Policy: 201.A-Travel: Air Travel
Date: 01/29/2008 (Updated: 01/16/2009)
Updated for e-Reimbursement: 4/17/2009

Statement of Policy:

Reimbursement for travel by common carrier shall be limited to the lowest cost means of travel unless it is impractical or not available. The additional cost for premium class (first class or business class) travel is not reimbursable. If extenuating circumstances arise where premium class travel is the only alternative available, such travel must have approval from the UW-Madison Travel Manager prior to booking the flight. The "lowest logical fare" is defined as the least costly fare that:

  1. Uses a regularly scheduled commercial carrier.
  2. Prohibits preference for any airline, type of aircraft and connecting airports.
  3. May require one plane transfer both departing and returning.
  4. Departs from the airport nearest to the employee's headquarters location or, at the discretion of the employee, from an airport offering a fare which is more cost effective for the UW, including parking, mileage or additional overnight stays.
  5. Allows for up to a four-hour leeway in scheduling which may necessitate that the employee arrive up to two hours prior to the start of his/her UW business and may require up to a two-hour wait after the planned business ending time to take advantage of lower air fares.
  6. The UW pays only for direct flights. The traveler must pay for any personal flights. If there is a cost saving or no additional charge for the personal flight, attach an explanation and cost comparison.
  7. When leaving or returning on a Saturday or Sunday to obtain cost savings in fare, provide total cost comparison and where it was obtained.
  8. For federally funded grants, include an explanation based on the exceptions discussed below if a foreign air carrier is used. When utilizing the EU-US Open Skies Agreement, the agreement between the U.S. and Australia, or the agreement between the U.S. and Switzerland, include a screen print of the relevant City-Pair contract fare search.
  9. Travelport is the contract vendor for online booking of airfare. Travelers may use the travel agency of their choice when online purchases are unsuitable. We encourage the use of the Wisconsin Certified Minority Enterprise travel agents, a list of which is found at http://www.bussvc.wisc.edu/purch/mbetravellist.html. 

    Note:  Orbitz is listed in The Certification for Collection of Sales and Use Tax Ineligible Vendor Directory. Because they are not in compliance with State of Wisconsin sales tax collection requirements, Orbitz should not be used for booking travel when payment or reimbursement will be made from University administered funds.

Receipt Requirements

All original receipts for travel by common carrier paid by an employee must be attached to the reimbursement request. Reimbursement of airfare requires a receipt and proof of payment. If the original invoice/itinerary is not available, a reasonable copy or computer print-out (such as an Internet/e-mail confirmation), containing the information above, along with proof of payment, such as a credit card statement or check, will be acceptable. The business purpose of the trip must be clearly stated on the transaction. Receipt required for expenses claimed in excess of $25.00.

  • An airline receipt is the original "Passenger Receipt" plus any applicable original travel agency invoice/itinerary (must include traveler's name, destination, departure/return dates, fare amount paid, method of payment, routing, class of travel) and evidence of any payment of service fee amounts.
  • Credit card charge statements and/or slips alone are not acceptable as documentation because these lack sufficient detail.
  • How to Document Airfare, Lodging, Registration Fee Payments Made Over the Web

Airline Additional Fees

Provide an explanation for any fees charged for changing a non-refundable ticket, e.g., departed early to save on meals and lodging, dates of meeting changed. Major airlines (NW, UA, AA, Delta, AirTran, U S Airways) are now charging extra fees, $15-$25 for an aisle seat, $25-$40 for an exit row seat, and $15-25 for the first checked piece of baggage. Travelers may claim the costs associated with booking an aisle or exit row seat on their coach class ticket, without additional justification. Almost all airlines charge checked baggage fees for domestic flights. For international flights, checked baggage fees vary based on airline and international destination. Travelers may claim reimbursement for the first checked piece of baggage without justification. Costs for additional baggage beyond the first checked piece of baggage will be reimbursed by providing a business justification documenting the necessity. A receipt is required for any extra fee expenses claimed in excess of $25.00.

Travel Agency Service Fees

Effective October 17, 2005, a State/UW-issued purchasing card must be used for payment of official business-related airline tickets and travel agency service fees. If they so choose, employees have the option of utilizing the state-provided personal liability My Corporate Card for payment. Because of significant administrative costs associated with use of the purchasing card, institutions may strongly encourage their employees to use the My Corporate Card for payment of travel.

Frequent Flyer Information

Benefits from any airline promotion, such as free tickets for frequent fliers, merchandise, etc., that accrue as a result of UW-paid travel belong to the UW and must be used for UW-related business. Benefits as a result of voluntary bumping may be retained by the employee provided the alternative travel resulting from the bumping does not involve any loss of work time or additional travel cost to the UW. An employee may not be compensated for business use of frequent flyer vouchers, vouchers for bumping, discount coupons or other instruments of value. Such discount instruments, if earned as a result of personally paid travel, should be used for subsequent personal travel. Please utilize the UW's corporate frequent flyer account numbers listed under "Contract Travel Agencies" when allowable.

Fly America Act and Open Skies Agreement

In accordance with the Fly America Act of 1974, commercial air travel on certain grants must comply with the requirement that U.S. flag air carriers be used to when travel is between the U.S. and a foreign country or between foreign countries. Exceptions to the Fly America Act requirements are as follows:

  1. If a U.S. flag air carrier offers nonstop or direct service (no aircraft change) from your origin to your destination, you must use the U.S. flag air carrier service unless such use would extend your travel time, including delay at origin, by 24 hours or more.
  2. If a U.S. flag air carrier does not offer nonstop or direct service (no aircraft change) between your origin and your destination, you must use a U.S. flag air carrier on every portion of the route where it provides service unless, when compared to using a foreign air carrier, such use would: (a) Increase the number of aircraft changes you must make outside of the U.S. by 2 or more; or (b) Extend your travel time by at least 6 hours or more; or
  3. Require a connecting time of 4 hours or more at an overseas interchange point.

