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My agency uses both the Centrally Billed Accounts (CBA) and Individually Billed Accounts (IBA) for travel expenses.  Agency travelers are required to use their GSA SmartPay2 program cards (government travel charge cards) issued by US Bank to pay for lodging and rental car expenses.  Previously, travelers also used their IBA to pay for airfare expenses, but all transportation expenses are currently being paid by a CBA, along with the e-travel transaction fees.  After a traveler submits an expense report, our agency financial system issues split disbursements through Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).  Charges made to the IBA are paid directly to the bank and out of pocket expenses owed to the employee (miscellaneous expenses, taxi, parking, etc) are made directly...

The current GDS system platform remains relatively unchanged since it was first widely used in the 1970’s. With all the advances in technology the GDS system continues to be DOS based requiring a series of commands to obtain information. Even with the updated scripting and windows look the system continues to be antiquated compared to the new technology. This issue has become evident with Secure Flight the TSA passenger tracking system requiring the full name, date of birth, gender and redress number if applicable for every airline passenger. The airlines and GDS systems have been scrambling in order to adapt their systems to accept the necessary fields. This has become a long and tedious process as currently the systems have limitations on the number of...

There is a statistic cited in the training materials that I find interesting, which is that City Pair air fares save 50 – 70% off unrestricted coach fares. I have seen a similar measure of 72% savings off unrestricted coach fares published directly by GSA. This measure raises two questions: 1)    What data did GSA use to determine this measure and when was the analysis conducted? 2)     Is a better measure of program savings available? Section 2a discusses yield management tools and how airfare prices change continuously. To accurately measure savings off unrestricted coach fares, GSA would need a database of unrestricted coach fares that were purchased at the same their traveler purchased the ticket to the same destination. A second option would be to...

The Fly America Act as you know it today provides excellent opportunities for all parties involved.  The program provides excellent advantages for the Traveler, the TMC, and the Airlines.  Code share when it began did have its challenges, travelers were unsure which ticket counter to check in, what airline they were actually flying on, which baggage claim was the appropriate one and whom do they speak to in the event of problem that needed resolution as a result of their flight.   Code share today represents positive changes to all involved in the process including the actual booking in ETS or DTS.    Government travelers are permitted to use the code share carriers provided the ticket is issued with the U.S. Flag Carrier code and U.S. Carrier flight...

Since the inception of the federal regulation, public law 105-246 on January 27, 1998 which mandated the use of a government furnished travel charge card, TMC’s and TSS agencies had many benefits from this program.  Most importantly, TMC’s could process payment for travel services and their fees immediately, processing ticketing and reservations for government employees. A TMC receives this payment through either the CBA, centrally billed account, or IBA, individually billed account, and sends payment to ARC.   This eliminates the risk of the TMC/TSS not being paid.  Government travelers are required to reconcile their bills, confirming the services provided, and submit a voucher for payment internally, as they are individually responsible for payment to...

My first class in CGTP history about the Global Distribution Systems was of great interest to me. I plan meetings for government agencies and have some knowledge of the per diem but didn’t know the full history of it. I was aware that the General Services Administration (GSA) established the per diem rates for destinations within the Continental United States (CONUS) but found out so much thru my studies on how it all was developed into the programs we have currently. Our Meeting Planning department is working with a government group in Bethel Alaska where the per Diem is currently $135.00. The Bed and Breakfast was originally offering breakfast but with the rising cost of food, and fuel, they can no longer offer this at the per diem.  When the gas barges...

OK, the question is slightly misleading but it got your attention I hope.  My method doesn’t work 100% of the time, but way more often than not. Here is what I DON’T want to do.  One, I DON’T want to request and then make sure I receive a cash advance prior to leaving on a trip.  (And I certainly don’t want to have to concern myself with returning a cash advance if my trip gets canceled.)  Two, I DON’T want to have to write a check or otherwise make a payment for my personal travel card after the trip is over. Let assume a “normal” trip – airfare, rental car, & hotel. I make my airfare, rental car, & hotel reservations online in our E-Gov Travel system.  Airfare is reserved – and paid for – with a centrally-billed account...

Federal Government spending is a major topic in the news these days.  Managing resources efficiently and responsibly is among the federal financial manager top priorities. Congressional reporting requirements ensure agencies’ account for their spending activity in fulfillment of their missions.   Focus is frequently on an agency’s travel program.  What types of travel does an agency perform using federal funds?  Is the type of travel and cost necessary to accomplish the agency’s mission?  To answer these questions the federal government needs standardized reporting criteria for all its agencies. In the mid-1970s, the federal government implemented the use of travel purpose identifiers to categorize the types of travel conducted by its...

The existence of multiple Global Distribution Systems presents challenges for United States Government agencies’ efforts to manage travel. One such challenge involves determining which Global Distribution System an agency’s Travel Management Center should use, although my sense is that most agencies do not direct their Travel Management Center on which Global Distribution System to use. (Contractually, an agency may or may not even have the ability to determine which Global Distribution System their Travel Management Center uses.) Some Global Distribution Systems do not allow for the booking of tickets for certain airlines – although this is often driven by which airlines choose to participate in which Global Distribution Systems. In addition, the various...

Selecting a travel system can be an overwhelming task.  I was a team member on the core team to select an eTravel provider for our department.  The core team was made up of a manager with a extensive travel business experience, an analyst who had experience with travel and administration of a travel system and I was an information technology staff member  who had written the interface between the existing travel system and the accounting system.  The remainder of the team was made up of representatives from 12 different bureaus within our department.  The bureau representatives were mostly document preparers or administrative people who had experience with travel arrangements or travel policy.  One of the biggest challenges was to have representatives from...

We all have a favorite place to stay. Whether it is for the complimentary breakfast, the availability of certain amenities, or even the rewards programs, we all look for that one particular hotel when we travel for business or pleasure. Unfortunately, not all hotels will be available when searching the E Travel System for available lodging. Currently, our E Travel System is dependent on the GDS (Sabre) for identifying hotel availability and the booking of inventory. What information is listed in Sabre and how often the inventory is updated is entirely up to the individual hotel properties. How does this affect the E Travel Systems hotel query?  The first query of the E Travel System sends an availability command to Sabre.  The return is a list of hotels for...

The reconciliation process for agency centrally billed accounts (CBA) varies widely across government.  Agencies have developed a best practice for what currently works for them.  Some agencies have an all manual process and use nothing but paper.   Some use electronic reports provided by their Travel Management Center (TMC) and their charge card vendor.  Others make use of a CBA reconciliation module within their eTravel system (ETS).  I don’t believe there is an agency that is totally electronic in the reconciliation and payment process as there is probably a manual interruption somewhere in the process. How many individuals or departments are involved in the reconciliation and payment process?  In some agencies, the reconciliation consists of...

