Book the FedRooms rate using either your E-Gov System, your travel management center (TMC) or online at www.fedrooms.com.  If your agency allows, you may call the hotel directly and request the FedRooms rate.  As of today, there are more than 5,000 hotels covering more than 2,000 cities, which offer the FedRooms rate.  The FedRooms rate may be available to you even if your travel plans are for leisure.  Be sure to select Leisure as the reason when searching for the FedRooms rate.

When you book online using the FedRooms website, you will immediately receive an email confirmation from NoReply@Fedrooms.com.  Therefore, you will want to be sure not to delete the email.

FedRooms distributes a quarterly newsletter.  You may subscribe to this newsletter in order to stay abreast of the latest changes to the FedRooms program.

To learn more about this great program, you can take the free FedRooms 101 training webinar.  If you have any questions about the FedRooms program, a traveler may call them at 1-800-226-1741 or email them at hotels@fedrooms.com.

by Pam Morton

FedRooms is a lodging program that travelers are encouraged to use, primarily because rates are at or below the per diem rate.  It is currently not mandatory to select a FedRooms lodging property, but the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) requires that the traveler must give first consideration to using a FedRooms property because of the value of the FedRooms rates and many associated benefits.  FedRooms is able to negotiate the best hotel rates on behalf of the government.

There are many benefits to using FedRooms:  FedRooms rates are always at or below the per diem rate.  There are no hidden costs or penalties attached to the FedRooms rate.  There is no charge for early check-out.  There are over 10,000 hotels located in high demand travel locations that are close to the places Federal travelers visit most frequently.  Most of the major hotel chains are included.  Travelers may collect hotel award points on every room night.  Travelers may cancel reservations by 4p.m. (or later) on the day of arrival without penalty.  There are no deposits needed to reserve the rooms.  FedRooms rates may also be used for leisure travel at selected properties*.  FedRooms hotels may have last room availability and some amenities.  FedRooms rate can also be used by federal travelers for small groups and meetings of up to 25 people at selected properties*.  (* These rates are available at select FedRooms  properties-see the advanced search at fedrooms.com).

FedRooms provides FTR compliant hotel rooms for federal government travelers while on official business.  Hotels in the FedRooms program are FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency ) and ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990) compliant, they have at least a two star Mobil Travel Guide or American Automobile Association (AAA) rating, they accept government credit cards and other forms of payment.  (To become AAA Approved, the hotel must meet 27 basic requirements, covering comfort, cleanliness and safety).  They offer more than 5,000 hotels in more than 1,600 cities around the world, a significant increase from 636 hotels in 2004.  Also they offer the flexibility to add hotels in cities that meet traveler’s needs.  They have a well recognized help desk to answer program-related questions.  An example of some of the 90 hotel chains represented in the program is Wyndham, Double Tree, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, and Radisson Worldwide.  FedRooms offers an increasing number of international properties at or below per diem.

FedRooms accommodations are available through E-Gov Travel electronic systems (ETS).  FedRooms properties display first in the on-line booking engine.    You may search directly by telephone for a FedRoom property by asking the agent for a FedRooms property and the FedRooms rate.  Lastly, confirm that you have received a FedRooms rate.  You may also search the FedRooms website atwww.fedrooms.com.   Ninety percent of the partner hotels have a direct link to the booking site.   (Booking hotel accommodations either through the ETS or Travel Management Center (TMC) or Commercial Ticket Office (CTO) provides the government with booking data, that is lost if reservations are made directly with the hotel).  FedRooms cancellation of hotel accommodations is automatic if the reservations are made through the TMC/CTO or through ETS or Defense Travel System (DTS) when a trip is cancelled.

There are significant differences between the FedRooms rate and the often referred to as “government rate” or “federal government rate” or “military rate”, these rates often include hidden fees and costly penalties.  These government rates are unmanaged.  The FedRooms rate is guaranteed to be at or below per diem, the government rate is not.  The FedRooms rate ensures the travelers can cancel a reservation until 4p.m. on the day of arrival without penalty.  The government rate does not.  The FedRooms rate promises the travelers will not be charged for checking out before their check-out date.  The government rate does not.

