travelnews: COVID Travel Update: Expense processing, cancelling travel, and travel best business practice

[BAO news for travel administrators]

Dear UO Traveler, Concur User/Delegate:

A reminder that all cancelled travel expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic must be processed through Concur to clear the expense and charge your departmental index.

If you still have upcoming travel that has not yet been cancelled, please remember that in order to retain future airfare credit or a potential refund, the airfare must be cancelled prior to the airfare departure date.  Travelers may wait until nearer their date of travel to cancel their airfare.

How to cancel travel arrangements:


  *   Go to Travel button in the top black navigation bar in Concur.  Click on Trip Library (below and to the left of the Travel button).  Select Cancel Trip on the right.
  *   Contact the travel agency to cancel your airfare. Note the rules of your ticket, change fees, waivers and use-by date.
     *   Premier Travel 541-747-0909 doug at premiertrav.com<mailto:doug at premiertrav.com>
     *   Direct Travel 855-221-1342 uofotravelteam at dt.com<mailto:uofotravelteam at dt.com>
  *   Cancel all other reservations for your trip:  hotel, rental car, shuttle, etc.
Latest Airline waiver guidelines related to cancelled travel due to COVID-19:

DOT (Dept. of Transportation) update: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/us-department-transportation-issues-enforcement-notice-clarifying-air-carrier-refund
Alaska Airline:   https://www.alaskaair.com/content/advisories/travel-advisories#peace-of-mind
American Airlines:  http://news.aa.com/coronavirus/
Delta Airlines:  https://news.delta.com/flexibility-times-change-delta-extends-ability-rebook-coronavirus-impacted-travel-2-years
United Airlines:  https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/travel/notices.html#ChangeFeeTerms
How to Process expenses:

  *   Every effort needs to be made to obtain refunds for any prepaid travel reservations and registration fees.
  *   Airfare purchased with the UO Lodge Card (card held on file with the UO contracted travel agents) and any One Card expenses must be processed in a Concur Expense Report.
     *   Use department index along with activity code IRCRNA.
     *   Change the dates of the expense report to reflect current date in order to process the expense report.
  *   Conference, workshop or meeting registration fees extended to a future event may be reimbursed using a Concur expense report.  The credit is documented by creating a copy of the report, changing to the future projected conference/meeting dates and attaching documentation explaining the credit.
  *   Personally purchased airline tickets may only be submitted for travel with documentation to show a refund was attempted or a credit obtained.  Reimbursement is processed after the original return date.
Concur Expense Report reminders:
Even though the event was canceled, the UO must still pay the expense and it must be charged to your index. The UO is still required to process this expense according to IRS Accountable Plan rules.  In your Concur expense report:

  *   Be sure to include a detailed business purpose to explain what the travel was intended for and how it was to have benefited the UO/grant
  *   Include support documentation to substantiate the business purpose – conference information, invitation from host, receipts, etc, as you normally would had the trip happened.
  *   Independent contractor/Guest travel:  be sure to attach PSC contracts as they spell out travel expense payment
  *   Enter COVID cancellation activity code: IRCRNA  The UO will be tracking expenses related to cancelled travel.
Best Business Practice Travel Reminders:


  *   The University of Oregon follows a Managed Travel Program https://pages.uoregon.edu/baoforms/bao_drupal_6/sites/ba.uoregon.edu/files/travel/changesintravel.pdf:



     *   Request in Concur is required for all UO business travel and must be completed PRE-travel for approval.  This provides destination and date detail to populate Concur Locate, the UO’s Duty of Care platform to assist travelers in case of emergency, like the COVID outbreak.
     *   Airfare must be purchased through the contract TMCs (approved travel agencies) or in the Concur Booking tool and charged to the UO credit card.  UO business travel qualifies for a 6-18% discount on Alaska, American, Delta and United.  Travelers are not out of pocket for UO business air expense.
     *   One Card corporate travel visa card can be used for conference registration and hotel deposits.  Travelers are not out of pocket for UO business travel expense.


  *   Basic Economy airline tickets as well as pre-paid hotel and car packages purchased through third party sellers are not recommended for business travel due to their inflexible rules.  These often cannot be changed or cancelled resulting in penalties that far outweigh potential savings.

 Be Safe!

[cid:image001.png at 01D6132F.2A8B6F20]
Laurie Jacoby
Travel Manager
Business Affairs Office
University of Oregon
lajacoby at uoregon.edu<mailto:lajacoby at uoregon.edu>
541-346-3158
**  If your travel involves human subjects research, please do not disclose any information that is protected under UO Policy and other Regulations http://rcs.uoregon.edu/content/regulations-and-uo-policy

Travel Office/Concur Help Desk:     Phone:  6-3100 ***  Email:  travel at uoregon.edu<mailto:travel at uoregon.edu>

TravelNews Opt In for Travel and Concur tips:   https://lists-prod.uoregon.edu/mailman/listinfo/travelnews





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