As the U.S. Federal government embraces electronic travel systems and begins to move their travel bookings to these systems, we see a number of problems arise. Some are common to all migrations to booking tools (and away from agent based travel) and will be eliminated as the traveler becomes more comfortable with the systems with continued use. However, I would argue the unique nature of government travel and the government traveler create issues rarely seen in the corporate world, and may continue to confound the system, and the traveler attempting to use them. First, look at the history of how government travelers book lodging vs. air and car. For a number of years, surveys by SGTP and others have shown that the travelers routinely book air and car though their...

My experience on a normal traveling day for me is having my bags packed the prior night and I set my alarm. Before my alarm goes off I am already getting up and dress and heading to the airport. What is in store for me today at the airport? I always like to arrive early to the airport so if any surprises occur I am prepared and I will not be later. Sometimes I use different airline companies, it really depends on which direction I am heading.  I am heading to Washington, DC this time. My husband drops me off at the curb. Seconds to say good-bye. I check my bags in at the curbside service. I am using US Airways and the airline customer service gentleman says $15 for your bag, please. So I pay the $15 and head to the gate. Really $15 for a bag that I need to bring...

For more than 20 years, travel agencies had a monopoly on two aspects of air travel: Information and Ticketing Now they have lost these monopolies due to deregulation; information is plentiful and tickets are more and more irrelevant. By cutting agents’ commission, airlines decrease their dependence on travel agencies as a distribution channel. The process started in the United States (U.S.) in 1995 when seven airlines, (American, Delta, US, Trans World, United, Northwest and Continental Airlines) joined forces to put a cap on commissions paid to travel agencies. They set an upper limit for travel agents’ commissions fixed at 50 USD for domestic flights, and at 100 USD in 1998 for international flights. In October 1999, airline commissions were reduced to 5%...

My agency uses the program, FedTraveler.com E-Gov Travel Service (ETS), for travel services for its federal employees.  This is an example of a Global Distribution System (GDS).  The ETS can be used to book flights, hotel lodging, and rental cars, as well as reimburse employees for travel services.  ETS is primarily a self-service system whereby employees enter their travel plans and budget authorizers approve or return plans.  Overall, the ETS is convenient and user-friendly.  I have entered dozens of travel plans for my job as a facilities inspections officer.  One of the biggest benefits I have found is that the ETS automatically calculates the correct government per diem.  My major complaint with the ETS is the transaction fees.  As stated on page 43...

E-Gov Travel Systems have emerged over the past decade as part of the President’s Management Agenda. The idea of automating a previously paper intensive process naturally sounds like a smart idea. The difficulties begin starting with the change management process. It is a huge learning curve to overcome when travelers are used to the old paper process, possibly still using form fillers and looking up per diem rates; then switching to an electronic paperless process. You have to get buy in from every level of the organization to achieve a successful transition. Involvement of the core team of those bureaus and offices affected by the transformation is also critical from the very beginning of the process. Another difficulty is with only 3 vendors to choose from,...

The Fly America Act was first approved by congress with the Air Transporation Fair Competitive Practice act of 1974.  In 1981 it was amended to include the verbiage requiring Federal Employees and their dependents, consultants, contractors, grantees and others performing United States Government financed foreign air travel to travel by US flag carriers. In April 2007 the US-EU Open Skies Agreement was signed this agreement amended the earlier Fly America Act to provide airlines of the European Community or its Member States the right to transport passengers and cargo on scheduled or charter flights for US Government  transportation.  In October of 2008 the United States Government signed an Open skies agreement with Australia and Switzerland.   These...

I am proud to be working for a travel company that has been around since 1948. This company has been sold several times and the name has changed, however, the one thing that I am proud of is how loyal the employees are. We have employees who have been with the company for more then 15 year and they are dedicated to making and keeping this company #1 in the travel industry. Today we are known as Carlson Wagonlit /SatoTravel and are now the number 1 leader in the travel company. As a meeting planner I do not work with the Global Distribution System (GDS) to book meetings. All our meetings/room blocks for groups are handled thru the National Sales Representatives for each Brand. I do, however, use the GDS to look for hotels near a specific zip code or to check the...

Professionals are an extremely important part of the travel equation! Our world has become a very complicated place and individuals are lucky to be knowledgeable in their own area of expertise much less having to assume responsibilities for their own travel. Yet, employees in both the corporate and government sectors, whether they travel weekly or once a year, are now required to become ‘travel agents’. Today travel agency selection is probably the most important decision made by any individual. The tools-of-the-trade and enhancements are updated daily and training takes place on a scheduled basis, but it takes years to really know the industry! The GDS is just a tool, garbage-in, garbage-out. What counts is knowing how to maneuver within the system...

In sections 2b and 2c of the Certified Government Travel Professional Training Course, I can relate to the “Airlines” training material from my previous reservations sales positions with Piedmont, US Air, and United airlines. I knew the complete description of Fare Basis Codes and what each of the code letters signified. What is pretty amazing is that I had a good memory of what the codes meant. Along the same line, I have remembered a good share of the airport three-letter codes and airline two-letter codes. My first position in the Postal Service required me to learn all the ZIP codes in Michigan and I have remembered most of those. What is it about that type of information that stays in your memory? In the “Hotels” section, I could relate more to my...

For someone to take on the role and responsibilities as the “Travel Professional” is a major accomplishment.  There are a large number of federal employees working in the travel area that work hard towards the goal of becoming a Travel professional.  With travel being of great interest, for both the civilian and DoD side, you would think that there would be more training opportunities in this field to move someone up that path of gaining various certifications and skilled qualifications as a Travel Professional.  In the beginning of my career, there were limited amount of training through the federal government.  Most of my training and experience was gained through various vendors such as Sabre.  We live in a society that federal employees can seek...

A significant project that I completed during 2010 was the development of a requirements traceability matrix (RTM) that includes all global, functional, and technical (testable) requirements for an interface between an EGOV Travel Application and a Central Financial System.  Authorizations and vouchers have separate RTM’s that house all information regarding individual requirements.  The overall objective for the interface is to provide the capability to upload obligations and invoices to the Core Financial System for all authorizations, temporary duty travel vouchers, advance vouchers, and local vouchers via the import of a data source file from the EGOV Vendor to the Core Financial System while applying the same business rules, program logic, and...

Part of the requirements to do business with the Federal Government is that your hotel must be FEMA Certified. As a new build or converting hotel, you must make sure that the building contractor is having the required inspections prior to the opening of the hotel. You must also ensure that the State Fire Marshall has given their approval during the construction process. There are some occasions where the local laws may exceed the Federal Minimum Requirements, so verify with the Fire Marshal which requirements you must meet. The contact point you will require for this process is; http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/applications/hotel/ This is the web address for the US Fire Administration which is where you will find the online application for your FEMA number and be able to...

E-Gov Travel is a Government-wide initiative that is mandated by the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) for all federal travelers and is one of 24 E-Gov initiatives outlined in the President’s Management Agenda (PMA). The E-Gov Travel vision is to deliver a unified, simplified service that delivers a cost-effective travel experience, supports excellent management and results in superior customer satisfaction. The E-Gov Travel goals are defined as follows: develop a government-wide, web based, world-class travel management service; establish a cost model that reduces or eliminates capital investment and minimizes total cost per transaction for the government; and create a policy environment based on the use of best travel management policies. The E-Gov Travel...