GSA has partnered with CW Government Travel, Inc.  of Minneapolis, MN to manage the government wide lodging program.  CW offers its expertise by providing program management, marketing and communications, and continued expansion of the government wide lodging program.

By: Kathy Runion

The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.

By:  Scott Carver

In 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act changed the dynamics and working ways of the airline industry.

The government taking a cue from corporate houses, that started demanding discount in airline prices, established the City Pair program to benefit from the travel expenditure on airlines. These fares are only issued against government credit cards or GTR’s and published under the code YCA, where Y means unrestricted coach and “CA” means Contract Award. There is also Government Business contract issued under code –CB (like DCB, which means controlled capacity in Business booked under D and “CB” means Contract Business. To confront various scenarios of what can happen, certain exceptions to the mandatory use of city pair program were established and can be checked in the manuals. Of course if these exceptions were to be utilized, a waiver code and authority must be obtained.  Refunds of tickets should go back to the Government whether credit card or GTR.

Airlines which are awarded contracts should be US flag carriers which participate in CRAF (Civil Reserve Air Fleet). The FTR and JTR detail the requirement for government travelers using federal funds in accordance with “Fly America Act” which requires use of US flag carriers or US Code Share flights.

FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM

Government employees are allowed to accumulate either miles on airlines or points at hotels/cars.

HOTELS

Beside airlines, government travelers also use hotels for their official stays and transportation. They spend almost $2 billion dollars annually on accommodations. These properties can be divided into 3 categories, Transient used by TDY traveler, extended stay used by those who stay 30 day or more in one location & corporate housing for permanent change of station travelers. Those properties recognizing the value of government business often offer the travelers extra amenities for free like breakfast, evening cocktails & airport shuttle. Many of these hotels set their rates at or below per diem rates to lure these travelers. Per diem rates are reviewed annually by GSA for CONUS, DoD for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Dept. of State for foreign countries.  All these properties must be on FEEMA list and must be certified by FEEMA for government use. Travelers should give these properties and those in FEDROOMS priority. They can be booked through FedRooms (outsourced by GSA & managed by Carlson Wagonlit) & GDS’s.

It is worth to mention that a program called The Emergency Lodging Services Program was developed to provide temporary emergency lodging in support of emergencies or disasters. An example was that during Hurricane Katrina, over 750000 people were successfully housed. In September 2005, a Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) for Emergency Lodging Services was awarded to Corporate Lodging Consultants to support the government lodging needs in case of emergencies or disasters. It is also available for Continuity of Operations Program for planning accommodations at identified and negotiated properties in geographical areas.

Hotels have their own yield management system by which they decide room rates as per occupancy requirements and advance bookings. Hotels still pay commissions (not like airlines with their zero commission) except maybe some government hotel rates are non-commissionable.

Reporting hotel bookings is easy now a day because all bookings made by electronic means can be traced and can be captured and reconciled with charge cards. Hotels participating in the FedRooms program are required to submit a monthly report about usage and fees.

By Metri Altwal

To be considered fire-safe, lodging facilities must have:

• hard-wired, single-station smoke detectors in each guestroom in accordance with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standard 72; and
• an automatic sprinkler system, with a sprinkler head in each guest room in compliance with NFPA standards 13 or 13R. Properties three stories or lower in height are exempt from the sprinkler requirement.

Over 400 Americans died in hotel fires in the 1970s and 1980s.  Later investigations revealed that if smoke detectors or sprinklers had been in place, the loss of lives would have been none or greatly reduced.

The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), a part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is tasked with maintaining and publishing the Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act of 1990 National Master List of all establishments that meet the fire-safe requirements.

Lodging facilities must register with USFA and get their state’s approval that they are fire-safe in order to be added to the Master List.  A benefit to being added to this list is participation in the government’s travel business.

To find out if an establishment is fire-safe, review the list at www.usfa.dhs.gov/applications/hotel.

