Posts Tagged "insurance"

In order to manage business travel efficiently and maintain conformance with policy regulations, companies issue travel procedures that govern travel planning and cost reporting.  Owing to the many available travel options, the travel procedures provide detailed instructions for compliance. When making travel arrangements, employees are obligated to give primary consideration to the best interests of the company and any sponsors. The company expects employees to apply good judgment and professional integrity when planning business travel, in accordance with a code of ethics and to make travel plans at the lowest available cost. However, all corporate preferred travel programs experience some leakage at one point or another.   The loss of transactions through...

The Car Rental Program is managed by the Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO)  effective October 2007.  (All car rental information is available on the DTMO website).  This program is available to all US Government personnel traveling on behalf of the government for official business.  It offers attractive rates, few restrictive clauses, many benefits and is available to all government travelers who are authorized and licensed drivers. The Government Rental Car Program creates a competitive environment among the participating rental car companies, which benefits the government.  The program includes significant benefits to the government personnel that are not available to the general public.  Some of the benefits are:  Free collision damage waiver...

Travel planning is one of the most overlooked aspects of the travel process.  No matter what level of travel you are doing this seems to be the area that goes unchecked and can cause the most problems for the traveler. When traveling on temporary duty within the Continental United States (CONUS) your planning can be less extensive compared to the necessary planning for traveling Outside Continental United States (OCONUS). There are basics that do apply to both types of travel, which will now be discussed. In order to make your home more secure, it is important to suspend any newspaper delivery as a large number of papers on your porch alerts people that you are not home. It is also a good idea to have the post office hold your mail. If you have lawn care to...

Even with the Rental car agreement through the DTMO you are subject to high rates during peak season with the car rental locations. Example: Superbowl in Tampa, Florida and just recently the Inauguration in Washington, DC. Also rental car companies often hold double the amount of the rental. Example: If you car rental was only for 2 days and total cost was $200.00 they will hold easily $400 to $500 on your credit card. Really what is the purpose? You have insurance on your own car to protect them against any damages that might occur during the time you are renting the car. With my experience I prefer to use Enterprise Rent A Car. I have not had to put extra deposits on my credit card when renting. I have rented from them from several different states and I have...

There are many options available to employees when purchasing travel.  Most travelers are aware of policies and procedures, however, vendors may not be aware of certain restrictions and will try to upsell or upgrade amenities to our employees.   When this is accepted by the traveler, they run into cost reimbursable issues when filing expense reports. As an example, car rental companies will try to upsell a traveler by offering additional insurances, GPS systems, larger vehicles, sporty or hybrid models.  All of which are not reimbursed by our organization.  Also, a traveler may not realize they are being charged an additional amount for the vehicle being offered if it happens to be a larger vehicle. What we’ve done to alleviate all the backend hassles 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...

When a vehicle is rented for official travel, only the expenses incurred for official use of the vehicle may be reimbursed.  Use of the vehicle to travel from the hotel, to and from the temporary duty point, and to and from restaurants is considered official use. If the traveler wants to include personal use of a rented vehicle, the cost of that use may not be claimed. Some travelers arrive at the temporary duty point early, and remain there after duty is completed, and wish to use a rental vehicle for that additional personal time.  The traveler must inform the rental agency that a portion of the time for which the vehicle is rented is for personal travel, not official business. If the traveler takes a trip away from the temporary duty point, such as on a...