There are three choices when an agency selects an eGov Travel System.  The choices are; Carlson Wagonlit Government Travel’s E2Solutions, EDS’s Fed Traveler and Northrop Grumman Mission System’s GovTrip. All of the eGov Travel Systems meet the minimum requirements which were defined by General Services Administration (GSA), who awarded the contract.  This article will be referencing GovTrip. GovTrip forces the  travelers to comply with the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR).  The FTR governs the expenses the traveler is allowed to claim and the requirements which must be met in order to conduct official travel on behalf of the Government.  An agency can have travel policy which is stricter than the FTR.  GovTrip can be set up to reflect some...

Communication is essential to the success of the Government Travel Professional and its agencies. The Government Travel Professional’s responsibility is to clearly communicate with the agency and its peers of any new updates, transitions, policies, and procedures.  Special attention is placed when a new system is implemented.  In addition, the Government Travel Professional keeps daily communication through phone or e-mail with TMC/CTO.  Communication is transferred in various means in which keeps the government organized while keeping their employees informed. The government ensures all stakeholders are informed of a new system/s. They cover all aspects when a new system will be taking place this is accomplished through the successful communication...

To understand how the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) came into being you have to remember how our country lived in its earlier years. Those who ran the country were predominately plantation owners, small manufacturers or were involved in shipping. When they needed to buy something they simply went to the source and made the purchase. They may or may not have gotten pricing from several sources, but knew where their dollar went the furthest. Now introduce a new element, the Federal Government Employee. Their basic method of being paid and running an administration was based on the British Colonial model which resembled the British Federal Systems, but with a few changes. Remember that initially being sent to “The Colonies” was not always a reward and...

I have worked with several government agencies and the SmartPay cards has improved the prospects of booking groups into hotels when compared to hotels accepting a group paying with a Purchase Order. The SmartPay has cut the payment process so much, that hotels who would not accept a group are actively seeking Government business. When groups were booked in a hotel prior to the SmartPay the hotel and the Travel Management Company (TMC) had to process the invoices for services thru a Purchase Order and this process was sometimes challenging to get the payment in a timely manner. It usually takes 2-3 months after the event took place to get reimbursed. The Centrally Billed Account (CBA) card is especially great for booking emergency travel for groups over the weekend...

With so many systems, policies and programs in place, the use of unapproved channels for booking air travel, hotel lodging, or rental cars results in lost data and incomplete reporting. In the private sector, many companies readily admit to not being able to accurately track travel spend and trends due to travelers who either utilized non-traditional travel companies, such as Travelocity or Priceline, or make reservations directly without providing necessary information to identify themselves as part of a negotiated program. Even if they do contact the vendor directly, the vendor providing the service might not be able to assign the correct discount to the traveler because the traveler has not proceeded through proper channels or provided the necessary credentials...

If you choose to hold on to an unused or partially used airline ticket (paper or e-ticket), you are costing your agency money.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost to the government and taxpayers each year because the government traveler does not initiate the refund process.  Government travelers having downgraded, exchanged, unused, or partially unused tickets that were purchased with their individually billed travel charge card account (IBT) should notify the servicing airline when a refund is due.  The refund request for the unused or partially used ticket should take place as soon as possible to prevent monetary losses to the government. Unused or partially used airline tickets are defined as: (1) tickets purchased for government travel, but never...

It is imperative that Travel Administrators develop a good working relationship with their Travel Management Center (TMC) and the E-Gov vendor’s TMC team. As a matter of fact, it is a must.  You will find that it nearly impossible to administer your agency’s travel program without their assistance. My agency has developed a mutual friendship and good working relationship between both parties.  The TMC has been very helpful in assisting us with resolving issues and creating guidance for educational purposes.  The same also applies to the E-Gov vendor’s TMC team. The majority of our travelers were used to using an automated system.  However, the reservation module was new to them, so they experienced quite a few problems in the very beginning.  Of...

But why can’t I just buy the ticket on the internet? Do I need to buy the additional insurance? What hotels offer per-diem rates in this city? These are just some of the questions we travel managers face on a daily basis. Getting the best value in travel services is a primary function of our job, but more importantly it is to educate the travelers on how to use the travel program.    We sometimes forget that some travelers may only travel once a year on official business and have either forgotten or have never used the rules and procedures to travel. Developing a web page with frequently asked questions is one great way to educate.  When I first took over travel management for the State nine years ago, my phone would constantly ring with the same...

Secure Flight is a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) traveler pre-screening program that matches limited traveler information against government watch lists to identify known and suspected terrorists, prevent known and suspected terrorists from boarding an aircraft, facilitate legitimate traveler air travel, and protect individuals’ privacy. The Secure Flight program added data elements that airlines were not previously collecting. The airlines must transmit the data, no later than 72 hours prior to flight time, to TSA for clearance to issue a boarding pass. If a reservation is made within 72 hours of the flight, the data is transferred at the time the reservation is made.  Secure Flight is intended to improve...

ETS or DTS after the federal agency chooses an Electronic Travel System it must interface with the TMC or Travel Agency.   One may notice that there are many travel companies listed on the TSS schedule offering accommodated services. Know that each of these agencies has gone through a fairly rigorous test to be available for use by federal agency states credibility these companies.  Their financial health, the evaluation of the staff, key employees, and their ability to know their clients’ needs and work with them on a daily basis. If the purpose of the ETS or DTS system is to provide a seamless approval and reservation system that can operate quickly and efficiently all while providing rapid reimbursement to the federal traveler for their out of pockets...

History. I always hear how things were better in the past. When things were slower, and less advanced. Where things took a lot longer to accomplish and where people took time to visit with others because televisions and computers were not invented yet. But as time has shown, not all things are better in the past. Travel in the old days took whole days just to travel a few miles, and now you can be halfway around the world in just a few hours. Technology is not a bad thing. Advancements in vehicles and computer systems have opened the travel arena to heights never imagined in the past. And as technology continues to advance, the travel industry will also advance with it. Government travel began as a small portion of the government budget but has grown to play a...

The GSA SmartPay program provides government agencies with commercial charge card based procurement and payment solutions through “Master Contracts.” The period of performance for the Master Contract is 10 years and is due to expire November 29, 2008. My agency, along with our customers, currently uses the program to meet their needs through Travel, Procurement, and Fleet cards. We have already selected a provider for purchase, fleet, and travel charge card services for the next Master Contract starting November 30, 2008. The next Master Contact is called SmartPay 2. Agency representatives took part in an evaluation panel and conducted a thorough evaluation of the participating banks’ card program services as part of the GSA SmartPay 2 Contract. We...