The use of FedRooms, a government wide lodging program, ensures that all participating facilities meet the fire-safe requirements.  There are over 6,000 properties on the current listing of FedRooms’ preferred hotels at http://www.gsa.gov/fedrooms.

By Pam Enlow

The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.

Once the Finance Office received the documents, a technician verified the per diem rates and quarter day calculations for first and last day as well as other expenses.  Voucher receipts were verified and any voucher with a discrepancy was sent back to the traveler for correction.   Once the voucher was deemed correct, the finance technician would classify expenses into Budget Object Codes (BOC) and information such as the employee’s name, SSN and Accounting were written on to a coding sheet.  The coding sheet was sent to a Data Transcriber to enter into the financial system.   This process was labor intensive, prone to error and in many cases reimbursement of a travel voucher could take several weeks.

In the mid 1990′s my agency implemented Travel Manager, an electronic COTS travel system that was hosted in-house.  With the implementation of this system we went from a paper based travel process to a fully automated one.  Travel Manager contained locations with applicable per diem and performed calculations.  The electronic routing allowed documents to be reviewed and approved electronically.  Once a document was approved it was interfaced to the financial system daily and travelers were reimbursed for expenses within a few days of submitting a voucher.  Although a Travel Management Center (TMC) was available, many travelers continued to call the airline and hotels directly to make reservations and recorded the cost in Travel Manager.

In 1998 the Smartpay program was introduced that made credit cards available to frequent travelers and by 2001 the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) required travelers to use a TMC to book official travel.  The FTR also requires travelers to use the City Pair Program except in limited situations.  The fairs offered by the airlines are one way which allows for complex multiple destination trips. The City Pair program offers very competitive airfare that can be discounted up to 70% off of unrestricted coach fare and offers benefits such as no advance purchase, no minimum or maximum length stay, last seat availability, no blackout dates, no penalties/fees for rebooking and tickets are fully refundable.

In 2003, GSA awarded contracts for E-Gov Travel Services (ETS) to three vendors and amended the Federal Travel Regulations to require agencies to implement one of the systems by September 30, 2006.  My agency awarded a contract and began implementing ETS in the summer of 2004.  The ETS had many of the same features that the Travel Manager system had with the addition of integration with the TMC.  By using the ETS, travelers have a one-stop-shopping for travel where the process of creating the authorization also includes making on-line reservations for common carriers, hotels and rental cars.  Vouchers are easy to complete as all the traveler needs to do is to update the estimated expenses from the authorization, electronically attach receipts (which are used for post payment audits) and electronically sign to route for approval.

In 2005 Government agencies were required to implement split disbursement.  Split disbursement provides a high level of convenience to the traveler to designate charges they made to their government credit card be paid directly to the bank through the vouchering process.    Another program that began about the same time is Fedrooms.  This program initiated by GSA is managed by Carlson Wagonlit who negotiates rates and terms with hotels in cities that have a large number of visits from Federal travelers.  Hotels that participate are FEMA and ADA compliant, have a least a two star rating from Mobil Travel Guide or AAA rating, they must accept government travel cards and other forms of payment, the rate must be at or below the government per diem rate, have a 4:00pm or later cancelation policy on the day of arrival, last room availability and other amenities. Federal Travelers are to give Fedroom Properties first consideration when booking a room.

The evolution of Federal Travel has been significant over the last 20 years.  20 years ago electronic travel and on-line booking was an idea reserved for Buck Rogers and the Jetsons.  In addition to automation, the government has moved towards consolidation and elimination of stove-pipe systems.   In the future I see agencies continuing to consolidate and automate travel processing as well as to outsource travel services to a Shared Service Provider.  Federal travel may decrease with the popularity of video conferencing and on-line training but federal travelers will still need to be on-site for a variety of mission essential trips that can relate to anything from the economy, civil rights and defense to disabilities, education, and Veterans Affairs.   Travel is an important part of many agencies mission and in servicing the public.  Needless to say, I’m looking forward to being involved in the next twenty years of Government Travel evolution.

by Diana Bonnell

Disclaimer: The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.  Use of this equipment is consistent with the agency’s policy governing limited personal use.

