Print/Copy Mail Services Vice President FAAll employees are required to travel using routes, schedules and airlines that provide the lowest rates and most efficient travel.
When combining personal travel with business, ONLY the business portion can be paid by the UO. Any personal portion of the airfare will have to be paid by the traveler at the time of ticket purchase. When to get a comparison airfare quote. First class airfare is not allowed under any circumstances.
At the UO four ways exist to purchase transportation services such as air, train, and bus fares.
Contract Travel Agencies The UO has contracted with three local travel agencies for travel services. In addition, there is one agency that has a contract with the State of Oregon. These agencies will bill your department index for all charges. They are also the only place you can purchase city pair fares. These state contract rates might offer a lower fare particularly if your reservation does not include a Saturday night stay or if you are booking on short notice. Airfare Authorization Form Required.
Travel administrators authorized to purchase airfare from the contract travel agencies may fax the Airfare Authorization Form to the agency. A copy is then faxed to Accounts Payable for reconciliation purposes.
Travel administrators not authorized to purchase airfare from the contract agencies should fax the Airfare Authorization to Accounts Payable by 4 pm the same day the reservation is made. Accounts Payable will authorize the airfare and fax the form to the agency.
When a trip has been canceled and an airfare authorization form has been submitted, Accounts Payable should be notified of the cancellation. Send a copy of the authorization form to Accounts Payable with "canceled" written across the face of the form.
If you use the department procurement card, you will be required to do a journal voucher when the charges clear, to move them to the appropriate travel account code. For more complete instructions on Procurement Card Purchases see Procurement Card Program.
PLEASE NOTE: If you use your UO department procurement card to purchase
airfare, the traveler will not have travel insurance coverage.
Travel Insurance is only provided
when using one of the 3 contracted travel agencies, UO Central
Travel System (CTS) card, or the UO Corporate Travel card. Some personal credit cards may also
provide travel insurance. You will not be reimbursed for any insurance
that you purchase.
If not using one of the contract travel agencies:
When driving a private car out of state for personal reasons (i.e. including vacation), claiming "airfare in lieu of mileage" may be the most economical and should be used. Get a quote for airfare for the cheapest fare to the business destination and compare to the mileage. List "airfare in lieu of mileage" in the other expenses section with an explanation.
The UO will not reimburse or trade tickets purchased using frequent flier miles.
This procedure provides guidance to departments in the accounting of unused tickets. On occasion, UO employees will make airline ticket reservations and subsequently not use the tickets for various reasons (e.g., family illness).Some tickets are refundable or reusable while others are not, so the procedure for receiving credit for tickets will depend largely on the method of payment that was used to purchase the ticket. Below are some guidelines for departments to follow when requesting refunds/credits of unused tickets.
1) Ticket purchased through a Contract Travel Agency
The department should contact the travel agency as soon as they know the ticket will not be used. The Travel Agency will identify the available options. Refunds will be posted to the UO account that was used to purchase the ticket.
2) Ticket purchased using UO Procurement Card
The department should contact the vendor where the ticket was purchased (i.e., airline, travel agency, other) to determine if the ticket is refundable, or reusable. NOTE: Typically, tickets purchased on the internet from third party vendors (travel sites such as Travelocity.Com or Priceline.Com) are not refundable or reusable. If the ticket is refundable the credit should be applied to the procurement card. If the ticket is reusable, the department will need to track the ticket for future use. Paper tickets must be obtained from the traveler and maintained by the department. Tickets purchased by the University are university property.
3) Tickets purchased using an employee's personal credit card
The department should contact the vendor where the ticket was purchased (i.e., airline, travel agency, other) to determine if the ticket is refundable, or reusable. NOTE: Typically, tickets purchased on the internet from third party vendors (travel sites such as Travelocity.Com or Priceline.Com) are not refundable or reusable. If the ticket is refundable the credit should be applied to the employee's personal credit card. In some instances the vendor will charge a fee. The employee can submit a travel reimbursement request for reimbursement of this fee. A hard copy of the receipt will be necessary in order to receive reimbursement.
If the ticket is not refundable, the traveler may submit a travel reimbursement request for reimbursement of the ticket. This request requires Department Head or designee approval before being reimbursed. A hard copy of the receipt will be necessary in order to receive reimbursement.
If the ticket is reusable, the traveler may submit a request for reimbursement, however, the department must track the unused ticket for future use. Paper tickets must be obtained from the traveler and maintained by the department. Once an unused ticket is reimbursed by the University it becomes university property.
Journeys by Ambassador