Travel Airfare Issues

TRAVEL -- AIRFARE ISSUES AND UPDATE CLASS OF SERVICE

State law prohibits state employees to fly first class or business class – therefore, all airfare reservations must indicate class of service in order for the employee to be reimbursed for the expense.

Expedia and Travelocity, both popular internet travel services, will no longer provide the class of service on travel receipts or itineraries.

Make sure that all travelers in your departments understand that they must discontinue using either Expedia or Travelocity for this reason. If they don’t comply, their reimbursements will be delayed and in some cases we may not be able to reimburse them altogether.

The class of service will always be provided by World Travel and on reservations booked directly with the various airlines. So, we recommend that employees use them.

To bring all travelers who may have already booked airfare on either Travelocity or Expedia, please do the following:

If travel has been completed:

Ask the employee to provide ALL boarding passes. (The boarding pass will show the class of service.)

If they can’t locate each boarding pass, you will have to contact the airlines directly, provide the confirmation/E-ticket number, along with the date and flight number, to request the class of service information. Document the name of the airline employee who provided the information, the date and time you made the contact, and the number you called to reach them.

This is another reason to process travel reimbursements within 30 days of travel. If vital documentation is missing, there is a much better chance of getting it if the travel is not several months old.

If travel has NOT been completed:

Inform the employee that he or she will have to obtain and submit ALL boarding passes in order to be reimbursed.

If we continue to have this problem with UTHSC airfare documentation, we may have to do as other University campuses, and require that ALL travel to be booked through World Travel.

Campus-Wide Business Managers Meeting January 27, 2011