines will give you a return or a one-way ticket on any of their routes. Their exchange rates for one-way  tickets are as follows: (a) seven thousand five hundred miles on any of their Caribbean or South American routes; (b) fifteen thousand  miles to Miami, New York or Toronto.

A person can become a member with other airlines and thus earn miles when travelling with them. Further, several airlines have an alliance whereby miles are earned if you travel with any of the members of the alliance, and as a result members tend to travel with those airlines from which they can benefit.

President Jagdeo travels widely and frequently, and more importantly in first class. You get bonus miles when you travel first or business class. Thus President Jagdeo is the recipient of thousands of miles every year.

I am sure that he is registered in one or several frequent flyer programmes. If he is not, then he should register immediately.

I would like to suggest that all persons who travel at the government’s expense should not keep their miles, but donate them to a pool and/or account from which needy and/or sick persons and/or children who have to travel abroad can access tickets. I do hope that sports may also benefit. This will bring in all those who travel for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all ministers of government who most times travel first class, and every journey which is funded by the government.

It should also include those whose travel has been funded by sponsorship or otherwise.

If the suggestion contained herein has some merit, then the Caricom Secretariat could implement the same thing, as the nature of their work requires frequent travel. I would humbly suggest that the President seriously consider implementing this suggestion without hesitation as dozens of free airline tickets would become available. Guyana can lead the way in this initiative and I am certain that other governments would follow.

Dear Editor,

Almost all airlines around the world offer incentives for passengers to use  their respective airline and one of those enticements is the Frequent Flyer Programme. This works by awarding miles or points for each mile travelled by a passenger. After miles have been accumulated, a member of the programme can exchange or cash them to travel and or obtain other benefits.
Caribbean Airlines has this programme, and when you travel for instance to Trinidad you get seven hundred and six miles, as this is the distance from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport to Piarco Airport.
It is three thousand nine hundred and fifty-two miles to Miami International Airport, five thousand one hundred and four miles to JFK, New York, and nine thousand five hundred and forty miles to Heathrow Airport, England.
Each airline has their own exchange rates for tickets to different destinations.  Caribbean Airlines will give you a return or a one-way ticket on any of their routes. Their exchange rates for one-way  tickets are as follows: (a) seven thousand five hundred miles on any of their Caribbean or South American routes; (b) fifteen thousand  miles to Miami, New York or Toronto.
A person can become a member with other airlines and thus earn miles when travelling with them. Further, several airlines have an alliance whereby miles are earned if you travel with any of the members of the alliance, and as a result members tend to travel with those airlines from which they can benefit.
President Jagdeo travels widely and frequently, and more importantly in first class. You get bonus miles when you travel first or business class. Thus President Jagdeo is the recipient of thousands of miles every year.
I am sure that he is registered in one or several frequent flyer programmes. If he is not, then he should register immediately.
I would like to suggest that all persons who travel at the government’s expense should not keep their miles, but donate them to a pool and/or account from which needy and/or sick persons and/or children who have to travel abroad can access tickets. I do hope that sports may also benefit. This will bring in all those who travel for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all ministers of government who most times travel first class, and every journey which is funded by the government.
It should also include those whose travel has been funded by sponsorship or otherwise.
If the suggestion contained herein has some merit, then the Caricom Secretariat could implement the same thing, as the nature of their work requires frequent travel. I would humbly suggest that the President seriously consider implementing this suggestion without hesitation as dozens of free airline tickets would become available. Guyana can lead the way in this initiative and I am certain that other governments would follow.

Yours faithfully,
K A Juman-Yassin