Transportation By Air
The most economical means of transportation should be used when traveling on university business. This will be determined by the staff member and the department head based upon the total cost of the travel, efficient use of staff time and convenience to the employee.
Travel expense reimbursement is limited to the lesser of expenses incurred from the departure point or from the "official station". The official station is defined as the location of the permanent office. The official station is defined as the location of the permanent office including the entire city or general area in which the 'official station' is located.
If the traveler is departing from some place other than their permanent office, a comparison must be attached to the Form 25, Request for Reimbursement, indicating expenses are the lesser of the two.
Air Travel
Commercial Air
Commercial air travel should be purchased at the lowest available commercial standard coach/economy airfare. Reimbursements in excess of the lowest available economy/coach commercial airfare are unallowable. This includes Economy Plus purchases or upgrades.
Airfare may be charged on the department purchasing card or reimbursed directly to the traveler after the business trip at economy or coach fare only.
First or Business Class
Reimbursement for first or business class is not allowable, and will not be paid without prior approval by the Associate Comptroller, Accounting.
A memo should be sent to the Associate Comptroller in Accounting. The memo should present the business or medical reason for the exception along with any attachments that provide verification for the request. The memo should be approved by the department head and provide a time limit for the exception.
Examples of attachments:
- A medical statement requiring special needs. The medical statement should be concurrent with the time period of the exception memo. If the exception is because of a medical reason, only refer to the medical statement attached. Do not give any medical details in the memo because the memo must be attached to the Form 25, Request for Reimbursement.
- A statement from the airline or travel agency indicating the class requested is the only seat available on the flight that accommodates the traveler's mission.
Approval from the Associate Comptroller is required before the airfare is purchased. The memo, with the Associate Comptroller's approval signature, must be submitted with the Form 25.
Reminder: Due to HIPPA regulations, do not attach any medical information to the Form 25.
Receipt Requirements
The passenger coupon or detailed itinerary with required information is required as proof of payment for air travel if a paper ticket or e-ticket is purchased from a travel agency. If an e-ticket is purchased on-line the receipt print-out (not the quote) must be attached to the reimbursement request. Original receipts must be attached to the reimbursement request, facsimiles are not acceptable. Visit the Receipt Requirements page for more detailed explanation.
- Airline ticket service fees are reimbursable. Cost should be itemized on ticket receipt.
Fees for paper tickets, if the ticket is not eligible for e-ticketing, is reimbursable. Cost should be itemized on ticket.
Air/Hotel Packages should be avoided unless purchased through Egencia Corporate Travel, Purdue University's preferred online booking tool. The Internal Revenue Service requires that expenses be itemized. Generally online tools such as Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, etc give one total for both air and hotel. In addition, changes or cancellations are usually not allowable in the leisure online booking tools.
Non-Refundable Tickets
Airlines are continuously changing their fares and the policies governing those fares. A common way to obtain a deeply discounted ticket is to buy a "non-refundable" ticket. However, most airlines will no longer exchange a non-refundable ticket after the plane has departed. Some airlines will allow for standby on the same day of original departure with a $100-$150 exchange fee. Visit "non-refundable" ticket exchanges for detailed information.
Unused Tickets
If the university pays for an airfare ticket and it cannot be used, the unused ticket should be kept in the department business office to be used for the next available trip taken by the traveler. A copy of the original ticket should be attached to the Form 25 for reimbursement. Be sure to check with the airline to see if the ticket can be exchanged.
If the ticket was paid using the department procurement card, it cannot be exchanged for a trip that includes personal travel.
Discounted Airfare
Discount air travel arrangements that require an additional night(s) lodging and/or subsistence are reimbursable under the following conditions:
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Additional lodging and subsistence must not exceed regular economy/coach fare at the time the trip is taken.
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A calculation/comparison showing the savings must appear in box 15 on the Form 17. The comparison should include a quote for coach fare without the additional stay, the amount of discounted fare, additional lodging, subsistence, rental car days, airport parking, and any other expenses incurred on behalf of the extra days stay.
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The total of the discounted fare, days of additional lodging, subsistence, rental car, airport parking and any other expenses incurred should be less than quote without additional stay.
If the traveling employee and his/her department head agree to extend travel time consuming additional work time or personal time in order to reduce the cost of travel, that is their prerogative. However, it must be stressed that people will not be forced to use their personal time (e.g., weekends) to secure less expensive plane fare or less overall out-of-pocket costs.
Airfare with Personal Destinations Included
Occasionally an employee may take a trip that includes both personal and business travel.
When this occurs, the following rules apply.
- If the stay at a business location is extended either prior to or after the business mission (no more than 2-3 days), the entire ticket may be reimbursed.
- If any other destinations (other than normal connecting airports) not pertaining to the business purpose are included on the ticket, the amount reimbursed will be the fare directly related to the point(s) of business based on the fare class used.
The traveler must provide a written quote obtained from the airline, travel agency or a printout from a website as proof of cost for the direct route to and from the business location. This must be obtained 'PRIOR' to travel, outlined in Box 15 on the Form 17, and attached to the Form 25, Request for Reimbursement. To qualify 'PRIOR', the comparison should be obtained at the same time the tickets are purchased.
- Tickets purchased separately (one-way) to travel on personal business should not be included in the price when comparing the cost of tickets.
- Airfare reimbursement will not be made for non-university business travel even though the total discounted airfare is less than regular coach fare.
A combination trip does benefit the traveler to some extent, therefore, travelers should exercise special care not to seek reimbursement for expenses that could be construed as personal. Additional information can be found at personal and business travel.
