Transportation

You will have access to the Online Booking Tool in Concur to make your own domestic airfare reservations. In addition, our contracted Travel Agency, TLC can also make your reservations for you. Whichever purchasing option you choose, you will still need to enter the estimated cost of the airline ticket on your travel request to account for the cost of airfare in your total travel estimate.

*Airfare information for foreign travel can be found in the Foreign Travel section.

Please complete the Travel Preferences section in your Concur profile to ensure your TSA information, preferred airlines, hotels, rental car, etc. are captured. Failure to complete this information could result in an increase in airfare costs. You will only have to complete your travel preferences section one time unless you have a change of name or new information to add or edit.

Baggage fees are reimbursable if the airline carrier charges for checking the first bag or for a carry-on bag. Some carriers will not charge for the first bag, but will charge for each additional checked bag. If an adequate business reason is provided in the comment field on the travel expense report, ORISE will reimburse the traveler for additional baggage charges (for example, the second bag contained meeting materials or an additional bag was needed due to length of trip).

Most airline carriers have a weight and size limit per bag, and there is an additional charge for each bag over the limit. You are is responsible for checking with the airline(s) prior to departure to determine the baggage charges, weight limits on baggage, and other charges that may be imposed at check-in. These additional charges will only be reimbursed if there is a sufficient business need to support the cost.

If baggage charges exceed $75, a receipt must be provided. Costs associated with lost baggage will not be reimbursed by ORISE.

All rental vehicle requests MUST be approved by Travel Central prior to the reservation. A rental vehicle may be authorized over other means of transportation if it is approved in advance of travel. When planning a trip, you should consider the location of the business and accessibility of restaurants, etc., as well as availability of public transportation. Public transportation includes shuttle service, taxis, bus service, subways, etc., and can be less expensive than renting a vehicle.

You must make your reservation through Concur Booking Tool, use Enterprise or National, and provide ORISE’s corporate rate number XZ56018; or make your reservation through ORAU’s contracted travel agency, Traveler Leaders Corp.  Reserving a rental car through ORAU allows you to obtain discounted rates plus Driver Protection and Liability Insurance that is provided to ORAU.  This insurance is available at no additional cost only for vehicles rented in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Costs Associated with Rental Vehicles

• Actual costs (i.e., rental charge, gasoline, parking and toll charges) will be reimbursed. Car rental receipts must be submitted with the travel expense report. If the traveler returns a rental vehicle after business hours, a copy of the rental agreement from the rental agency is an acceptable receipt.
• Prepaid refueling options will not be reimbursed (paying for a full tank of gas before driving off the rental lot) sometimes known as Fuel Service Option (FSO) or Fuel Purchase Option (FPO).
• A global positioning system (GPS) will not be reimbursed unless a justification that includes the business purpose and the estimated cost of the GPS, is determined to be sufficient by the approver.
• A satellite radio will not be reimbursed.
• Charges to obtain frequent flyer mileage points will not be reimbursed.

ORAU is not responsible for claims incurred while the rental vehicle is being used for personal travel; a traveler is fully responsible for all costs arising from an accident during personal use.

Additional information regarding rental vehicles, costs associated with rental vehicles, insurance, etc. can be found in the ORISE Participant Travel Guide (PDF). Before renting a vehicle, we suggest a thorough review of this guidance.

Costs of ground transportation for business travel will be reimbursed. Receipts must be submitted for individual fares of more than $75. All claims must be itemized on the travel expense report (e.g., taxi to/from hotel is $50; metro to client’s office is $6) even if receipts are not required.

Reasonable tips proportionate to the cost of ground transportation will be reimbursed. The tips should be claimed as ground transportation and itemized separately. Courtesy transportation furnished by hotels should be utilized to the maximum extent possible between the place of lodging and the airport. Prudent tips for courtesy transportation will be reimbursed.

Ground transportation will not be reimbursed for personal cost. This includes the cost of transportation to obtain a meal or to purchase personal items.

A cost comparison must be approved in advance of travel if a personal vehicle is used more than 350 miles one-way. A cost comparison is not needed if a justification exists for the use of a personally owned vehicle (POV) in lieu of air travel. For example, traveler is hosting a seminar that requires transporting boxes of training materials. In such cases, the Travel Request should reflect the use of a POV with reimbursement of full travel expenses while the traveler is in travel status. The justification must be included on the Travel Request in the comments section. More information can be found in the ORISE Participant Travel Guide under the Personally Owned Vehicle section.

Travel costs will be reimbursed based on simulated travel calculations.

EXAMPLE

Traveler is driving 400 miles one way:

In this example, the traveler will be reimbursed for the full cost of the travel via POV.

*POV mileage under Air Travel is round trip to/from the airport; mileage under POV is round trip to/from destination(s).

Transportation charges for bus and rail service will be reimbursed to the extent the charges do not exceed the lowest available airfare. A cost comparison of the rail or bus fare vs. the cost of airfare is required, and must be completed by ORISE’s contracted travel agency, Travel Leaders Corporate (TLC), when cost is greater than $200.