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To allow university employees and students to travel by air when on official university business.
Travelers on official university business, regardless of the funding source.
Official University travelers are encouraged to book their flights through contracted travel agencies. The flight that provides the most economical direct travel route that will meet the traveler’s needs should be selected. All airline tickets must be coach or economy class.
Se FIS 1402-01: Airfare Purchasing Policy – Not Using Contracted Travel Agencies
Individuals or departments are encouraged to use one of the contracted agencies and may change between the agencies as needed.
Contracted agencies provide:
Employees located off main campus (Cascades Campus, County Extension Offices, and Agricultural Experiment Stations) may use a local travel agency that will invoice OSU. The invoice is then processed as a regular vendor invoice. Purchases made through a non-local agency will be handled in the same manner as a non-contracted agency purchase. See TRA 204-02 below.
Individuals work with agencies in developing itineraries. Agencies provide cost and flight information. Ticketing authorization is provided by authorized departmental personnel. Designated departmental personnel provide billing and accounting information via email indicating the traveler’s name, destination, the Institution Code (OSU is always C), and the following Financial Information System (FIS) codes:
Note: The Index and Account identify which department will be billed for the airfare.
The format for the e-mail is as follows:
Attn: Name of Travel Agent
Traveler’s Name
Departure Date
Destination
Index
Account Code
Activity Code
Quoted Cost of Airfare
Traveler’s Department
Approver’s Phone Number
Delivery Information (name of paying department, name of person to whom ticket is to be delivered, building name, and room number)
The e-mail message serves as documentation to the travel agency that the airfare has been authorized. This authorization must be sent immediately after the itinerary is confirmed, because the ticket price is usually only good for a specified period of time. Billing and payments are made centrally and redistributed to OSU departments via Journal Vouchers.
E-mail addresses for the current contracted travel agencies are available on the Business Affairs web page. Departments are encouraged to use the receipt option in their e-mail to assure that the travel agent has received the authorization. Departments must retain a copy of the e-mail authorization for their records and for reconciliation purposes. This copy should be kept as backup along with a copy of the itinerary provided with the tickets.
Split billing when combining personal travel with business travel:
Travelers may combine personal travel with business travel. OSU contracted travel agencies split the billing so that the business portion of the fare is charged to the university. The individual is billed separately for their personal segment of the trip.
See FIS 1402-01: Airfare Purchasing Policy - Not Utilizing Contracted Travel Agencies.
Traveler is required to obtain a written quote from one of the contracted travel agencies showing the cost of the most economical direct route of travel as justification before using a non-contracted agency that offers lower cost airfare.
Before using non-contracted agencies, individuals should ask themselves the following:
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Refundable? Changeable? Exchangeable? Transferable? |
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Luggage limits Check-in time Provided meals? Dietary request |
City pairs are contracted, discounted, unrestricted, one-way fares available for use by Employees and non-employees. Fares carry no restrictions (early booking, Saturday overnight stay, etc) and are fully refundable.
A traveler may combine personal travel with business travel as long as the university is only responsible for the business portion of the trip.
OSU contracted travel agencies can split the airfare billing so that the business fare is charged to the university. The individual is billed separately for the personal segment of the trip.
Travelers choosing to purchase airline tickets from someone other than a contracted agent will need to obtain a quote from one of the contracted travel agencies showing the most economical direct route travel cost. This quote will be used to reimburse the traveler after the trip is completed.
Travelers choosing to drive rather than fly see TRA 204-05 below.
An employee may request in advance to travel by personal vehicle in lieu of air travel in order to combine official travel with personal travel. See Part D. Vehicles of Section 11.02: Travel - Meals and Incidental Expenses, Lodging, and Miscellaneous Expenses in the OUS Financial Administration Standard Operating Manual (FASOM).
In such cases, an employee may be reimbursed for the following costs associated with air travel between his or her official station and destination:
Travel associated with official business while at the destination may include:
Charter aircraft or air taxi service may be taken when the cost is shared by three or more people. Such trips made by fewer than three people must be approved in advance by the university executive office. The charter is normally restricted to flights of less than 600 miles one way, unless especially approved in advance by the University Executive Office. The aircraft must be piloted by the company pilot and not the employee. See Policy 125-7-301: Aircraft & Pilot Standards in the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Policy Manual for the minimum pilot requirements.
Charter aircraft used:
Travel by employee-owned or rented aircraft may be authorized when advantageous to the university, or for the employee’s convenience. Reimbursement for expenses is for use of the aircraft regardless of the number of passengers. If an employee elects to use employee-owned or rental aircraft for personal convenience, reimbursement for travel expense will not be greater than the cost of private automobile travel. Use of employee-owned or rented aircraft will normally be restricted to flights of less than 600 miles one-way, unless approved in advance by the University Executive Office.
Only employees who hold a Private, Commercial or Airline Transport Pilot Certificate and meet the pilot requirements of the Department of Administrative Services policy manual may pilot aircraft on state business. See Policy 125-7-301: Aircraft & Pilot Standards in the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Policy Manual for the minimum pilot requirements.
Mileage allowances for employee-owned or rented aircraft are governed by the following policies:
Employees operating aircraft on official business are provided insurance coverage for liability claims and damage to the aircraft to the extent described in FASOM, sec 07.08. State coverage supplements the employee’s personal aircraft insurance and any other insurance on leased or controlled aircraft. The State’s commercial aviation insurance requires the employee pilot to have a current medical certificate and meet the pilot qualifications for the aircraft type used. Institutions must ensure that employees flying on official business meet or exceed the minimum pilot requirements. See Policy 125-7-301: Aircraft & Pilot Standards in the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Policy Manual for the minimum pilot requirements.
U.S. flag air carriers must be utilized when the airfare is paid with federal funds. This includes “flow through” funding. In Banner, indexes funded with federal dollars will have a fund type “31”. Banner users can find the fund type of a specific Index using form FTVFUND. Query by entering the Index in the CODE column. The fund type will populate.
The OSU Fly America Act policy and the mandatory Fly America Act Waiver Checklist are located in GCG 209-09: Fly America Act (Federally Funded Air Travel) in the OSU Grant, Contract and Gift Accounting (GCG) manual.
Credits or awards gained from qualified purchases relating to official university travel are the property of the State of Oregon. Benefits earned from the use of a personal credit card that offers incentives such as cash rebates, frequent flyer miles, or other benefits based upon the dollar amount of purchases made are also considered travel credits or awards.
These credits (awards) are to be used for official university travel only, and not personal travel. See ORS 244.040: Code of ethics; prohibited actions; honoraria.
For further information regarding aircraft and pilot standards, see the Policy Handbook of the Oregon Department of Administrative Service.
See FASOM 07.08: Aviation Insurance for further information.
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