State of Alaska Department of Administration Division of Finance May 2011 Volume 3, Issue 5 E-Travel News Inside This Issue DOA Piloting DATABASICS DOA Piloting DATABASICS Trip Cancellation Notification Beginning April 6, 2011, the proved, the researched trip AutoPay and AKSAS to help Department of Administration becomes available for purchase. complete the charge card rec- Travel E-Qs began piloting DATABASICS, After travel has been com- onciliation process and to cre- the new travel expense manage- ate the warrant reimbursement Rural Travel pleted, the Expense Report ment application. (ER) is created. Charge card due to the employee. Finally, a Rural Air Request Form Users log in to DATABASICS transactions and meals & inci- truly “end-to-end” process. Tips & Tricks and then go to E-Travel Online dentals are attached to the ER. No major obstacles have been to research a trip. Once the Other applicable charges can be encountered. The pilot is ex- trip research is saved, selecting manually added to complete the pected to run until the end of Special Note of Interest the Create TA button returns ER. The application then com- May, at which time a determi- them to DATABASICS. The pares the actual trip expendi- nation can be made as to when Budget car rental for State em- ployees is a mandatory contract researched trip information tures on the ER to the esti- the application will be made in Anchorage, Juneau, and Fair- imports to DATABASICS cre- mated total on the TA for cost available to other departments. banks. To book Budget in E- Travel Online with the State rate: ating a travel authorization re- comparison. port (TA) that replaces the cur- 1. Select: Include car After the ER is approved, some 2. Deselect: Based on Air rent paper TA. Once ap- of the data is passed back to Search Criteria 3. Click: Off Airport Location 4. Click: Search 5. Select: Budget-State of Trip Cancellation Notification Alaska Employee from the drop down list It is common practice to cancel Currently, Alaska Airlines does the ticket lost a value of 6. Click: Select hotel reservations in advance to not have an advance cancelation $552.10. 7. Click: Search to continue avoid hotel no-show fees, but policy. However, when tickets with the itinerary Ticket value of $1459 from cancelling the air portion of a include multiple carriers, the Budget will be the only company Kotzebue to Alberta, Canada. trip is often overlooked due to most restrictive carrier’s rules displayed. If other car rental Alaska Airlines cancelled the companies display, follow the common belief that airline tick- apply to the entire ticket. When outbound flight and the trav- above process step-by-step. ets always retain their value. a trip involves multiple carriers eler decided not to travel or The State rate must be selected and a flight is cancelled by to ensure contract terms and Several airline policies now cancel with the other carrier. one carrier due to weather, insurance are provided to the require a cancelation notice Ticket lost its entire value. traveler, even if lower rates are prior to departure. Tickets maintenance, etc., it is im- available. In the second situation, US- purchased on Delta interna- portant to follow up with Travel was able to recover the tional flights and on USAir the other carriers. E-Travel Online Training loss of $1459 by requesting a Contact your Department Travel flights that are not cancelled will Below are two examples where waiver. USTravel receives Coordinators to sign up. lose their value. American Air- not showing up for a flight occasional waivers depending May 19 2:00 pm lines, Air Canada, Continental, caused the tickets to decrease in on the situation and airlines May 26 10:00 am and United have some fares that value or have no value at all. involved, so it is important to See E-Travel Online’s User must be cancelled in advance or Ticket value $773.60 from remember to cancel air reserva- Home Page for more training the tickets will lose some or all Anchorage to Phoenix. tions in advance to avoid poten- opportunities by USTravel. of their value. Travel was not cancelled and tial loss of ticket value. ARTICLES WRITTEN BY E-TRAVEL MANAGEMENT TEAM / NEWSLETTER DESIGN AND LAYOUT BY KATHY ADAIR Pa ge 2 Volume 3, Issue 5 E-Travel Office USTravel Rural Travel E-Travel Online Help Desk The Service Information and Standards on the travel website con- (907) 500-4290 / 877-500-4290 tain information relating to when it is optional to use E-Travel for Email: [email protected] rural air reservations. Reservation Call Center (907) 500-4292 / 866-762-8728 For rural AIR travel to Alaska communities that are not serviced FAX: (907) 465-8288 by Alaska Airlines, ERA, or