Domestic Travel Policy

Sources of policy that impact UT business-related domestic travel

1. Handbook of Operating Procedures (HOP), Travel Request Policy
2. Handbook for Business Procedures, Travel Chapter 11
3. OSP & OVPR-based policy for travel on sponsored funds
4. Sponsor-specific travel policy, typically highlighted in CA3 in *Define
5. College of Liberal Arts Travel Policy, set by the Dean

Approved Authorization Required Prior to Travel

• Includes all UT business-related absences from usual work place 4+ hours/day (excludes personal travel)
• Required even if there is no cost to university-based accounts
• Includes prospective employees and student employees
• Request for Travel Authorization (RTA) must be active in the system to process reimbursement
  • Reimbursements are linked electronically to authorizations (no authorization = no reimbursement)
• Non-employees/non-employee students are exempt from in-advance authorizations, though still required if reimbursement for UT-related travel is being sought

• Travel to be charged to local and state accounts can be on the same authorization, but reimbursement must be processed on separate vouchers due to differing account rules
  
  
  Additional In-Advance Approvals:

• First/business class airfare has 6 types of exception-based allowances, requires approval prior to each booking, see TMS Request form for more information
• Non-vendor rental car exception request form to be completed in advance (when possible), to ensure allowability of reimbursement. UT vendor rental car companies: Avis/Budget, Enterprise/National, Hertz
• Faculty Travel Grants for travel involving presenting original research, administered through OVPR, must be approved prior to travel
• Non-Commercial lodging requires prior approval and must represent a savings to the university. Include description and approval details in Notes of travel authorization or reimbursement voucher

Each department/unit processes travel authorization requests for their personnel, approved in some cases, by the dept/unit, in others by the Finance Team in CoLA Dean's Office - account number usually dictates the routing.

CoLA Travel Policy that is specific to the college:

Late RTAs: 
'If authorization has not been requested prior to travel the faculty member will be asked to complete a signed memo acknowledging that he/she did not previously know that an RTA was necessary and submit this with the reimbursement request. Three exceptions (at most) will be allowed per fiscal year (per faculty). The fourth request will be denied.'

Teaching Faculty Travel Authorizations:
'For travel during the first or last week of classes and finals periods, prior approval from the Chair is required. This approval can be obtained via email between the traveler and the Chair. Chairs must review travel dates, missed classes, name of faculty member who will oversee missed classes, final exam dates and how exams will be administered, a plan for on time grade submission, and a method of contact for student queries. The TAR document notes must confirm the Chair's approval. If the travel will be to a restricted region, a copy of this documentation will need to be included in the Restricted Regions request. If a faculty member is on research leave during travel to a restricted region, that information will need to be included in the “Traveler’s Additional Comments” section of the Restricted Regions request.'

Chair & Director Travel Authorizations:
'For Chairs or Directors traveling during the first or last week of classes, finals period, or longer than a week, prior approval from the Dean’s Office is required. This approval can be obtained via email between the Chair or Director and the Dean or Associate Dean they report to. They should indicate the reason for travel, who will be assuming their administrative duties, if any, method of contact during their travel either for the representative assuming the administrative duties or themselves, as well as any information regarding missed classes or finals as listed above. Once the approval is obtained, if the travel is to a Restricted Region, a copy of this documentation will need to be included in the Restricted Regions request.'

30+ Per Diem Requests:
 'If you will be out of town for more than 30 days and wish to be paid for a meal allowance beyond the 30 days, you need approval from your department. The College will now allow these payments if they are approved internally.'

Travel costs to be charged to a sponsored award must be incurred for a reason that links directly to that award. That reason or benefit needs to be documented in the travel authorization. Reasons need to be traceable to project goals in the Statement of Work (SOW). The business reason for the travel must be the primary purpose of the trip

In addition to establishing allowability of travel on the award - allocability must also be identified. A conference related to the PI's area of research might benefit a specific project, but how? Does it provide information related to one of the deliverables of the project? Will the PI be presenting original research, satisfying the 'dissemination of research results' component of the contract? 

The university went through an external audit (19/20 NSF OIG Audit) demonstrating that sponsors are prepared to push back on funds being used for travel which doesn't directly benefit an award, as well as travel that does benefit the award, but doesn't represent the primary purpose of the travel. Without proper clearance at the authorization stage, reimbursement could quickly fall apart and could end up on the losing end of an audit. 