Post payment auditing is a service we provide to our customers. These audits are performed using the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR). Our goal is to make sure that the travelers are reimbursed in accordance with the FTR. The Post payment auditing that we perform is on the voucher in the E-Gov Travel Service System and our accounting system. We conduct the audits using a Statistical sampling checklist, which is used on each voucher that is sampled. The amount of audits conducted can vary from month to month. This is determined by the number of vouchers that were paid the previous month. The vouchers are reviewed using the Statistical Sampling Checklist, which outlines multiple items to ensure the voucher is in compliance with the FTR. The voucher is...

The travel manager role, as this chapter mentions, does require great talent in multi-tasking. During implementation, a good project plan is vital to make sure all tasks are accomplished. The travel manager has to ensure all TMC profiles are loaded, lines of accounting are loaded, and that the routing chains for all travelers are established. Charge card information has to be loaded and correct so that tickets are issued timely as a self-service transaction. An organization with thousands of travelers causes this type of workload to grow exponentially. Normally, the travel manager is not only responsible for all the E-Gov Travel tasks, but has to provide policy guidance as well. Although the E-Gov Travel system has automated many aspects of the travel document...

FedRooms is the enhanced Federal Premier Lodging Program designed to make Federal travel more convenient.   FedRooms promotes the following benefits with a hotel room reservation: rates at-or-below Government per diems; no-fee reservation cancellation privileges, no added costs (health club fee, resort fee, etc.), no early check-out fees, and last room availability of program rates at many hotels.  FedRooms rates are easy to obtain by using your E-Gov Travel System, by making your reservation on the FedRooms.com website, or by calling the hotel and asking for the FedRooms rate.  All FedRooms properties are FEMA-approved and there are currently over 6,500 hotels to choose from worldwide.  What more can a Federal traveler ask for. As well as providing Government...

The GSA website provides an interesting perspective on the issue of the misuse of Government Smartpay credit cards. We have all seen stories about Government employees using Smartpay cards to make outrageous purchases, but are these articles the tip of an iceberg of misuse or an abberation? A reading of various FAQs on the site suggests that the credit cards have received a bad rap not because they are widely misused, but because the system readily discloses such misuse, exposing those who try to use the cards for improper purposes. GSA contends that misuse accounts for only a very small percentage of overall use. According to GSA, banks under contract to the Smartpay program must provide an assortment of protections against misuse. Under the program agencies may...

Due to the deregulation act of 1978, the airline markets opened up for more choices, better pricing, more schedules to choose from. Competition became more evident. However, the down side to this change is fuller flights, tighter security and baggage concerns. From the airline industry side, many small carriers were unable to keep up to the constant changes and many carriers found themselves in bankruptcy and mergers. Several large carriers were also forced into mergers in order to continue with the ever changing demands of the public. Where this deregulation has been the best for the industry is still being debated. Government spending for airline travel is reported to be $3.4 billion in 2006. And as Corporations became more watchful of the pricing changes,...

Once a contract is awarded to a TMC/CTO and the papers are signed by the government contracting and travel company officials, the TMC/CTO has to act relatively quickly to implement the contract, sometimes in just two months with multiple new onsite locations. However, the proposal will provide for the contract implementation process or schedule, from the day the contract is awarded to the official start date of the contract. Usually, a schedule or timeline chart will be submitted for use by the contracting staff and the TMC/CTO to ensure implementation. The TMC/CTO Project Manager or Contract Manager serves as the single point of contact and will organize and oversee all activities, and will report to the Contracting Officer or designee. Implementations of...

The federal government spends more than $2.5 billion on hotels every year.  The Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) states that one lodging program, FedRooms must be given first consideration when Government travelers book lodging for government business travel. FedRooms is the official government-wide, government-sponsored lodging program, in support of the President’s Management Agenda simplifying the lodging process for federal travelers and saving the government money. FedRooms negotiates hotel rates on behalf of the federal government in markets where government travelers need to stay.  FedRooms offer more than 12,000 properties in 3,300 cities across the world.  Outside of the U.S. FedRooms has 1,276 properties in 612 international cities including...

Have you completed a GSA Form 87, SF 1012, or SF1164 lately? If you have traveled for the federal government then you have used these forms for obtaining authorization and reimbursement for official government travel. Even though these forms are still valid today, the forms numbers themselves are not nearly as recallable or visible due to the use of electronic travel systems. Several laws and initiatives over the past decades have been put in place to move the federal government toward a paperless and green environment. All of these initiatives are focused on a common goal of saving the environment and reducing government spending – saving taxpayer dollars – while securing and protecting information. The Government Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA)...

Communication is one of the most important pieces of a successful implementation. Throughout our E-Gov Travel System (ETS) implementation we had to communicate with various stakeholders such as: Executives Customer contacts Approving Officials Travelers / Document Preparers Each group of stakeholders was interested in a very different aspect of the ETS implementation.  We were very fortunate to have executives that had a positive attitude from the beginning of the ETS migration.  The executives mainly wanted to be updated on the overall status of the implementation. The information that we distributed to our customers was focused more on the details of ETS.  The customer contacts need to know the overall effect for their agency but many of the approving...

With the use of a credit card, whether personal or business, comes the headache of reconciliation and payment.  Travelers now have a tool when traveling for the federal government that helps minimize the pain.  Agencies also have a tool that helps them reduce delinquencies and late payments.  Even though the travel card is government issued, it is the responsibility of the traveler to ensure that it gets paid timely.  Within the last 5 years, OMB passed Circular A-125 that now requires most agencies to use split disbursement for at least part of a traveler’s payment.  Split disbursement is an option that allows travelers to send a portion of their travel reimbursement directly to their credit card. With the eTravel system, any reservation that a...

After the Department of the Treasury issued their final rule on September 25, 1998, all Federal agencies have to comply with the laws and regulations concerning the use of electronic funds transfer (EFT) for most Federal payments, including Federal Travel, starting January 2, 1999.  This was required after the President signed into law the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 (DCIA). Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is the preferred method of payment for government payments because it is more secure and less costly for the Government to make an electronic disbursement than a disbursement by paper check.  It is more cost effective and efficient to comply with the EFT guidance but one time travelers may be issued checks. The government makes payment by EFT...

Our division as well as many others, has developed a simple sampling (audit) plan for conducting quality control  reviews in compliance with the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR).  The main objective is to ensure travel and travel payments are in compliance as determined by the FTR.  Our staff will complete a Travel Voucher Statistical Sampling Checklist on each document selected for audit. At the beginning of each month a random selection of documents is made from vouchers paid the previous month.  The Travel Voucher Statistical Sampling Checklist comprised of  multiple tests per document is conducted on each randomly selected document.  The Statistical Checklist is comprised of questions such as:  Were required receipts provided?  Was ticketed...

Introduction One of the more vexing issues for some agency travel managers is the reconciliation of government Centrally Billed Account (CBA) charge card transactions originating from the agency’s chosen E-Gov Travel Service (ETS).  While in some cases the responsibility for CBA reconciliation lies with the ETS contractor and its embedded Travel Management Center (TMC), there are other cases where the agency is responsible and must match transaction data provided by the agency’s SmartPay® bank with authorization and voucher data provided by the ETS contractor.  This becomes particularly problematic if and when there is no ETS authorization number in the bank-provided charge card statement to use as a “key” to tie it back to the ETS authorization.  A...