Some flights purchased through a U.S. flag carrier may actually be a code-shared flight between a U.S. flag carrier and a foreign air carrier.  In such cases, despite the fact that the airplane may be owned by a foreign air carrier, as long as the flight was purchased through a U.S. flag carrier, it would meet the requirements of the Fly America Act. 

In addition to the above, there are three agreements that the U.S. government has signed that allow additional exceptions to the Fly America Act of 1974:

  1. The EU-US Open Skies Agreement (effective March 30, 2008)
  2. A new air transport agreement between the U.S. and Australia (effective October 1, 2008)
  3. A new air transport agreement between the U.S. and Switzerland (effective October 1, 2008)

Based on the above agreements, federal grant or contract funds can be used to purchase air travel with non-U.S. flag air carriers under the following circumstances:

  1. For travel between the U.S. and European Union countries, airlines of the Member States of the European Union may be used. 
  2. For travel between the U.S. and Australia, Australian airlines may be used. 
  3. For travel between the U.S. and Switzerland, airlines of Switzerland may be used. 

However, there are two important qualifications to these agreements:

  1. If transportation is between points for which there is a City-Pair contract fare in effect, then federal grantees and contractors are still required to use U.S. flag air carriers. 
  2. If transportation is obtained or funded by the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military department, then federal grantees and contractors are still required to use U.S. flag air carriers. 

Regarding the first qualification above, the City-Pair Program is a GSA (U.S. General Services Administration) Program that is available only to federal employees and not to federal grantees and contractors.  Despite that, federal grantees and contractors are still not allowed to use non-U.S. flag air carriers if a City-Pair contract fare is in effect for a particular segment of travel. 

For example, an employee using federal grant or federal contract funds needs to travel from Madison, Wisconsin, to Geneva, Switzerland.  This could be accomplished using the following itinerary:

Madison to Detroit
Detroit to Paris
Paris to Geneva

However, of the above flight segments, there is a City-Pair contract fare in effect on the Detroit to Paris flight segment.  As a result, a U.S. flag carrier must be used for that flight segment. 

In order to find if a City-Pair contract fare exists for a particular flight segment, please use the following website:  http://apps.fas.gsa.gov/citypairs/search/. 

Please include a print out of your City-Pair search indicating that no City-Pair contract fare exists on any of your flight segments if you do decide to fly on a foreign air carrier to the European Union, Australia, or Switzerland.     

For your convenience, the following website includes a comprehensive list of all City-Pair contract fares:

Note: If you aren't sure if your fund 144 grant is governed by the Fly America Act, please consult with your Post-Award Accountant at Research & Sponsored Programs (http://www.rsp.wisc.edu/directory.html) before booking your airfare.

Major U.S. Flag Air Carriers
AirTran Airways
Alaska Airlines
American Airlines
Continental Airlines
Delta Airlines
Frontier Airlines
jetBlue
Hawaiian Airlines		 Midwest Airlines
Northwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
United Airlines
US Airways
Major Airlines of the European Union

Adria Airways
Aer Lingus
Air France
Air Malta
Air One
Alitalia
Austrian
bmi

 British Airways
Brussels Airlines
Cyprus Airways
Czech Airlines
Deutsche Lufthansa
Finnair
Iberia
KLM


 LOT Polish Airlines
Luxair
Malev Hungarian Airlines
Olympic Airlines
SAS
TAP Portugal
TAROM – Romanian Air Transport
TNT Airways
Virgin Atlantic
Major Airline of Switzerland
Swiss International Air Lines
Major Airline of Australia
Qantas

For the complete details of the Fly America Act, please see http://www.tvlon.com/resources/FlyAct.html .

For the complete details of the EU-US Open Skies Agreement and the air transport agreements with Australia and Switzerland, please see http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_BASIC&contentId=24833&noc=T .

Related Procedure(s):

Related Procedures for e-Reimbursement Users:

Use expense type Airfare-Cancel/Change Fee for:

Additional fees charged by an airline after an air reservation has been ticketed. Most airlines charge fees to change or rebook unused airline tickets or to provide optional services such as checked baggage or window or aisle seating.

Airfare-Cancel/Change Fee

Enter the following required information after clicking on the "Detail" link at the end of the expense type line:

  • Description: type of fee incurred, e.g., baggage fee; justification for fee if changing/rebooking a ticket

Use expense type Airfare-Coach Only for:

Airline tickets for travel via common carrier (major airline). Reimbursement limited to coach class airfare.

Airfare-Coach Only

Enter the following required information after clicking on the "Detail" link at the end of the expense type line:

  • Ticket Number: 10- or 13-digit ticket or e-Receipt number, with no prefix or suffix
  • Merchant: select the airline from the Preferred drop-down list
  • Description: itinerary (e.g., Madison to Tampa); dates of departure and return

Use expense type Airfare-Travel Agency Service Fee for:

Booking, reservation or service fee billed as a separate item and paid to travel agency or commercial booking sites to provide travel reservation related services. Service Fees included in the cost of the airfare in online transactions need not be itemized separately.

Airfare-Travel Agency Service Fee

Enter the following required information after clicking on the "Detail" link at the end of the expense type line:

  • Description: fee being charged

Who should know this policy?

Deans, Directors, employees who travel and staff who prepare travel reimbursements

Related Documents:

UW Links

Travel Resources

Contacts:
Dean/Director’s Business Office may e-mail uwtravel@bussvc.wisc.edu with questions.

Travelers and departmental staff should contact their respective Dean/Director’s Business Office for policy or procedural questions

Policy and Procedure Index


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