Policy Can Be Narrowed, NOT BROADENED

The State of Texas and UT Austin can limit travel requirements, such as per diem, further than federal allowances, but cannot increase them greater than federal policy. Colleges can narrow per idem compared to university rates, and departments can impose more restrictive policy compared to that of their college - but they can't broaden them beyond the governing level directly over them. 

​​​​​​Federal Per Diem Rates Now Allowable Depending on Sponsor & Agreement
Depending on which type of funds is covering travel, there are different sets of per diem rules to consider. UT has its own established per diem rates, as do the State of Texas and the federal government. Which one you use depends on what is outlined in the sponsored agreement. <-- you can access the contract documentation via UTRMS or contact RSO.

Per diem rates for the State of Texas and the federal government tend to run higher than UT per diem rates. The university recognizes the need to clarify which set of per diem applies, as they have begun noting approval to use state or federal per diem rates in each account's notes section in the *Define CA3 module. <-- check out *Define tutorials to access CA3

The Code of Federal Regulations governs funding received from federal agencies.

• Travel on government funds for grants and agreements can be found in eCFR § 200.475 Travel Costs.
   
• Relevant sections of the Federal Travel Regulation System are in eCFR Title 41, Subtitle F.
   
  • It's recommended that you pull through the linked policies above while fully awake and alert, however, we recognize that your status may change at some point during this mission. 
  • If you'd prefer to seek help from the Research Support Office, we're happy to oblige - reach out!

Below are authorization-stage and arrangement-stage FAQs to be addressed with prospective travelers, even if they've been traveling on UT business for a while. The more you know about what's below, the smoother your travel program will go. Arrangement-stage FAQs are included because often travelers proceed to making arrangments without taking into account these important details. 

Conservation of Funds

Employee travel must be planned to achieve maximum savings and efficiency. Travel expenses must be lowest possible considering all relevant circumstances.

• Group travel to same destination for same dates should be arranged with shared resources toward savings to the university, ie: multiple personal vehicles or rental cars to same destination are discouraged unless truly not feasible. Hotel rooms should be selected based on reasonable cost and best rate available. Groups of students travelling together should share lodging when appropriate.
   
• When booking lodging in countries that charge on a per person basis, only travelers on official UT business count toward reimbursement, no travel companion reimbursement if not in official UT business status. The same goes for other travel costs, such as flights, meals, transportation, banquet attendance, etc.

Unallowable Expenses

• Alcoholic beverages and associated tips - without express, written (and extremely rare) consent from the sponsor/award covering costs
• Personal travel - including personally benefitting costs incurred that result in above avg costs of duty related travel
• Travel to other unaccounted for destination(s) during official university travel (including near-by non-duty locations)
• Meals and lodging in traveler's headquarters - Austin in most cases (unless stated in agreement covering costs)
• Meals when there is no overnight stay - regardless of destination
• Tips and gratuities <--disallowed on state funds only. On sponsored awards, if per diem exceeds daily maximum, itemized receipts are required (for the entire day) and tips will be subject to the 20% maximum on a pre-tax basis.

 

Covering Someone Else's Travel
UT traveler can be reimbursed ONLY for their own travel (this includes students and non-employees). To clarify: If traveler A pays for any portion of traveler B's costs, receipts submitted for traveler B's costs will be reimbursed to traveler B (via their own reimbursement request). And it will be between A & B to settle up. Travelers that share lodging should each be reimbursed half - note roommate name(s)/org(s) in voucher notes. Shared rental car should be included under driver's reimbursement. 

OFFICIAL DATES of TRAVEL

Arrival 1 day before, and staying 1 day after event is allowable. Dates beyond official event dates must be linked to other identified travel purposes <-- This needs to be communicated to travelers at the authorization stage and should be addressed in the event that travel dates appears to stretch beyond UT duty-based travel dates.

Be Aware of Booking BASIC Economy & Online Non-Refundable Itineraries
'Basic' economy means no seat-selection, reduced carry-on allowances, and no changes allowed. On-line lower cost airfare is usually discounted because it is non-refundable and changes incur additional costs. Know before you book.

