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Before the Trip

Procedure

  1. If your trip will include lodging, airfare, or a car rental, you MUST file a travel request through Concur.
    • The request must be approved before you can book anything or pay registration.
    • Please include estimates for all anticipated expenses in the request, including airfare, mileage, meals, registration, etc.
    • Please note: a request is not an advance. If you need money for an international trip, see “Advance” below.
  2. Once your request is approved:
    • You can book airfare, lodging, and rental car expenses through Concur.
      • Airfare: UNC will pay airfare directly. You will need your request number. When it asks for payment, use the drop-down menu to select the UNC credit card.
        • If you do not want to book through Concur, you will need to meet one of the criteria at the Procedure on Air Travel.
      • Car rental:
        • If you want UNC to pay your car rental directly, you must book the car a) from Enterprise and b) by calling World Travel and requesting direct billing. This will incur a $10 fee that you must pay out-of-pocket (using T&E or personal card). You will need your request number and you must explicitly request direct billing.
        • If you choose to book through the Concur website, you will have to use a personal card or a T&E card.
      • Lodging: For hotels, you must provide either a personal credit card or a T&E card.
        • Note: conference rates for hotels are unlikely to be available through Concur bookings. If that happens, you may book through the conference instead of through Concur.
        • If you plan to use Airbnb or any other non-hotel lodging option, you must fill out the Third-Party Lodging Request Form. Follow the instructions on the form to request approval. Include the form and travel’s approval in your request documentation.
        • If your lodging is going to cost significantly more than the federal allowance, you must complete the Excess Lodging Justification form.
      • Registration: The department can pay registration and abstract fees via the pcard if you do not have a T&E card.
    • All out-of-pocket expenses will be paid back to you after the trip.

Extra Considerations

International Travel – Extra steps required for international travel

Note: Once a request is approved, you can create multiple expense reports from it. It’s likely that things like airfare and registration, for example, will have to go into an expense report before the trip, while the rest of the expenses will be reported after.

Advances are loans from the travel department meant to cover meals, lodging, and select other expenses such as visas. They are only available for international travel. By default, the option is turned off in Concur; you will have to apply to have it turned on.

Travel advances are not meant for expenses such as supplies or services such as interpreters; those funds must be requested as a cash advance through your account manager.

Upon your return, you have one month to turn in all receipts so that we can reconcile the advance. This applies even if you do not plan to claim any further expenses. If you spent less than the advance, the overage will be taken from your next paycheck.

You also have the option of applying for a UNC Travel and Expense Card. This will help prevent you from spending out of pocket.

IMPORTANT: UNC will only pay for economy airfare. The few exceptions are listed at the UNC Procedure on Air Travel.

Airfare must be booked via Concur or by calling World Travel to arrange a flight, unless you meet one of the exceptions.

You will need your request number.

The airfare will automatically appear in your list of expenses to be added to a report.

Special Considerations

International travelers

If you are traveling on funds from a federal agency, you must enter and exit the country on a US-owned airline.

Special Seating

Any seating other than coach must be justified.

FAQ

Q: What if I want to pay for it myself?
A: Check to see if you meet one of the exceptions. If you do, make sure to get all the relevant documentation (such as price comparisons.)

Q: Can I get an advance for airfare?
A: You cannot get an advance for domestic or international flights. However, if you are planning an international trip that requires local flights to be purchased in your destination country, you may be able to get an advance for those.

Q: Can I get reimbursed for seat selection fees?
A: No.

Q: Can I get reimbursed for flight insurance?
A: No.

Q: Can I get reimbursed for baggage fees?
A: Yes, as long as you have a receipt and the bags were for university business.

Q: What if I want to choose a specific route for personal reasons?
A: Establish the difference between your route and the cheapest route. You will have to pay the difference directly to the travel agency at the time of booking.

Personal Vehicle

All mileage considerations are for the entire round trip. (In other words, if you drive 200 miles there and 200 miles back, it’s considered a 400-mile trip.)

  • The first 350 miles of the trip will be reimbursed at the IRS rate.
  • Any further miles will be reimbursed at half the IRS rate.
  • If the mileage will exceed 750 miles, you will have to provide an airfare quote from Concur or World Travel in comparison.

Please see Ground Transportation Rates for the full policy, especially if your trip is over 750 miles.

Rental Car

Note: Only people on UNC Payroll can rent a car.

You must go through Concur to rent a vehicle through UNC. UNC can pay for rentals from Enterprise directly. For any other agency, you will need to use a T&E or personal credit card to complete the booking.

UNC Risk Management recommends that we avoid using 15-passenger vans for insurance reasons.

For trucks, cargo vans, etc., see the section on Truck Rental at the UNC Motorpool site.

You can include gas in your expense report after the trip, but you must have actual receipts from the pump. Travel will not accept credit card statements!

Taxis, Trains, Buses, Shuttles

Commercial ground transportation can be reimbursed if you have a receipt. It’s best to get receipts for all trips possible, but if it’s less than $20 we can work without it. Please note that we need the origin and destination for each trip (this does not have to be exact addresses but we need the basic idea – an example would be “airport to hotel”).

Zipcar

For short local trips, you can sign up for Zipcar. As with rental cars, you can file for gas reimbursement if you need to.

FAQ

Q: What if I’m in a country where no one provides taxi receipts?
A: Keep a little notebook with you. Note the date, origin, destination, and amount paid on one of the pages. Have the driver mark it somehow (preferably signing it; if not an X will do.)

Q: What if the driver refuses?
A: Write that on the receipt; it’ll have to do.

Q: What if I’m in an accident?
A: For accidents involving any Enterprise vehicle that holds 12 passengers or fewer, notify Enterprise when returning the vehicle. If you are in a 15-passenger van from Enterprise, a state-owned car, or your own vehicle, you must follow this procedure.

Note: The procedure is the same for online conferences.

The university can pay for registration directly. If you use your own funds to pay, you cannot be reimbursed until after the conference. If you are planning to purchase a membership because the registration will be lower, please contact your admin assistant about using their pcard.

Procedure

I want UNC to pay directly by credit card

  • If this trip involves airfare or an overnight stay, you must first have filed a travel request via Concur.
  • Start at least two days before the registration deadline (or early bird deadline if you’re going for that) and fill out the pre-trip prompter.
  • Your admin assistant will have their own preferred method of handling payment – some may give you the card information, while others will want you to bring your laptop and let them fill out the payment information (To maintain social distancing, we may communicate solely by phone.) You will need to print or email any receipts you receive to them. They will not fill out the registration form for you.
  • We can only use the card for registration for the main conference and additional workshops. We cannot pay for hotel bookings, banquets, or any other extras the conference offers.

I will pay (or have paid) with my T&E card

The expense will automatically appear in your list of expenses for you to add to an expense report.

I will pay (or already have paid) out of pocket

You will need to add the expense to your expense report after the trip.

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