Hello Rebecca,

What follows is an excerpt from our Travel Policy.

Best Regards, Vince (George Washington University)

Class of Fare
The university pays for air travel in coach/economy class for domestic and international flights. Written pre-approval by the president, a vice president, dean or their designee is required for any premium economy or business class fare, including arrangements meeting the criteria in this manual. GW faculty and staff may fly premium economy or business class for flights outside of the continental United States (OCONUS) if any one scheduled flight segment is longer than five (5) hours, provided they are following all budgetary, cost containment, sponsored project restrictions, laws, etc. For flights within the continental United States with a flight segment longer than five (5) hours, GW faculty and staff may fly premium economy provided they are following all budgetary, cost containment, sponsored project restrictions, laws, etc.

Individuals requiring travel accommodations other than coach/economy class due to a medical condition should request an accommodation from the Office of EEO & Employee Relations at eeo@gwu.edu or 202-994-9656.

The written pre-approval from EEO/ER or the appropriate president/vice president, dean or their designee must be attached to any fare above coach/economy class submitted as a university expense on the employee’s expense report. No medical information should be attached to the employee’s expense report.

All federally funded travel must be booked as Economy Airfare in accordance with Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200. Exceptions allowed under the federal guidelines due to medical conditions must be submitted and approved by EEO/ER as described above.

Lowest Available Airfare
Travelers are allowed, subject to appropriate approval, to choose their dates and times of travel, as well as their desired origin and destination airports. Ticket selection should be influenced by price and not by a frequent flyer affiliation.

The university pays for the lowest available airfare that meets the traveler's choices as determined by the following criteria:
• The route between origin and destination is the most direct and frequently traveled (i.e., no circuitous routing)
• Maximum of two (2) connections
• May include nonstop flights
• Does not require stays beyond the traveler's requested dates of travel
• Meets the University's requirements for Class of Fare (see above)
• May include standard baggage fees
• Is usually a restricted coach or economy fare that may involve change penalties

Thanks, Vince! While it may not be spelled out in your travel policy, can you tell me how the booking parameters are setup in your OBT? If I'm booking a R/T flight from RDU to JFK, for instance, will it let me book any flight I want? I did a simple search and the prices vary from $188 up to $548: would the tool let me book the highest priced fare? Are the search results limited to non-refundable fares, or are refundable fares allowed? Thanks again for your help!!

Hello Rebecca,

Only 'basic' coach class is excluded from our OBT search results. The displays can be biased further. We choose not too.

Vince

At University of Wisconsin System we include all results with the exception of Basic Economy. It's filtered to show lowest fare first. Technically our policy is to book within $250 of the lowest available fare, however users can book at whatever fare they choose and will not be penalized if they book over that fare. Generally, our travelers are already cost concious.

Tulane is the same, we do not show basic economy fares. We have no hard stops in the OBT, but we do have warnings. If they are not booking the lowest airfare, they need to give a reason. As I tell the travelers, we understand there are reasons for this, schedule, number of stops, etc. Our policy is to book $150 of the lowest fare and $200 for international. We don't allow refundable fares, unless the outside funding resource requires it. We have more issues with upgrades, that policy is below. I can send the full policy, but it's lengthy. We have revised and shortened our policy, but it's not approved by senior administration yet.

Upgrades may be purchased directly with the airline or hotel using personal payments or rewards after the reservations are purchased. Upgrades using rewards miles, credits or personal payment methods would be considered a personal expense and not reimbursable. The “EarlyBird Check-In” upgrade with Southwest may be approved at the department level by the department head/dean.

Economy plus or business class seating may be purchased if the traveler has approval from the School’s Dean, Chair, Provost Office or Senior Vice President (or their approved delegate), in writing in advance. Pre-approval is not necessary if at least one of the following two bullet point conditions are met, including available budget verification and sponsored travel and departmental policy restrictions:
• A flight segment has a scheduled in-air flying time in excess of four hours for
economy plus and six hours for business class; or
• A medical justification has been documented and approved through the Executive Director for Campus Accessibility & ADA/504 Coordinator, which will then notify the appropriate V.P. or Dean; and
• Verification that your budget and department will allow the upgrade prior to purchase.
Your department or applicable funding source policy guidelines should always be followed if more restrictive than the travel policy.

When reserving in-policy seating upgrades, only the segment that meets the policy requirements may be upgraded, not the entire itinerary. When booking upgraded class seats by segments, you may need to call an agent for the best schedule and pricing, especially if flying international.

Students must travel economy/coach class regardless of duration or length of the flight, unless a request for reasonable accommodations has been reviewed and approved by the Goldman Center for Student Accessibility that necessitates an upgraded class seat.

Alyssa: if your travelers exceed the $250 threshold, does the booking system ask them to explain why they are selecting a more expensive flight? Or does it provide any other messaging to the traveler that they're technically "out of policy?"

