University Benefit via Web Travel

Look at the finished Pre-Authorization Travel Form. If the faculty member chose “University” as the Primary Beneficiary, follow the instructions below.

The Basics

• This travel is not considered financial aid. UNC can pay for your airfare and registration directly.
• Any money you receive before the trip must be accounted for after the trip.
• You can receive money before the trip for actual and/or estimated lodging and meals. See “Before the Trip” below.
• Make sure to get receipts for everything (except meals). Credit card statements will be rejected!
• You can only be paid back for your own travel expenses, meaning your plane ticket, your hotel room, etc. If you pay for someone else’s hotel room/flight/etc., you will not be paid back, although it’s possible they could be. If you split a hotel room, you can only be reimbursed for half the expense.

Things to Know

• Don’t assume you’ll be paid back for a non-standard expense; please ask your contact. Example: coach airfare will be repaid, but not flight insurance.
• Meals: Please read the Procedure on Per Diem Rates for information about meal reimbursements. See Understanding Per Diem if you need more details.
• Lodging: There are limits on what you can claim for lodging. Please see Procedure on Lodging Accommodations for details.
  • NOTICE RE: AIRBNB – If you plan to use Airbnb or any other non-hotel lodging, you must fill out the Third-Party Lodging Request Form, follow the instructions, and include both the form and the approval from travel in your Travel Prompter request.
  • Sharing a room? If the hotel will allow it, please try to split the payment at the hotel.
• Driving: If you plan to drive, please read the Procedure on Ground Travel for information about mileage rates.

Before the Trip

Advances

An advance is a loan given before the trip. Beginning in 2024, these will be processed by giving you a temporary profile in Concur.

• If you want money before the trip, please submit your request through the Travel Prompter (pre-trip). Your travel advisor will request Concur access for you with themselves as a delegate so that they can assist you.
  • You can only request money for: meals, lodging, and local air trips (only for airfare that cannot be booked via World Travel/Concur.)
  • You do not have to provide exact amounts, just estimates.
  • You will book your flight in Concur rather than through the process below.
  • Please provide all receipts within 30 days of your return.

Airfare

UNC can pay airfare directly on behalf of a student.

1. Fill out the travel prompter.
2. Wait for a response from your contact.
3. Contact World Travel at uncch_travel@worldtravelinc.com to arrange your flight. They will ask for a CABS number; see step 4.
4. Once you have chosen your flight from the options World Travel provides, send the itinerary (with cost estimate) to your ESE travel contact. They will provide the agency with the CABS number.

International Travel

Follow the extra steps required for international travel. You must provide the international travel approval with the rest of your documentation.

Travel insurance: Fill out form 1409.1.1f (up through the “Insured Status” column) and give it to your travel contact. This allows the department to pay directly so you don’t go out of pocket. Please include both the city and country you are traveling to under “Host Country.”

Registration

UNC can pay your registration directly. You will need to coordinate with your travel contact if you wish to use their pcard.

After the Trip

You have 30 days from the end of your trip to request reimbursement.

See below to learn which expenses you can claim.

If you received money before the trip, you must provide documentation for all the money you received.

• If you spent more than you received, you will be paid the difference.
• If you spent less than you received, you will need to pay the difference back by writing a check to UNC and giving it to your travel contact. Wait until they tell you the amount.

All receipts should have your name and show that the bill has been paid. A credit card or bank statement by itself is not sufficient documentation for anything other than exchange rates.

Provide

Post-trip travel prompter (International Travelers should use this Travel spreadsheet instead. Make sure to check all the tabs!)
Backup documentation (See below)

Documentation breakdown

Airfare: If you paid for your own airfare, provide the receipt showing how much you paid. The flight must be in your name.

Ground transportation: If you drove your personal car, provide the origin, destination, and mileage of each leg of the trip. For rental cars, provide the rental receipts, any gas receipts you paid for, and a justification for renting a car rather than using public transportation or taxis. For taxis or rideshares, list the origin and destination of each trip and include receipts if you can. Write the tip on the receipt if it’s not already included.

Hotel: A booking or reservation is not a valid receipt. The hotel receipt should have your name as the occupant and list out the charges. If you used an AirBNB and have not already given the travel preparer the Third-Party Lodging Request Form, you will need to.

• Shared a room but only one person paid? Notify your travel contact. They will need to know who shared the room and what funding each person is on. If they say the reimbursement must be split: The person who paid the bill can only claim half. The other person will have to provide evidence (for example, a Venmo receipt) showing that they paid the person who paid the bill.
  • Example: Jadwiga and Nandi share a room and paid $1000. Jadwiga paid for the entire room. She can only claim $500. Nandi will have to pay Jadwiga, get a receipt, and claim the other $500.

Meals/Per diem: Meals are reimbursed at a fixed rate called per diem. For domestic travel, list each date and which meals out of breakfast, lunch, and dinner you are claiming on that date. Do not claim any meals that were provided by the hotel, the conference, or a host organization. For international travel, include the city and country you were in on each date. No receipts are necessary unless the sponsor itself requires them. For a more in-depth explanation, see Understanding Per Diem.

Medical: If you are traveling internationally, you may be reimbursed for necessary vaccinations and prescriptions (such as antimalarial drugs). Provide receipts.

Other: Baggage fees, internet access, laundry (only for long international trips), parking, phone calls, phone cards (international only), poster printing, and other miscellaneous expenses must be accompanied by receipts. Tips to airport employees are reimbursable at $2 a bag; no receipts are required.

Passport/visa fees: Provide receipts as best you can. This may include photo fees, mailing/shipping fees, etc. Multiple-entry visas will be reimbursed via a different mechanism and can be reimbursed before the trip.

Registration/Abstract submission: Most conferences send email confirmations when you pay. You can print those to PDF to submit as receipts.