FedRooms has now made this job a simpler process. By logging into one website, I am able to find hotels from several chains that are within the per diem amount. Not only does FedRooms make hotel rooms easier to find, it also helps government travelers with guarantees that the hotels are at or below the per diem rate and 4:00 pm or later cancellation the day of arrival without penalties.

There are other guarantees that FedRooms offer government travelers as well. The main ones are a guarantee that the hotel is FEMA compliant, that there are no hidden costs or fees in the room rates, and that there is no charge for an early checkout. There are currently more than 5,000 hotels that participate in FedRooms in over 1,600 cities around the world.

The FedRooms program is a first step for the hotel industry to help simplify reserving rooms for government travelers.  Why would anyone go anywhere else to reserve hotel rooms?

By: Linda Ruppel

The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.

GENERAL FEDERAL TRAVEL

http://pub.fss.gsa.gov/services/citypairs/citypairs-mid.html

The mother lode of information on the government’s low negotiated airline fares, including schedules, fares and more.

http://nasdac.faa.gov/internet/fw_search.htm

A Federal Aviation Administration page devoted to aviation safety data. From here you can search the National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident/Incident Database; the FAA Incident Data System; the Near Midair Collisions System database; NTSB Safety Recommendations to the FAA with FAA responses; and the Bureau of Transportation Statistics Airline Traffic Statistics database.

http://policyworks.gov/org/main/mt/homepage/mtt/mtthp.htm

The General Services Administration’s travel site–a jumping-off point for your search for most civilian travel information. Authored by the Office of Transportation and Personal Property, it includes information on per diem rates, the Federal Travel Regulations, state tax exemption policies and many other topics. A search engine allows you to search the regulations.

http://pub.fss.gsa.gov/fm/future

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the government’s travel and fleet card contracts. Includes the Task Order Guide for GSA’s Fleet, Travel and Purchase cards, which can help if you’re issuing or administering task orders under GSA’s master contract for charge cards.

www.bts.gov

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics’ site has a wealth of studies on airline and surface transportation (including on-time statistics), access to transportation-related databases and the National Transportation Library and other, mostly technical, data.

www.financenet.gov/financenet/travel/travel.htm

Financenet offers information on DoD-related travel, such as the Joint Federal Travel Regulations, the DOT travel management system, and Federal Travel Regulations.

www.fss.gsa.gov

The Federal Supply Service awards the government’s services contracts, including those for fleet purchase or leasing and shipment of household goods. The site provides a complete list of vendors, among other things.

www.gsa.gov/regions/r9/travel/balv.htm

GSA’s Value Lodging program site provides a list of participating hotels and motels by state.

www.quicktrip.com

The Innovata Web site contains the Authorized Federal Travel Directory and searchable text of major government travel regulations. The site provides information on car rental companies, lodging sites, airlines and other private companies that do business with government travelers.

www.usfa.fema.gov/hotel

On the Federal Emergency Management Agency site, you can search by state for lodgings that meet the requirements of the 1990 Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act and find out what your agency must do to comply with the law. Also includes a list of fire-safety tips.

www.midatlantic.gsa.gov/fss/travel/training.htm

GSA’s travel training branch trains federal travelers and authorizing officials worldwide in the ins and outs of rules and procedures affecting temporary duty travel and relocation. Their site provides a list of upcoming courses.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

http://travel.state.gov

The Bureau of Consular Affairs home page provides recent press releases and travel advisories related to international political conditions. It also contains links to pages with information on passports, visa services, Y2K preparation overseas, U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide, travel publications and other topics. A must-visit if you are going overseas.

www.cdc.gov/travel

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s site for travelers heading overseas includes vaccine recommendations, health information for specific regions and countries, lists of disease outbreaks and other disease prevention information.

www.customs.gov/travel/travel.htm

This site is the U.S. Customs Service’s one-stop shop for info on customs issues, including restricted and prohibited merchandise, medications and regulations governing currency. It includes a special section for business travelers and is useful whether you are traveling overseas or playing host to guests coming from afar.

www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/howdoi/inspass.htm

Start here if you want to get on board with the INS program that lets frequent travelers zip through checkpoints when reentering the United States. Go to www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/i-823.htm to find the enrollment form.