Does your Agency’s Travel Managers attend the National Travel Forum (NTF)?  If not, they should.  As stated on the National Travel Forum’s website “It is the largest and most important government travel event”.  It is the place where you can learn the latest news in government travel, and where you can meet the people who are keeping federal government employees traveling. The four day conference has been held in various cities across the United States every two years since 2000.  General Services Administration (GSA) founded the conference, but it is now managed by National Business Travel Association’s Government Travel Group. There are numerous sessions available, which an attendee can choose to attend.  Some of the government travel programs in...

Smartpay 2 is the biggest change in payment methods that most agencies have experienced in 10 years. The original Smartpay program took years to enhance and develop, but most agencies are extremely proud of their partnerships with the charge card vendors. It absolutely revolutionized the micro purchase process throughout the Government and has eased the burden of incurring travel expenses on Government travelers. One major shock of the Smartpay 2 solicitation was that a current Smartpay vendor – Bank of America, who serviced several Government agencies, decided not to participate in the resolicitation. This meant even agencies that were comfortable with their electronic access systems and reporting processes would be forced to choose a new vendor. Most...

Smartpay 2 is the next generation of the Government charge card program put forward by the General Services Administration’s master contract. Smartpay 2 offers the added functionality for the agencies to choose an integrated Government charge card. This allows Federal employees to have the ability to charge purchase card transactions, travel card transactions, and even fleet card transactions on one individually issued plastic card. Another functionality that is not widely in use is the ability to centrally bill travel transactions. Our agency has taken advantage of both of these functionalities since the first Smartpay contract and they have worked so well; this white paper aims to explain more about these benefits so others can consider and take advantage if...

The first chapter that I read was an introduction to the travel industry.  I can relate to this information because I received my diploma in Travel and Tourism back in 1993.  The beginning of this course felt like a refresher course to what I learned so many years ago. Back in 1992 I had just graduated from High School.  I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life or what it had in store for me in the years to come.  I tried to get into college but my SAT scores were low and I did not want to retake them.  Travel and Tourism at York Technical Institute sounded very interesting.  I signed up and took the placement tests.  I loved it from the beginning.  Every class was fascinating to me.  I ended up graduating with a 3.5 GPA.  I was the only one who...

The government’s rental car program has established a successful car agreement with most competitive rental car companies. The agreement lowers the cost of rental cars, offering exclusive special benefits to its employees. The government also has access to the vehicles being offered, rates, and rental vendors as they are listed under the Defense Travel Management Office website. Renting a car can be very expensive while causing a burden. Many rental car companies require further identification and documentation just to rent a car for hours or days, with many restrictions. My experience with rental car companies has not been very pleasant.  One major factor contributor to this unpleasant experience is the required deposit, which is extremely high. While...

The Travel Departments of companies involved in the support to the US Federal Government are subject to Government regulations such as the FAR and FTR; however the interpretation of theses laws is very subjective to the T&E policy of each company.  Government Contractors need to educate their travelers by emulating the government communication process regarding Travel and Ethics training. According to the DCAA Contract Audit Manual, advanced planning for travel should be an integral part of the contractors internal travel policy.  Such planning to combine visits to the same geographical area into a single trip would minimize the use of above standard fares and accommodations  In 1985, legislation revised the costs allowability criteria from reasonable meals...

What does having an IATA mean? Do you need one to book a reservation on your own? Do I need to use the DTS to book my reservation? What amenities come with my room? It is not easy to get an IATA number but IATA numbers are basically the Travel agent’s ID number; this is also used to identify individual travel companies so that they will receive a commission check once the person has traveled to the destination.  When you put the IATA number in, it’s not for the discount…it’s so the companies know which travel agent to pay the commission to. To get the travel agency rate, you generally need to get the right rate codes (at least with rental cars & hotels – not sure how airlines interact with the GDS systems since they do not get paid...

We’ve come a long way in the airline business! But for you who cannot possibly know, I offer a trip down memory lane! Back in the middle 60’s when I first became a member of the travel industry, when an airline reservation was made either via phone, or in person at the airport or at the airline ticket office, the airline representative would simply pull a card, which looked much like a Bingo card, except instead of having letters and numbers, it was imprinted with flight schedules and city pairs, and would insert it into an “Instamatic” machine, highlight the proper flight, plug in the number of seats needed, and push a button to encode the inserted punch card with the pertinent information. We would then take the punch card, which we couldn’t...

A Centrally Billed Account (CBA) is an account that is used by government agencies to purchase air/rail/bus tickets, hotel accommodations, and Travel Management Center/Commercial Travel Office  (TMC/CTO) fees for official government travel.  The agencies establish the accounts using written task orders against the General Services Administration (GSA) master contract and the selected bank card vendor. Centrally Billed Accounts are reconciled by the agency and paid directly to the charge card vendor via Automated Clearing House/Electronic Funds Transfer (ACH/EFT) following guidelines set forth in the Prompt Pay Act.  The most frequent uses of the CBA are for invitational travelers, new employees that have not been issued an individual government travel charge...

There are several resources that are available to both travelers and systems staff that guide and govern the federal government travel process.  One of the most important documents is the Federal Travel Regulations or FTR.  The FTR provides regulations on just about any aspect of travel that you can think of from how reservations are to be made, how they should be paid for and what expenses are allowable on the voucher. The FTR mandates that all reservations should be made using a Travel Management Center.  It also mandates that all reservations are to be paid for with the government travel card.  This means that the traveler isn’t permitted to charge official travel expenses on a personal card.  While there are additional benefits to the traveler by...

Working for a Federally Funded Research and Development organization for the last eight years has been a great foundation for understanding government travel and its’ idiosyncrasies.  As I fought my way through JTR language and GSA restrictions, I’ve learned a lot about government travel policy, eligibility and procedures.  Although my organization is not eligible for all government specialties, we must follow many of the GSA and JTR regulations when arranging travel. The downside of not being eligible for many of the special discounts that government travelers are entitled to is our costs are much higher and constantly questioned by auditors.  FFRDC’s and government contractors are no longer eligible for the GSA City Pair Program or car rental programs,...

The Federal Travel Regulations state that travelers have the right to choose their lodging as long as it is within agency policy.  When the traveler is booking hotel accommodations using the E-Gov electronic travel system (ETS) and has an individually billed government travel card (IBA), the traveler has the option to select the hotel they want to stay in giving first consideration to FedRooms.   However if the lodging is being charged to the Centrally Billed Account (CBA), the traveler may have to stay at an alternate hotel. When lodging is being charged to a non-point of sale CBA, someone within the agency that is authorized to use the CBA would need to place a telephone call to the hotel and reserve a room.  When calling to make a reservation, the only...