U.S. Flag Carrier
Purdue employees are required, by the 'Fly America Act', to use US flag carrier if the trip is funded by federal funds.
The Federal Aviation Act of 1958 ('Fly America Act')as amended by the International Air Transportation Fair Competitive Practices Act of 1974 requires all federal agencies and government contractors, sub contractors and grantees to use U.S. Flag Carriers for air transportation of personnel both domestic and foreign travel when using *federally appropriated funds for travel.
The Act further provides that in the absence of satisfactory proof of the necessity to use a non-U.S. Flag Carrier, any expenditure of federally appropriated funds for foreign travel on other than U.S. Flag Carrier shall not be allowable.
*Federal appropriated funds means moneys directly awarded to the University on either a contract, grant, or appropriated basis, or a subcontract in which the Federal Government is the original source of funding. It does not refer to those situations where a contract is funded by a foreign government, even if the original source of moneys to that government is the United States Government.
The expenditure of federal funds for service furnished by a non-U.S. flag carrier is allowable only when service by a U.S. flag carrier is considered to be unavailable. See Excerpt from Federal Regulations for rules on use of non-U.S. flag carriers.
If the certification per § 301-10.141 and 301-10.142 is not explained on or attached to the Form 25, the Central Travel Office will request a certification be completed and signed by the traveler. Reimbursement for airfare to a traveler utilizing non-U.S. flag carriers cannot be made in the absence of such certification.
There are certain projects funded by foreign governments to which these instructions are not applicable because the contract requires the use of a non-U.S. flag carrier. If such a situation arises, documentation should be provided and attached to the Form 25. The travelre's signature on the Form 25 certifies th information presented for payment is just and correct.
In order for a flight to be in compliance with the Fly America Act, the code of a U.S. flag air carrier must be noted as part of the flight number on the airline ticket, flight coupon (boarding pass), or passenger receipt. Each airline has a 2 character code assigned by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The designator code forms the first two characters of the flight number.
With the list below, you will be able to compare airline codes on the ticket with those on the list and ascertain whether or not the flight is on a U.S. flag carrier.
- Airtran Airways (FL)
- Alaska Airlines (AS)
- America West Airlines (HP)
- American Airlines (AA)
- American Trans Air (TZ)
- Continental Airlines (CO)
- Delta Airlines (DL)
- Frontier Airlines (F9)
- Hawaiian Airlines (HA)
- JetBlue Airways (B6)
- Mesa Airlines (YV)
- Midwest Airlines (YX)
- Northwest Airlines (NW)
- Southwest Airlines (WN)
- Spirit Airlines (NK)
- United Airlines (UA)
- US Airways (US)
Code Share Flights
A codeshare is an agreement between airlines to sell seats on each other's flights to provide more destinations and flight choices (may be between 2 US airlines or a US airline and non-US airline). Codeshare flights are displayed as flights for both the operating carrier (the airline used for the flight) and the marketing carrier (partner that sells the seats on the operating carrier).
When the code share is between a U.S. air carrier and a non-U.S. air carrier, the ticket stock or documentation for electronic tickets must identify the U.S. airlines designator code and flight number as the marketing carrier to be in compliance with the Fly America Act.
See examples below:
Allowable when paying with federal funds:
UA 1002 (Operated by LH 1224)
Not Allowable when paying with federal funds:
LH 1224 (Operated by UA 1002)
UA = United Airlines (U.S. Carrier)
LH = Lufthansa (non-U.S. Carrier)
Leased, Chartered or Private Aircraft
Leased aircraft:
The actual lease cost for aircraft leased from commercial leasing companies or the Purdue Pilots, Inc is reimbursable up to the round trip, commercial coach airfare rate for the same trip for the same number of official passengers. A valid invoice must be provided. A quote must be attached to the Form 25 when requesting reimbursement.
Private Aircraft:
When an employee and others rendering service to the University use a privately owned aircraft in the conduct of official business, the employee owning the aircraft is entitled to reimbursement of the current federal mileage rate for private aircraft up to the lowest available commercial coach airfare.
The current rate is $1.24 per mile for travel on or after 1/1/2009. Prior rates for 1/1/2007-12/31/2008 was $1.07 per mile.
The quote for commercial coach airfare must be obtained 'prior' to the trip and attached to the Form 25. An acceptable quote may be from a travel agent, printout from an online booking service, i.e., Expedia, Orbitz, etc., or printout from airline website. The statement/printout must show the lowest available commercial coach airfare for one individual for the same business dates to the same business destination. Personal travel must not be included.
The air mileage between the origin and the destination airports, as determined from airways charts issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce, shall be reported on the reimbursement request and shall be used in computing payment.
If a detour was necessary because of adverse weather, mechanical difficulty, or other unusual conditions, the additional air mileage may be included in the mileage reported on the reimbursement request and, if included, it must be explained. A Purdue staff member operating his/her owned aircraft on approved University business is covered under Worker's Compensation in the event illness or injury occurs while in official travel status. However, the University provides no liability coverage to third parties for bodily injury or property damage which results from the operation of such aircraft. "Owned aircraft" means wholly or partially owned by the staff member or registered in the name of the staff member or any member of his or her household.
A list of air mileage from Indianapolis to every airport in the continental United States is kept in by the Travel Clerks.
Chartered Aircraft
Chartered aircraft may be used when traveling on university business if it is the least expensive method of transportation. To charter an aircraft contact the Purchasing department.
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