FORWARD

Please remember, two separate organizations must work with you to make your trip successful: Your commercial travel agency (CTO)/travel management center (TMC) or in-house travel arranger handles the planning, scheduling and arrangements, and your agency's travel management office implements travel policy.

Even the most seasoned traveler may, at times, find the rules and regulations governing official travel to be confusing and complicated. Somewhat different rules pertain depending on whether the traveler is civilian or military. Your agency travel management office is equipped to answer your travel questions.

These Guidelines provide general guidance with respect to both civilian and military travel. For authoritative guidance, travelers are urged to consult the Federal Travel Regulation, Joint Federal Travel Regulations, or the Defense Traffic Management Regulation, as appropriate.

Please note that most of the rules and regulations governing official travel have Government-wide application; some agencies, however, have unique travel policies which are not covered here. All such rules and regulations are subject to change with little advance notice. We hope you find these Guidelines useful.

CONTENTS

GENERAL POLICY
The use of discount air, bus and rail fares offered to the Government by common carriers for passenger transportation is considered to be advantageous to the Government. This includes contract and, when justified on an exception basis, non contract discount air, rail and bus fares.
Federal agencies may authorize employees to use any mode of discount fare transportation noted above when traveling on official Government business, consistent with agency mission requirements and sound travel management practices.

CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE PROBLEMS
To report contractor performance problems, call one of the following as appropriate: All employees: the contractor listed in this guide. Department of Defense employees: Military Traffic Management Command, Autovon 761-6590 or (703) 681-6590. Civilian agency employees: the Traffic and Travel Zone Office 'within the applicable designated GSA Federal Supply Service Bureau listed below.

• Federal Supply Service Bureau
  Peachtree Summit Bldg.
  401 West Peachtree St., Atlanta, GA 30365-2550
  Tel: (404) 331-5121

• Federal Supply Service Bureau
  4400 College Blvd., Suite 175
  Overland Park, KS 66211
  Tel: (913) 236-2510

• Federal Supply Service Bureau
  819 Taylor Street
  Ft. Worth, TX 76102
  Tel: (817) 334- 2733
  

• Federal Supply Service Bureau
  525 Market Street
  San Francisco, CA 94105
  Tel: (415) 744-6019

• Federal Supply Service Bureau
  470 L'Enfant Plaza, Suite 8100
  Washington, DC 20407
  Tel: (202)755-0250

EXERCISING PRUDENCE
Use the same good judgment in incurring expenses while accomplishing your agency business as you would if you were traveling at your own expense. Travel regulations generally prohibit reimbursement for excess costs, circuitous routes, unneeded delays, other than standard travel and lodging accommodations, luxury vehicles, scheduling to include an unnecessarily high proportion of nonproductive days (such as weekends or holidays), or scheduling early departure or late return without charging appropriate leave. Please be aware that most travel rules are not created by individual agencies; they are written to standardize travel entitlements throughout the U.S. Government.

You should take care to use economical modes of transportation for all portions of your trip to accomplish your mission effectively and within the time limits specified in your travel authorization. For example, don't use a limousine if airport buses are available; don't rent a luxury car if a moderately priced one is available.

TRAVEL ROUTE
Travel regulations require that you perform your travel by a usually traveled route advantageous to the Government. This includes contract, and when justified on an exception basis, non contract discount air, rail and bus fares. Federal agencies may authorize employees to use any mode of discount fare. If, for personal convenience, you use an indirect route or interrupt any 'direct route' travel with stopovers, any expenses incurred, above the normal charges to the Government for the 'direct route', cannot be paid from Government funds. Please consult your agency travel management office regarding possible flexibility in your routing.

TRIP CANCELLATION
Should you learn that your reservations for transportation and/or accommodations will not be used, you should promptly cancel them. Failure to do so may result in charges for unused accommodations, rental cars, etc. If tickets/ transportation requests are lost or stolen, you, should immediately report this to the carrier concerned and to your commercial travel agency (CTO)/travel management center (TMC) or in- house travel arranger. You should account for and attach to your travel voucher any unused tickets (or portions thereof), coupons, exchange orders, refund receipts or applications, notices of fare adjustments, transportation requests, excess baggage requests, etc., as well as the factual information relating to the unused passenger transportation.