The Travel and Transportation Reform Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-264) (TTRA) was signed into law on October 19, 1998. One of its main purposes is to reduce Federal travel costs and to streamline Federal travel processes. Among its provisions, it requires employees to use Federal travel charge cards for payments of official travel expenses. It provides for the payment of a late payment fee to employees when an agency fails to reimburse them for approved expenses within 30 days after submission of a proper voucher. It gives agencies the authority to collect undisputed, delinquent travel charge card debts through salary offset. It authorizes GSA to approve a limited number of agency pilot programs for cutting travel and relocation administrative expenses. It requires...

Business practices as defined in this section of the CGTP are the general principles and practices a TMC/CTO must provide the federal government on a daily basis, without exception.  Trained experienced agents that understands the entire travel management process and can apply JTR, FTR and government agency specific travel regulations is the key to a good relationship between the Federal Government, the traveler, and the TMC/CTO providing travel management.  From constant updates of traveler’s profiles to applying all regulations and policy to TDY, a TMC agent’s ability to establish a relationship with professionalism and trust with the specific branch of government, ensures seamless travel planning, approval, ticketing and expense reimbursement.   It is...

The United States Government used to buy transportation services with what we call GTR (Government Transportation Request). This method of payment is being phased out and will be replaced with charge cards. In 1998 a law was introduced to mandate the use of charge cards to pay for travel expenses; thus the GSA SmartPay was introduced.   GSA SmartPay: This program provides transportation purchase for over 350 Government agencies and organizations. This method expired in 2008 and was replaced by SmartPay 2.   GSA SmartPay2: With new technology and expanded services, these uniquely numbered for recognition as Government issued charge cards, were issued by 4 contractors: GE Capital Finance, JP Morgan chase, Citibank, US Bank.  Cards issued to agencies or...

Per Diem rates are published annually for Conus and change infrequently. PDTATAC published rates for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories and lastly, the State Department establishes per diem for overseas travel and change as needed. We see three governing areas within our government that need to collaborate and establish a best practice for Per Diem calculations that are uniform, suitable to both industry and government and include like components such as taxes. Standardization of the process could eliminate significant costs related to training and education as well as errors in calculations by the traveler or agency.   Additionally less time would be spent on preparing for these trips and more time allocated to the mission and the goals to...

When a government employee is preparing to go on travel to conduct official government business, one question the person may ask is “Where am I going to stay”?  When it comes to selecting lodging, there are many regulations the government has established to try and be cost effective. The Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) offers guidance concerning lodging for civilian government travelers.  Travelers are required to stay at hotels that are at or less than the per diem rate allowed.  Per diem rates consist of lodging, meals, and incidental expenses.  The per diem rates are released by the General Services Administration (GSA) after they have been reviewed and approved by the Office of Budget and Management (OMB).  The rates are reviewed and adjusted...

Government agencies are faced with reduced budgets in recent years due to the economy.  At our agency, employees have been asked to submit suggestions to improve processes and save money during this time of limited resources, and several suggestions have been submitted that relate to government travel.   One suggestion was to allow travelers to make their reservations and arrangements through a commercially available online travel search engine rather than through the Defense Travel System (DTS) or the Commercial Travel Office (CTO). It is our policy that all travelers use an available CTO for all official transportation requirements.    While online ticketing may initially appear to be less expensive and a way to save taxpayer dollars, these fares are...

Back in the days, you will say, we are in the airline business, being politically correct now you will have to say, we are in the transportation business. Because transportation – not airline and aircraft – is what the customer buys. The Travel Manager’s role in these specialized environments varies and keeps on evolving. In this day and age, to capture Travel and Expense data will need all the tools to generate reports from the system to assist Travel Managers to understand how travel is purchased and managed. With the right integration of tools, Travel Managers will make important choices of how to use their travel budget wisely. The new age of data aggregation is Travel Manager’s best friend. On my “Seize to Spend” forum paper under Business Data...

I have been employed in the travel industry for almost 3 years. Although I didn’t have any previous travel experience at the time I was hired I was given a position on the agents support team and learned about the aspects of travel authorizations, profiles, working queues, schedule changes and ticketing. Later, still with relatively little experience I was given the opportunity to serve our clients as Client Service Representative and point of contact for our government accounts.  This position has allowed me to increase my knowledge of aspects of the travel industry in areas such as the new account set up and implementation, quality control procedures, premium class travel, debit memo’s,  government travel contracts, and account credit card...

A professional travel agency, the Travel Management Center (TMC), is the federal agency’s link to the travel industry.  The TMC agent is experienced in the use of the Gobal Distribution Systems (GDS) and is specially trained in the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) to assist the federal traveler. As a partner with E-GovTravel Services (ETS), the TMC facilitates the federal agency in reserving and booking transportation and hotel services in compliance with the FTR. How does the TMC assist in arranging for travel accommodations?  The federal agency and the TMC establish a written agreement or ‘Business Rules’ defining their relationship for reservation assistance, automated and full service. The on-line booking feature of ETS initiates automated...

To keep the City Pair Program (CPP) strong and viable, it is the government traveler’s responsibility to use the contract carrier. The government’s delivery of market share drives the program. The discounts that the General Services Administration (GSA) receives are based on the contract carrier’s expectation of receiving the bulk of the Government air passenger volume. Failure to provide Government business to contract carriers would have an extremely detrimental effect on the CPP. CPP contract noncompliance would expose the Government to the risk of contractor claims, in which could result in costs being passed on to the traveler. However, with all this in mind, there are many times a government traveler may not know how to identify a contract...

My government agency not only uses the imbedded TMC in E-Gov Travel, we also use an accommodated TMC.  In addition, we also have a task order on the GSA TSS Schedule (Travel Services Solutions) with a TMC that is used apart from E-Gov Travel for telephone reservations only. We have a mechanism to still prepare the authorizations and vouchers for travel in our E-Gov Travel system and record the transportation expense. We are glad that our chosen E-Gov Travel vendor recently allowed more TMCs to participate in E-Gov Travel. Prior to E-Gov Travel, we created our own independent contract for travel management services, since the existing GSA contract was non-mandatory. One thing the travelers find cumbersome is the fee process. It’s difficult for the...

We perform post-payment travel voucher audits as a service to our customers.  These audits are not punitive in nature, but rather, they are meant to serve as an educational tool so that travelers can avoid making the same mistakes in the future.  A checklist is used when performing the audit, so only items that are on the checklist are of concern.  We audit both the ETS part of the voucher and the accounting system entries.  The ETS part of the voucher is audited to ensure compliance with Federal Travel Regulations (FTR). The first item on the checklist is verifying that required receipts are attached.  This is perhaps one of the most frequently misunderstood parts of the voucher.  Travelers are often unsure whether some expenses require receipts or they...

The value of travel management began shortly after the deregulation act of the airlines of 1978 and the value to government workers was to help not only with the financial concerns but also to glean data that would benefit the government agencies but also those working to establish a better financing within the government. This opened up flexibility for pricing and scheduling for government workers. Once a trial testing program in 1980 was launched, now known as the GSA (General Services Administration) program, was established and cost cutting as well as time efficient scheduling for travel became extremely beneficial. This continues to be a cost cutting benefit to the government. However, on it’s initial run, the GSA program had concerns for the travel agents...