Pen Air and do not include com- Tips & Tricks Email: [email protected] mercial lodging or car rental, the use of E-Travel / USTravel is E-Travel Online Air Travel Research optional, ONLY when travel is booked on one of the following Email: [email protected] Preference Settings carriers and a State form of payment is used: Air Preferences allow users the ETMT Alaska Air Transit, Alaska Seaplane Service, Bering Air, Everts Air, ability to choose different price Grant Aviation, Homer Air, Pacific Airways, Promech Air, options. Search for State Contract Kathy Adair State Travel Manager Smokey Bay Air, Taquan Air, Warbelow's Air Ventures, Wings of Fares and Search for Lower Fares (907) 465-6534 Alaska, Wright Air Service, and Yute Air are permanent settings that Carmen Engen Rural carriers not listed above must be booked through USTravel. allow contract fares and lower Accountant IV rates to display. (907) 465-2447 Once an airline reservation is booked with or modified by an air- line, USTravel no longer has the ability to make further changes or Accept Penalty Fares, Accept Con- FAX: (907) 465-3798 provide other assistance on that itinerary, or to reconcile the billing nections, and Search for Fares Using Email: with the carrier. Multiple Airports are default set- [email protected] tings that can be unselected for more options. See us on the Web! Rural Air Request Form http://statetravel.alaska.gov Accept Penalty Fares allows lower The Rural Air/Ferry Request Form is used for booking rural air priced penalty fares to display A good plan or ferry reservations that cannot be booked in E-Travel Online. in the flight selection box. Pen- is like a road map: Use the form for rural travel reservations when: alty fares are identified by the it shows the final destination the reservation is for rural air travel only Penalty: YES indicator shown and usually the best way to the reservation is for rural air travel and is combined with other directly above the View Rules get there link on the right side of the travel booked in E-Travel Online H. Stanley Judd screen. Click on View Rules to The form should not include reservations or special requests for see the applicable penalties. hotel, car, or major carriers (including ERA and PenAir). Make Travel E-Qs these reservations in E-Travel Online and place special requests in Unselecting Accept Penalty Fares allows non-penalty fares to There will be a ran- the Special Instruction box, or call USTravel. dom quarterly draw- display. Most often, the class ing in June for a If the reservation includes both major and rural carriers, purchase of service is Coach (Y) and the prize from the answers the major carrier ticket (including any hotel or car) in E-Travel indicator display is Penalty: NO. submitted by May 15, 2011 to: Online and then fill out and submit the form. During the pur- [email protected]. Accept Connections can be unse- chase process, the reporting page appears with a list of questions. 1. Why is it important to select Look for “If you are including rural travel in this request, se- lected to narrow the flight the State rate for Budget reser- search to display only direct vations? lect yes in the drop down box.” “Yes” must be selected to alert USTravel that a rural request form is being submitted and to block flights. Be sure to leave it 2. When should air reservations checked for flights that DO be cancelled? the E-Travel Online auto-ticket process. USTravel can then create one itinerary for the entire trip. By not selecting “Yes,” the online require a connection, otherwise 3. How are reservations made for an error will appear and flight rural carriers not listed in the reservation will auto-ticket (untouched by USTravel) and then the Service Standards? rural request has to be processed separately causing two itineraries options will not display. 4. When should the Rural Request and two fees. Search for Fares Using Multiple form be used? When the approver’s name is included on the form for rural air Airports broadens the search to 5. How are penalty or non-penalty only requests, a final itinerary will be sent. Without the approver display airports within close fares indicated during the flight proximity. For example, a selection process? name, a preliminary will be sent. An approval reply is required within 24 hours of receiving the preliminary to receive the final. search in the Washington DC Contest prize winnings are area will display 3 airports; Dul- considered non-cash Forms submitted with missing or incorrect information will be les (IAD), Baltimore (BWI) and compensation, and will be returned with a request for accurate information. included as W2 earnings Reagan (DCA).