Frequently Asked Questions about Travel

Who is the University’s contracted travel agency?

The University has a contract with Egencia LLC, an Expedia company.  Airline, hotel and car rental reservations can be made on the Egencia on-line booking system or by calling an agent at 800-401-1264 or by e-mail teamagents@customercare.egencia.com.

Some of the benefits of making your reservations through Egencia are:

• $350,000 Door-to-Door Travel Life Insurance (when charged to the University’s central billing card)
• Access to discounted/contracted pricing with airlines, hotels and rental car companies
• 24 X 7 access to the on-line booking tool and travel agents
• No need to charge airline tickets and hotel rooms to your personal credit card
• Increased volume on the central billing card = opportunity for departments to earn free airline tickets

Instructions for use of the Egencia system.

How do you book travel for a non-employee or guest?

All flight arrangements can be made on the Egencia system and billed to the University’s central billing card and charged to a departmental speedtype.  Hotel accommodations can be made at local hotels by either using a purchase order or a departmental procurement card.  View the list of preferred local hotels.

Rental cars can be reserved through the Egencia on-line booking tool or on the  Enterprise Car Rental website.

How many people can I arrange for in the Egencia system at one time?

Arrangements for up to 6 people can be made at one time in the Egencia system.  If you have groups of 10 or more that you need to arrange airline reservations, it is best to contact the Egencia Group Department, as you may be eligible for airline group discounts.

How do I get access to the profiles of others in my department so that I can arrange for them?

Access to your departmental Guest account must be provided by the Controller’s Office.  Please send an e-mail to Debbie Saylor, Marla Bisig or Kerry Kohl requesting access.

Access to other employees must be granted to you by that employee.  Please request that the traveler log on to the Egencia system and select  “My Profile”.  From here, they can add you as an approved arranger.  For security purposes, the Controller’s Office cannot grant this access.

Where can I find the University’s Travel Policies on the website?

http://louisville.edu/finance/controller/acctops/travel

Can I use my procurement card for travel-related expenses?

A procurement card can only be used for the following “travel” expenses:

• Non-employee/Guest travel expenses, except airfare which must be booked through Egencia
• Employee Conference Registrations
• Employee Car Rentals for same-day trips
• Group Car Rentals

For any other specific cases, please consult the Procurement Card website to determine if your expense is allowable.

**Please do not use a procurement card in the Egencia system for flights – please use the Central Billing Card that is loaded on the site.

Do I need to submit receipts for every expense on my travel voucher?

For travel specifically, receipts are not required for any expenses less than $30, other than hotel charges.  A hotel folio/receipt must be submitted in all cases.

Where do I look to see if someone has been reimbursed for their trip?

Normal processing time for accounts payable documents is 5-7 business days from the date of receipt.  After that, documents can be viewed in the PeopleSoft Financials system by vendor name or vendor number.

I have a traveler who prefers to fly a specific airline in order to earn frequent flyer miles.  Also, there are occasions when they would be willing to use their frequent flyer miles for business travel.  Is this allowable?

The University travel policy specifies, “Commercial airline travel may be reimbursed at actual cost including taxes and fees for the most economical class available.”  So, as long as the preferred airline was at least as economical as other airlines, it would be allowable.  However, the University does not permit the flight decision to be made on “frequent flyer program” perks if the preferred airline is more expensive.

“Frequent Flyer miles and/or airline, hotel and car rental-issued coupons are not reimbursable. It is up to the discretion of the traveler if they apply personal credits to their business travel.”

What should I do if I am arranging a flight for someone else and right before I make the purchase, I realize that I did not switch over to their name?  Will I lose all the selected flights if I have to start over?

Finish the reservation in your name by selecting  “Reserve this flight” (your choices will be determined by the page you are on, but you will want to “reserve” – not “purchase” the flight).  Once you reserve the itinerary, select the option “Copy Trip” in the blue box on the left side of the screen.  From here, you can “Select a Traveler” and switch over to someone else’s profile to purchase the ticket in his/her name.

How do I purchase an airline ticket on www.swabiz.com, Southwest Airline’s business site?

Please view the SWABIZ  “How To’s”  information.