Laney: do travelers only have to provide a reason for not booking the LLF if they exceed the $150 threshold for domestic tickets? or do they have to provide a reason for any selection that isn't the LLF?

Thank you both!!

The only fares excluded from FSU's OBT are basic economy. There are warnings for booking > main cabin, but that's it. Our thought process was that we wanted to avoid "but I can get XYZ price/flight on somerandomwebsite.com!" conversations and show users that they had the same options as whatever agent or booking tool they were previously using. Additionally, we have many travelers with ADA accommodations allowing extra legroom seating.

MSU suppresses basic economy fares and Allegiant Airlines completely.

Our travel policy as relates to Air/Rail:

Air/Rail Travel
Common Carrier
When choosing a common carrier, time in route should be a factor.
Travel must be at the lowest, logical (considering cost and time) available airfare which is defined as coach and economy class. When travel is by rail, the fare may not exceed the lowest available airfare and most direct, expeditious route.
University travelers are expected to purchase the lowest airfare on departures from Lansing, Detroit, Flint, and Grand Rapids (or any major commercial airport within 100 miles of their main place of business).
Optimum pricing of airfare is typically offered 14—120 days prior to departure; therefore, MSU travelers should purchase airfare within this purchase guideline. Travelers may not purchase airfare/rail more than 9 months in advance.
Any changes in travel plans booked through MSU’s Preferred Travel Agencies (PTA) that requires cancellation or revision of airline tickets, should be reported to the PTA immediately so that alternate arrangements can be made.
Changes to flight reservations while in route, which do not require airfare changes, may be made directly with the participating airline. If a fare change is required, however, the University traveler should use the agency provided toll–free telephone reservations number (printed on the traveler's itinerary) for either domestic or international travel.
When a trip is canceled, the Preferred Travel Agency who booked the trip should be notified immediately for possible refund or to track the unused ticket for future use.
All airline coach/economy seating for which an additional fee is charged (e.g., preferred, economy comfort, exit row) is not reimbursable.
Michigan State University wants its business travelers to fly without worry of being “bumped” from flights for which they have reserved and paid for tickets. Certain airlines require travelers to pay a fee to reserve coach/economy seats. Such fees are reimbursable.
Upgrades, including business class, on domestic flights, require MSU business travelers to demonstrate a documented medical reason for an exception to be granted. This separate, written justification must be approved prior to booking and attached to the appropriate eDoc.
Airfare costs in excess of the lowest logical available commercial restricted airfare (such as business class) may be selected for continuing flights exceeding five (5) hours of flight time to destinations outside the contiguous United States. The traveler must demonstrate a documented business or medical reason for an exception to be granted. This separate, written justification must be approved prior to booking and attached to the appropriate eDoc.
In either case, approval must come from one of the following: Provosts (including Associate and Assistant Provost), Vice-Presidents (including Associate and Assistant Vice-Presidents), Deans (including Associate and Assistant Deans), Directors (including Associate and Assistant Directors), Chairpersons (including Associate and Assistant Chairpersons), or College/MAU Budget Officer/Financial Administrator. This may not be delegated.
Travelers must compare airfare costs when choosing to travel from a location more than 100 miles from their point of employment.
Travelers are expected to obtain written quotes from Michigan State University's preferred travel agencies when choosing to travel from Toronto or Chicago. Based upon these airfare quotes, the traveler would be reimbursed the lower of the two airfares.
Exception: Traveler is temporarily stationed away from main place of business. In this case, airfare should be from the closest airport to the Traveler’s temporary location.
In case of indirect routing for personal reasons, the extra transportation costs will be at the traveler's expense.
Travelers are expected to obtain written quotes from Michigan State University's preferred travel agencies. Based upon these airfare quotes, the traveler would be reimbursed the lower of the two airfares.
University travelers are permitted to collect and retain frequent flyer miles. Travelers are encouraged to use frequent flyer miles for business purposes or upgrades on international flights. However, MSU business travelers may not choose flights for the sole purpose of collecting frequent flyer miles. If MSU business travelers use frequent flyer miles to purchase a ticket, they will only be reimbursed the out of pocket costs or associated costs of having airline tickets issued.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Ed

Hello Rebecca,
Our policy on this is listed here https://finance.uw.edu/travel/netid-bookandpay#HowtoBook

They are to book the lowest logical cost and observe/exclude any fees due to personal preference or convenience not necessary/critical to UW business. We do not go into the depth that you do at this time due to us not being able to mandate the use of our TMC. We say lowest logical cost, as we found that the airlines are adding so many types of fare classes. By saying to observe/exclude any fees, this is to address the basic economy fare where if the fees are added, it is not the lowest logical cost. Please feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions.