Millions of dollars are lost to the government and taxpayers each year because travelers do not initiate the refund process. Holding onto a totally or partially used airline ticket costs your agency money. Unused tickets have a monetary value; therefore any adjustments in your ticketed transportation that pertains to an unused segment must be promptly processed to prevent a loss. The definition of an unused ticket is
- Tickets purchased for Government travel, but never used.
- Travel is terminated short of the authorized destination.
- Return portion of a round-trip ticket is not used.
- Services actually furnished are different or of a lesser value than those authorized.
The traveler dealing with an unused ticket that was purchased with their individually billed account (IBA) should exchange those coupons for a Credit Card Refund Notice (CCRN) receipt from the service provider, Travel Management Center (TMC) or Commercial Travel Office (CTO). The traveler should retain this CCRN receipt as proof that a credit is due and also confirm that the credit is posted to his IBA statement. If the ticket was charged to the agency’s centrally billed account (CBA), the traveler should notify the TMC/CTO. Make written documentation that the TMC/CTO was notified and notify the appropriate contact at their agency.
Each agency’s policy should establish procedures to promptly identify unused tickets. Also to ensure these unused tickets are identified an agency should also ask for a management information report from its TMC/CTO broken down between the CBA and the IBA to keep track of the unused segments. An agency could also request a statement be added to the itineraries that provide instructions regarding unused tickets or ticket segments.
Expired tickets are ones that are more than a year old from the date purchased. GSA’s Transportation Audits Division can recover these refunds for up to 10 years from the purchase date.
By: Kathy Runion
The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.