ILLNESS, INJURY OR PERSONAL EMERGENCY (WHILE IN TRAVEL STATUS)
Reimbursement for transportation and per diem expenses may be authorized if you discontinue or interrupt official travel prior to its completion because of incapacitating illness or injury or a personal emergency. You should contact the official who approved your travel as soon as you are incapacitated by illness or injury or are informed of an emergency situation which necessitates discontinuance or interruption of your travel assignment. In the event that such contact cannot be made on a timely basis, payments may be approved after the travel has been performed.

STATE/LOCAL TAX EXEMPTION
When an agency contracts for lodging, and payment is made directly by the Government, there are no state/local imposed taxes. Otherwise, the relationship between you and a hotel or motel is viewed as personal, even though you are traveling on official business and will eventually be reimbursed by the Federal Government for lodging expenses. In that case, there is no state/local tax exemption unless the jurisdiction provides an exemption for government travelers on official business. Consult your commercial travel agency (CTO)/travel management center (TMQ or in-house travel arranger for potential exemption opportunities or to obtain tax exemption certificates. Tax Exempt jurisdictions are also listed in OAG's Official Traveler Travel Guide.

CONTRACTUAL SERVICE POLICY
When traveling between city Pairs listed in the OAG OFFICIAL TRAVELER Flight Guide, contract air service YCA, -CA,-CB) is generally mandatory for official Government travel. At the time of contract awards, the listed fares represented the greatest value available to the Government. While fares equal to or lower than contract fares subsequently may be offered by competing, non- contract carriers on some routes, the Government remained obligated to use contract carriers subject to very limited exceptions. (See 'Exceptions to the Use of Contract Carriers').

In cases, where the OAG OFFICIAL TRAVELER Flight Guide indicates separate contract fares for specific airports in cities which are served by more than one airport, the traveler may use the airport which best meets his or her needs without further justification. Contract fares apply one-way between the cities herein, are not applicable to or from intermediate points, and shall not be. used for personal travel taken in connection with official travel. When there is not a direct contract fare between the traveler's duty points, contract fares may be used in conjunction with other published fares and, when applicable, in conjunction with other contract fares. The linking of contract or other fares is not permitted when a thorough or direct fare exists of the city pair.

The vast majority of official travel requirements between the listed city pairs can be satisfied conveniently through contractual service. For those exceptional occasions when contract service will not meet travel requirements, the particular circumstances shall be documented and retained for possible review by inspectors general, auditors, etc.

ORDER OF CONTRACT AIR CARRIER SELECTION
Where progressive airline awards have been made for the same city/airport pair, service shall first be requested from the contract carrier offering the lowest YCA fare, then the contract carrier(s) offering the next lowest YCA fare(s). In cases where contractors also offer a restricted contract fare (e.g. BCA, HCA, KCA, MCA, QCA, or VCA), every effort should be made to purchase tickets at that fare level, provided applicable restrictions can be met. However, the availibility of restricted fares does not alter the order of carrier selection. Note: The restricted fares listed in the OAG OFFICIAL TRAVELER Flight Guide are restricted on the basis of limited seat availability (i.e. "capacity controlled"), or are limited to selected flights on certain routes.

FARE CODES
• YCA: Unrestricted contract fares
• CA: Capacity restricted contract fares. Note: Certain carriers also offer lower, restricted contract fares under one of the following fare bases: BCA, CCA, HCA, KCA, MCA, OCA, or VCAI These fares are capacity controlled, but the following conditions shall not be applicable:

• Advance purchase requirements,
• Change of cancellation fees,
• Minimum or maximum. stay requirements,
• Extended calendar blackouts of more than 5 consecutive day's duration,
• Flight-specific service.

PROMOTION/RESTRICTED AND NON CONTRACT GOVERNMENT FARES
Travelers are advised that in a limited number of instances, non-contract carriers may offer restricted or unrestricted coach fares to the general public which are lower than the Government contract fares. In such cases, the lower fare(s) may be used in accordance with procedures described under "Exceptions to the use of the Contract Carriers." They should not be used simply to avoid use of the contract carrier. However, when a contract carrier offers a commercial fare lower than its contract fare, the lower fare should be obtained provided the traveler can meet the requirements of the lower fare.