Seating & Class Upgrades, Early Onboarding, Baggage Fees, Other Options 
Upgrades and optional services are not reimbursable, including for hotel, airfare and other transportation costs. Additional and overweight baggage fees are only reimbursable for business related needs.
Exception: Southwest Airline's EarlyBird Check-in fee is reimbursable on local funds (not state funds).
Internet/Telephone service costs must be incurred only for UT business.

Reimbursing Coach Amount from First/Business Class Airfare

To reimburse the coach amount of first/business class airfare, an apples-to-apples comparison must be obtained AT TIME OF BOOKING. Use Concur Travel tool, other 3rd party booking tool or contact a UT travel agency to obtain the exact same itinerary in coach class. Hold on to it for reimbursement purposes.

Pro tip: You can log into Concur and 'reserve' the coach class version of the flight - instead of booking it, step through the process and place the itinerary on hold. Concur will email the itinerary to you, including date stamp. This can be included in reimbursement documentation to prove difference in cost. (unpurchased on-hold itineraries in Concur are released after deadline, usually within 24 hours)

Reimbursing Airfare Originating in Non-Headquarters Location
If a traveler needs to book airfare to a UT business-related destination, and the itinerary is to originate from a location different from traveler's home base (headquarters), a comparison airfare must be obtained AT TIME OF BOOKING that shows similar itinerary and cost from home base. Reimbursement is limited to the lesser of the two itineraries. Use Concur Travel tool, other 3rd party booking tool, or contact a UT travel agency to obtain comparison itinerary in coach class. Hold on to it for reimbursement purposes.

Expenses Incurred while Qualifying for Discount Airfare
When an employee stays extra days at a duty point to qualify for discount airfare, employee may be reimbursed for travel expenses incurred if additional expenses plus discount airfare are less than or equal to the average coach airfare. It must be in the best interest of the University to allow employee to be absent for the extra days. The extra days may occur before or after the official state business.

Voucher must show additional expenses (all applicable categories) incurred are less than or equal to average coach airfare, as well as show average coach airfare and source used to determine that airfare
Use Concur Travel tool or other 3rd party booking tool to screenshot a handful of itineraries - do this at the same time as booking the airfare for an apples-to-apples comparison, include date of comparison

Use of Personal Car
Personal vehicle usage for UT business-related travel is reimbursed via mileage. Traveler should plan to use point-to-point odometer readings or online mapping tools to determine total mileage. (Any online mapping tool is allowable with local funds, state funds require specifically the mapquest.com tool)
Traveler cannot be reimbursed for fuel costs with personal vehicle usage.

Traveler may be reimbursed for mileage within the duty destination (to from airport, hotel, meetings, etc.) so long as it's incurred for UT business-related reasons. Traveler may be reimbursed for mileage to and from their local airport, including round-trip mileage (on both ends of the trip) when someone else drops them off and/or picks them up.

For out-of-state travel, reimbursement is limited to the lower of average coach airfare and related expenses, or mileage plus allowable meals and lodging. When additional employees are transported, the average coach airfare of each employee should be used in the comparison.

The idea is to prove savings to the university. Traveler (or admin) will need to obtain an apples-to-apples airfare comparison at time of booking. A screengrab that shows date of comparison and a grouping of similar itineraries can be obtained via UT's Concur Travel tool, other 3rd party booking tools, or contact a UT travel agency and request an average coach fair be emailed. This can be included in reimbursement documentation.

Texas-based Lodging EXEMPT from Occupancy Tax
State employees (that's us) are exempt from Texas state hotel occupancy taxes. Traveler must present hotel with completed exemption certificate (<--PDF auto-download) prior to finalizing invoice. If hotel refuses to honor certificate, traveler will be reimbursed the tax, then notify state comptroller about hotel's refusal. Employees are not exempt from county or municipal hotel occupancy taxes.

Single Occupancy Only
Hotel cost must be for one person only (unless rooming with another business traveler to split costs). If UT traveler will be accompanied by non-UT traveler, be sure to get a single occupancy rate comparison to prove double occupancy rate is the same. (this is typically not an issue with domestic travel)

Weekend Travel
If employee returns home for weekend between dates of UT-related travel, reimbursement is limited to the lesser of expenses that would have been reimbursed had the employee stayed at duty point.

Reimbursable expenses are limited if an employee leaves a duty point and travels for personal reasons to a location other than home for the weekend. Weekend travel expenses may not exceed the average weekday travel cost multiplied by the number of days in the weekend.