The hotel industry has really changed in the past 5 years by adding 250 thread-counts sheets, White duvet covers, complimentary Breakfast buffet, evening cocktails with appetizers, brand name shampoos, conditioners and lotions. I find that hotels are more aware of environmental concerns and the clients are seeking out these hotels for their stays. I was able to do a back of the house tour at a large chain hotel and I was surprised at how much detergent and water is used daily in the laundry to accommodate the linens at this property. A simple act of not having the sheets and towels changed everyday saves thousands of gallons of water a day. The Master List of FEMA compliant hotels makes it easier to keep our clients in a safe property. I feel confident using...

The GSA TSS program (Travel Services Solution) was implemented in 2003 in direct response to the Presidents Management Agenda announced in the summer of 2001 to improve the management of the Federal Government.  The TSS schedule is used to acquire travel services to assist Federal employees in meeting their travel needs.  One of the goals of this program was to increase the participation of small business in obtaining Federal Travel contracts.  Two years after the program was implemented the GSA had reached their goal having 34 small business in the subcontracting program compared to 13 with the previous program. When GSA began implementing ETS, they established provisions in the master contracts in order to ensure the participation of the small business...

The government travel card that is issued to individuals and authorized to use for official travel are called Individually Billed Accounts (IBA).  A traveler can place charges for their airline reservations, train, rental car, lodging, meals and miscellaneous expenses such as parking, gas for rental car, taxi etc. on their government card as long as the expenses are used for the official travel.  Cardholders are responsible for using the card appropriately and making payments timely. As of  October 1, 2005, split disbursement payments became mandatory for government agencies.  Split disbursement offers travelers a higher level of convenience by sending their credit card payment directly to the credit card company.  This eliminates the hassle of writing a...

GSA has been responsible for contracting for purchase card services since 1989. The most recent purchase card contracts were awarded in November 2008 to Citibank, GE Capital Financial, JP Morgan Chase and US Bank. The purchase card was initially adopted as a management tool.  The purchase card replaced the paper-based time consuming purchase order process. The Smart Pay purchase card currently saves the government approximately $1.2B annually in administrative costs. The government also receives refunds from GSA contractor banks in excess of $50M.  As a managerial tool, agencies have various mechanisms in place in order to oversee the program.  GSA mandated the contractors provide electronic reports to agency managers.  These reports are secure and easy to...

The E-Gov Travel Service (ETS) contracts with vendors Northrop Grumman Information Systems, CW Government Travel and Electronic Data Systems (now HP Enterprise Services) will expire in 2013.  U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is gearing up for the next E-Gov Travel Service contract called ETS2.  GSA held its ETS2 Pre-Solicitation Conference on May 12, 2010 and accepted questions through May 26, 2010.  On August 5, 2010, GSA issued the presolicitation notice for ETS2 on August 5 and posted the solicitation notice on August 23, 2010.  The contract will have a base period of three years with three optional four-year extensions.  Potentially, the contract could last 15 years.  The original solicitation deadline was October 6, but on September 9 the...

Travel agents are accredited by either ARC in North America or IATA in other parts of the world to sell airline tickets and other related travel services. ARC provides the airlines involved with services like accreditation of travel agents, uniform documents like air tickets, a computer system to report sales and remit the proceeds and finally a repository of information and data. On the other hand accredited Travel Agents have to follow ARC & Airlines rules in providing the services to the passengers. IATA by the way is the organization that established the 3 letter codes for airports that is used to identify to make bookings (PNRS) in GDS or facilitate bag connections. The FTR are accessible through the GDS. Those agents that wish to work with the Government...

The Travel Management Center (TMC) is an accredited travel agency that is under contract with the Government to provide travel services for official TDY travel.  These travel agencies are professional organizations that sell airline tickets and other travel services.  They are responsible for issuing tickets requested and approved through the Electronic Travel System, (ETS).  The TMC also must provide full travel services along with 24/7 emergency services. The TMC provides help desk support to assist federal travelers with travel arrangements that require manual handling, such as changes in reservations, emergency travel, and combining business and personal travel. Travel agents working on government travel accounts receive customized training on policies and...

Government travelers within my agency are required to use an electronic travel system to book business trips. The first step a traveler must take after being hired into a position with the government is to provide their direct deposit banking information to the office that will be issuing their travel payments. If required by the agency, the traveler should apply for their government issued credit card before traveling. This information is stored in the traveler’s profile and his/her travel reservations, along with some other expenses, will automatically be charged to their government issued credit card. Based on the automated travel system my agency uses, the first step is to gain access to the travel system by a one-time registration process. A first time...

Government regulations regarding travel are not only required by employees of the U.S. government, but also extend to government contractors as well. Government contractors have to abide by many of the same regulations, though not all. This short treatise will touch on some of the similarities and differences of regulatory travel requirements for government employees versus government contractors in the areas of air travel, hotel accommodations and car rentals. The implementation of the Fly America Act for government employees is predominately in the form of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) under the subsection Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) and the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) as well as the Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR). The...

The El Dorado of any Government travel manager is having sufficient access to credit card data so that spend patterns can actually be used for trends analysis and proactive planning, as well as detecting potential fraud.  The GSA SmartPay program has improved considerably since SmartPay1 but despite the vastly improved databases now available from many of the SmartPay2 vendors, the same problem with the accessibility of level three data still plagues SmartPay2. Level three data is the information that indicates what product or service was actually provided by a vendor when a credit card is used.  For the purposes of this discussion, I am referring to the travel card. This information is almost always available in an itemized  fashion to the buyer when she...

The U.S.Government is so large, it’s said one in three people in the United State is a government employee! Trying to do business with the government can be a daunting task. The World Wide web started out as an alternative military communications system, resistant to attack by having multiple redundancies. It’s early development by government and educational intuitions has lead to an enormous amount of information sitting at our fingertips. Every business and person doing business with the government needs to familiar with navigating the web, and more specificly – government on the web. As you travel, my suggestion would be to bookmark websites that are informative, helpful and insightfull to help you research, understand and maximize your business with the...

The various transaction fees associated with Government travel are a source of confusion for travelers.  Whether using an embedded Travel Management Center (TMC) from the ETS Master Contract, or an accommodated (third party) TMC – usually from the Travel Services Solutions (TSS) Schedule 599 – there are multiple fees that need to be understood. If an agency’s TMC services are provided via the ETS Master Contract, there are two primary fees to be concerned with in the most common domestic Temporary Duty (TDY) travel scenario which includes air and/or rail.  First is the TDY voucher processing fee, ranging from $10.28 to $13.50 per voucher.  I have heard users of my agency’s E-Gov Travel system wonder why they now have to pay to process travel...