What do I do if I need to make changes/cancellations to an airline ticket or hotel reservation?

All airline tickets and hotel reservations have different change/cancellation policies.  It is very important that you review these rules and restrictions before making a purchase.  The important thing to remember is that reservations need to be changed/canceled prior to the departure time or arrival date.  Otherwise, there is a good chance that all travel funds will be lost on the airline ticket and that the hotel room stay will be charged to the credit card used to guarantee the room.

If the reservation was made through the Egencia system, please log on and pull up the itinerary.  There will be an option at the bottom of the page to change or cancel the reservation.  Follow the steps from there.

How do I book a hotel room in the Egencia system and charge the room to the University’s central billing card?

The two types of rates in the Egencia system that this works with are: “Egencia Preferred Rates” and “Expedia Special Rates”.  In the description of these rates, it will say “Credit card is charged morning of check-in.”  Any other type of rate (that this will not work with) will say “Credit card will be used to guarantee room.”  By using this option, the room and taxes only will be charged to the central billing card.  However, the traveler will still need to present a personal credit card at time of check-in for incidentals.  If no incidentals are incurred, nothing will be charged to their card.  Keep in mind that when using the central billing card option for hotels, the traveler will not be provided with a folio from the hotel when they check-out.  They will only receive a folio for incidentals.

I am traveling to a conference.  Why can’t I book my room at the conference rate through Egencia?

When a conference provider blocks a group of rooms with a hotel, they are removed from inventory.  No third-party provider (Egencia, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc.) can access these rooms – only the hotel itself can access these rooms.  However, it is always a good idea to check rates on the Egencia system.  There are times when you can find a room at the same hotel at a cheaper rate or at the same cost as the conference rate.  Additionally, if the room is booked via the Egencia system and the “Egencia Preferred Rate” or “Expedia Special Rate” is selected, the room and taxes can be charged to the University’s central billing card.

Who is the University’s contracted car rental agency?

Enterprise Car Rental is the contracted agency.  Additional car rental information.

Cars can also be reserved on the Egencia website at our contracted pricing.

Should I accept the additional insurances that car rental agencies offer?

Per the University’s Travel Policy:

Domestic Trips: “Insurance to cover collision or comprehensive damage-waiver deductible on rental vehicles is neither an authorized nor reimbursable travel expense. When renting a vehicle, please make sure that the University of Louisville is listed as the lessee (i.e. "John Doe/University of Louisville"). View the policy on the University’s insurance coverage.

International Trips: “It is advisable, when traveling in a foreign country, that you obtain vehicle insurance provided by the rental car agency. (This does not apply to domestic rentals – see Section C, #3.) When renting a vehicle, please make sure that the University of Louisville is listed as the lessee (i.e. "John Doe/University of Louisville").”

Please explain the methods that can be used for meal reimbursements.

*In order to claim a meal allowance, you must have an overnight stay.
**This does not include business/entertainment meals.
***For international trips, one method must be used consistently on voucher.

Destination:

Miscellaneous Reminders

Parking charges at Standiford Field (Louisville International Airport) should be charged to the “Out of State Misc. Expenses” or “Intl. Misc. Expenses” account code, not “In State Misc. Expenses”.  Keep the account codes consistent throughout the travel voucher – consider the final destination city, not where the charge took place.

Gas receipts from a gas station should be coded to the “Misc. Expense” account, not the “Rental Car” account code.

Checked baggage fees should be coded to the “Misc. Expense” account, not the “Airfare” account code.

Hotel parking and internet charges should be coded to the “Misc. Expense” account, not the “Hotel” account code.

Business/entertainment expenses should be listed on the “Misc. Expense” page and should be coded as “Business/Entertainment Meals”.   Please do not list these expenses on the meals and mileage page.

Registrations should be listed on the “Misc. Expense” page and should be charged to the “Registration” account code.  Likewise, submission expenses should be coded to the “Submission” account code.

Please use the most current version of the travel voucher form.

Please make sure that you include the traveler’s PeopleSoft vendor number on the travel voucher.  Also, please make sure that you have the correct vendor number and that it is “active” in the system.

Please list your speedtype on every line that has an expense listed on the summary page, not just on the first line.