DEFENSE DEPARTMENT

http://www.mtmc.army.mil

The Military Traffic Management Command’s site has info on commercial travel offices serving Defense employees, travel regs, the governmentwide car rental contracts (including rates and participating companies) and more.

http://trol.redstone.army.mil/mwr/lodging/acrc_lsp_main.html

The Army’s preferred lodging (“Lodging Success”) program is available to military and civilian travelers on official orders to Army installations and others. This site includes a list of participating hotels and motels and info on how to use the program.

www.defensetravel.com/home.html

Information central for DoD’s travel reengineering project, including the implementation schedule, the vendors, frequently asked questions, and more.

www.dfas.mil

At the home page for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, click on “Money Matters” to get facts on travel and transportation pay, including information on travel cards and travel advances.

www.dtic.mil/travelink

The home page of the Defense Travel System provides regular updates on the project.

www.dtic.mil/perdiem

The home page for the Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee covers per diem rates, the full text of the Joint Federal Travel Regulations, and lodging and dining information.

OTHER RELATED SITES

www.embassyweb.com

This comprehensive source offers links to diplomatic offices, international sites and a bookstore. It also contains links to major newswires and selected media sources, so travelers can keep up with the news in the United States. The “Related Resources” section includes a search engine and links to policy and travel resources. Order foreign currency at discount exchange rates here.

www.fedtravel.com

The Innovata (Previously Patriot) site provides information on the intranet-based version of the Federal Travel Directory, including more than 47,000 hotels and motels and 700 airlines. the subscription information service helps federal offices and individual government travelers manage travel and travel costs with a step-by-step process that stores travelers’ preferences and guides them through trip arrangements.

www.government-travel.org

The site of the Society of Travel Agents in Government, a membership association for federal travel managers and travel agents who have government clients. Here you can find information on airline city pairs, car rentals, federal travel regulations, foreign travel, lodging (including a list of the hotels in compliance with the 1990 Fire Safety Act) and Per Diem rates.

www.nws.noaa.gov

The official U.S. weather site includes current conditions, predictions and weather advisories.

www.oag.com

The online version of the Official Airline Guide provides airline, airport, flight schedule and destination information. To get the full online version of OAG, you must have a subscription.

www.hotelsatperdiem.com

Also available from travel maven OAG, this site lists hotels and motels nationwide that comply with federal per diem limits and fire-safety regulations. Travelers can provide feedback via the site about hotels and per diem rates. Users who have trouble finding a hotel at or below per diem can report that info to GSA; the agency will reconsider an area’s per diem if several travelers point out problems

Information provided by: http://www.govexec.com/travel/sites.htm

by Kimberly Hubbard

Many hotels recognize the limitations of federal travelers and accommodate them by setting the lodging rates at or below per diem.  Hotels which are trying to capture the business of federal travelers will offer appealing amenities such as free breakfast or free transportation to frequent destinations.   A general policy requires federal travelers stay in hotels which are approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  Hotels receive approval by submitting the Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Declaration form to the U. S. Fire Administration to be registered on the Master List of FEMA compliant hotels.

By Debbie Sams

“The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.”

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 accordingly on a yearly basis.  The rates are published on the GSA website.

The traveler must stay at a hotel that has been approved as “fire safe” and are registered on the Master List of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  In order to be approved by FEMA, the hotel must submit the Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Declaration form to the U.S. Fire Administration.  This approval ensures that if the property should catch fire the proper equipment and evacuation procedures are in place to ensure the safety of the traveler.

If there is a FedRooms property at the TDY location, the traveler must give that property first consideration.  FedRooms properties have at least a two star rating, accept government charge cards, are at or below per diem, and on the day of check-in will accept a cancellation at 4:00pm or later.  When the traveler makes travel arrangements using the E-Gov Travel System (ETS) a list of FedRooms  accommodations will be available to the traveler to aid in the selection process.

By: Sue Burton

The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.