In chapter 2 I read with interest about Yield Management and how it relates to the hotel industry and our property. Yield Management is very important.  Our own Revenue Manager plays such a large part in the daily success of our property.  She takes care of reservations and plays a part in assisting the Sales Department with duties such as rooming lists, deposits, and helping us to figure out if we are able to take groups on certain days and what rates to quote to maximize sales and drive occupancy.  She does all of this on top of her regular duties such as working with the General Manager as to where we stand for the month and year for our budget.  She looks at our rates compared to other properties in the area to determine if we need to make our rate lower...

As the role of the United States has changed over the last two hundred years, so has government travel.  Government prohibition against the use of travel agents, originally enacted in the late 19th century when civilian government travel was likely mostly over land and agents were representatives of the railroads (one of two main forms of travel at that time), would have to be amended with the emergence of the United States as a world superpower.  Government employees and contractors now need the full services of travel agents and their world-wide connections to service providers.  The influence of the United States now reaches to the farthest points of the globe.  Necessarily this means that the cost of government travel will expand along with that...

The conception of the SmartPay cards has proved to be a massive undertaking to keep track of expenses of over 350 agencies/organizations participating in the GSA SmartPay program. There are five master contracts with charge cards at Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorganChase, Mellon Band and U.S. Bank. Through these contracts, different types of charge card products and services can be made. Purchase cards are used for purchasing general supplies and services. Travel cards are for official government travel while fleet cards are for fuel and supplies for government vehicles. The integrated card is also an option. The scope of this program boggles the mind. The GSA U.S. General Services Administration web site boggles the mind. Among the many pages in this website,...

General Services Administrative (GSA) issued conference and conference planning guidelines in 2000.  The policy allows for conference per diem expenses, when approved to be reimbursed under the ‘Conference Lodging Allowance.’   The ‘Conference Lodging Allowance’ is a pre-determined maximum allowance of up to 125 percent increase of the applicable locality lodging ceiling portion of the per diem rate.   It is not an actual expense allowance (AEA).   Conference attendees may be reimbursed the actual lodging amount incurred not to exceed the conference lodging allowance under this reimbursement method.  You must obtain authorization/approval for the conference lodging allowance. The Conference Lodging Allowance applies only to the...

Travel policy for official Government travel is governed by the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) and those areas within the FTR that require/allow agency-specific policies to be instituted.  While travel policy has always been an integral part of the Federal travel process, travel policy became more visible with the advent of the current generation of E-Gov Travel systems, and continues to be very critical and visible as we progress towards the next generation of these systems. This is mainly due to the automated systems forcing travelers and approvers to be more in compliance with the FTR and agency policy. While a step in the right direction, this also seemed to generate even more travel policy questions and was a key factor in reorganizing our travel support...

In March 2011, the Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum titled, “Track Four Initiative Decision.” The memorandum mandated that “all DoD travel requests must include justification that alternate means such as, Secure Video Teleconference (SVTC) or other web-based communication, are not sufficiently able to accomplish travel objectives.” The Joint Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR) and the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) were subsequently updated to include this mandate. The regulations require that all DD 1610 forms, Request for Authorization for TDY Travel of DoD Personnel, and other order formats like the Defense Travel System (DTS), include a statement justifying that alternate methods noted in the memorandum are not sufficient to...

Many Federal employees will travel or relocate for their jobs at some point in their career.  Travelers are mostly concerned about staying at a preferred hotel and getting a direct flight and may not realize that every travel authorization and voucher is also an accounting entry. In the accounting world, a travel authorization becomes an accounting document called an obligation and has the same accounting impact as a purchase order for goods or services.  The obligation reserves the estimated amount to ensure funds are available when the traveler submits a voucher for payment.  When the voucher is recorded in the financial system, the obligation is reversed and a payment is made. To determine what “pot of money” the traveler is using, the travel documents...

GSA awarded a contract to three vendors to provide E-Gov Travel Services (ETS) and each federal agency was required to make a selection by December 2004.  The three vendors that are available for selection are Carlson Wagonlit Government Travel’s E2 Solutions, EDS’s FedTraveler, and Northrop Grumman Mission System’s GovTrip.  Each of these vendors had to meet the same requirements yet each system is very different. The ETS is made up of several components such as: Authorizations Reservations Vouchers In our agency, the authorization is created by either the traveler or a document preparer.  The authorization consists of the trip dates, where the traveler is going, and an estimate of the expenses they will incur.  Also included in the...

FedRooms is a government program that negotiates prices in different cities around the country to be used by government travelers.  The properties can be used for official business travel and some also offer a discounted rate for personal travel.  All properties that participate in the program offer a 4:00 or later cancellation policy which means if plans change at the last minute the traveler won’t be charged for a room they don’t use.  Many of the hotels also offer last room availability which means that if there’s a room available they must give it to the traveler at the negotiated rate. I’ve used the FedRooms program for both business and personal travel.  My experiences have all been good.  The process for booking the room is very...

In 1995 my agency purchased the Gelco Travel Manager software and I worked on transitioning our travelers from a paper based manual system to a fully automated one that was hosted in-house.   Almost 10 years after implementing an electronic travel system, the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) were updated to require all government agencies to migrate to one of three ETS systems hosted by the vendor.  During those 10 years with Travel Manager the Bureau I work for began franchising accounting and travel services and we converted our 30 plus customers from a manual travel process to that of an automated one.  During those years, we supported our customers with training and a robust help desk.  In addition, we had developed a strong travel program that revolved...

Getting important information out to employees is one of the biggest challenges corporate travel managers face.  Whether it be email, flyers, bulletins, blogs, banners, newsletters, etc, it is difficult to reach a mass audience at once.  The best way for us to communicate important updates in policy or procedures is through our specialty group of administrative assistants called the Travel Guru’s. I meet with over 80 administrative assistants each month to communicate industry updates, policy reminders and changes, incentive programs and procedures.  Occasssionally, I invite preferred vendors to present to the group to keep them abreast of membership offerings and changes pertaining to industry.  I also invite our employee reimbursements group to review some...

What’s missing from this course? I just got asked by Steve Losey what I would improve and I was at a loss. Overall – great information, good coverage and students get a good overview of the government’s travel system and the main participants….except for one! The traveler is missing from this course! All of us in the business understand that under normal circumstances government travel is usually similar to corporate travel. However, what happens when you have go to a meeting, and the city is full? What hoops do you go through to get enough to pay for a room? What’s it like for a young airman never out of Texas to be assigned to Diego Garcia and how the hell do I get there? When a tank backs into my rental car who should I call, and how do we get...

Seeing the travel industry unfold right before my eyes, it has come a long way how Travel Agencies’ role changed in performing their duties. Travel Management Centers, whether “imbedded” or “accommodated” not only make sure the tickets are issued anymore, they became proficient in making use everything is under control with limited errors and good tracking, expertise, access to content, etc on an end-to-end solution capability. The whole aspect of the reservation is no longer the core of their job. The most important factor now a days is to make sure that the travel manager of the account assist and optimize the “spend” and see it as an investment. An investment that is not wasted with aspects of spend from processing to control, compliance, privacy,...