When passenger service is available between a city pair for which there is a contract, Government only (e.g. DG) fares offered by non contract carriers shall not be used.

EXCEPTION TO THE USE OF CONTRACT CARRIERS
One or more of the following travel conditions, which must be certified on the travel order or travel voucher by an agency-approved authorizing official, must apply if a carrier other than the contract carrier is used for travel with a contract route.

1. Seating space or the scheduled flight is not available in time to accomplish the purpose of travel, or use of contract service would require the traveler to incur unnecessary overnight lodging costs which would increase the total cost of the trip; or

2. The contract's flight schedule is inconsistent with explicit policies of individual Federal department and agencies or other mandatory users of scheduled travel during normal working hours; or

3. A non contract carrier offers a lower fare available to the general public, the use of which will result in a lower total trip cost to the Government or other mandatory user. This determination should be based on a cost comparison to include the combined cost of transportation, lodging, meals, and related expenses.

   NOTE: THIS EXCEPTION DOES NOT APPLY IF CONTRACT CARRIER OFFERS A COMPARABLE FARE AND HAS SEATS AVAILABLE AT THAT FARE, OR IF THE LOWER FARE OFFERED BY A NON CONTRACT CARRIER IS RESTRICTED TO GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY TRAVELERS ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS AND MAY ONLY BE PURCHASED WITH A GTR, CONTRACT ISSUED CHARGE CARD OR CENTRALLY BILLED ACCOUNT, E.G., YDG, MDG. QDG, VDG, AND SIMILAR FARES.

4. Rail service is available and such service is cost effective and consistent with mission requirements.

FREQUENT FLYER BONUS CERTIFICATES
Frequent Flyer Bonus Certificates The Comptroller General of the United States (CG) has ruled that Frequent Flyer credits earned by Federal employees while oil official Government travel are the Property of the Government. The credits In may be redeemed only for future official travel, or, with agency head approval, redeemed for accommodation upgrades. Federal employees are encouraged to sign up and take advantage of Frequent Flyer benefits in accordance with their agency's travel policy.

RESERVATIONS, TICKETING AND PAYMENT
Travel Management Centers (TMCs) and commercial Travel Offices (CTOs) are responsible for reserving, issuing, and delivering airline tickets for Government employees traveling on official business. Please ensure they are providing all of these services when making your travel arrangements through them. Make reservations requesting YCA, -CA, or -CB fares and obtain tickets as you would normally. Improperly coded tickets or tickets not reflecting this correct fare basis coding should be returned for reissue.

Use standard agency payment procedures, i.e., the GSA contractor issued travel charge card, government Travel Account (GTA), Government Transportation Request (GTR), House of Representatives or Senate Travel Request. NOTE: Amtrak does not accept GTR's for travel under $50.00.

PREPAID TICKET ADVICE (PTA)
Prepaid ticket advice is a carrier provided service where a TMC or CTO reserves the airline ticket but the carder itself issues the ticket to the traveler before takeoff.

The contract carrier may charge a fee only if both of the following conditions apply:

1. The reservaton is booked at least twenty four hours prior to departure (exclusive of weekends and federal holidays) AND
2. The ticket can be delivered by any other means (including via overnight express delivery in time for the traveler to receive and utilize the ticket.

The fee charged shall not exceed:

1. The current commercial fee; or
2. The fee charged under any non.-contract government fates, e.g. Mares, whichever -is lower. The contractor may at its option waive the PTA fees

Federal Travelers should pick-up tickets from the TMC or CTO making the travel arrangements or have the tickets delivered to them , to avoid PTA charges.

AVIATION SAFETY/SERVICE COMPLAINTS
The Federal Aviation Administration has installed an aviation safety and service complaints hotline. To report aviation safety or service complaints, telephone 800-FAA-SURE (1-800-322- 7873) between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm Eastern Time. A FAA official will return your call.

The Department of Transportation's Aviation Consumer Protection Division handles service complaints, To report aviation service complaints, telephone (202) 366-2220 or write to the U.S. Department of Transportation, C-75 Washington, DC 20590.