Out-of-State or Overseas Travel
For any travel out-of-state or overseas, all employees and students traveling on University business are required to register their travel plans prior to their departure. This can be done at www.uctravel.org, on the form “Business Travel Insurance” found on the website.
Upon registering for the insurance, the traveler will receive a Confirmation of Coverage card. The Card should be carried by the traveler until s/he returns from the trip. Upon registration, the traveler will also receive a list of telephone numbers for medical emergency care or travel assistance.
If you have any questions about the travel insurance, you may contact Risk Management office at 893-2860 directly. Explanation of what this insurance covers in detail can be found on the www.uctravel.org website.
Travel Agencies
UC Contract/State fares
UCLA Travel Center
http://www.travel.ucla.edu
Santa Barbara Travel Bureau
1028 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 966-3116
Agent: Various
Carlson Wagonlit Travel
3329 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Agent: Linda A. Kavanagh
Airfare
Aside from UC contracted/State travel agencies, travelers can also make airfare reservations through online companies such as Expedia, Travelocity etc. It is extremely important that travelers do not make package deals for airfare and hotel. Package deals do not usually provide an itemized hotel receipt which is required by Travel Accounting.
Travelers using funds provided by the federal government must comply with the Fly America Act.
Please keep all boarding passes and turn them in with receipts.
Lodging
Please call your department’s Financial Assistant for foreign per diem rates for hotels.
Note: It is very important that you get an itemized receipt for your hotel expenses. A credit card carbon copy is not accepted by Travel Accounting.
Transportation
Do not accept any kind of liability insurance when renting a car, it is covered in the contract that UC has with the rental companies. Make sure to identify yourself as a UC employee to get the special rates. Car rentals must be made through Connexxus in order to get liability insurance coverage. Purchase of additional liability insurance cannot be reimbursed.
Mileage reimbursement rate is approximately $0.5/mile. This rate is subject to change and will be reimbursed at the corresponding rate. Travelers can claim either mileage or gas, not both.
Use public transportation and shuttles wherever possible, rather than taxis.
Food
Per diem rates are explained in depth on our Per Diem Rates page.
Meals and incidental expenses for travel less than 24 hours in duration CANNOT be reimbursed.
Travelers are asked to report actual, out-of-pocket expenses meal expenses. This needs to be completed on our Meal Log.
Per University Policy, employees cannot be reimbursed for any alcohol purchased.
PLEASE KEEP ALL RECEIPTS.
Long-term Travel Guidelines
Department members that will be traveling on UC business for 30+ days must abide by the following guidelines, so that we can ensure your reimbursement/advance reconciliation is processed quickly and accurately.
Please remember to save all original receipts while traveling, keep a meal log, and keep careful track of your itinerary for submission to the PASC. In addition to providing original receipts, you will need to provide your arrival and departure dates & times, to/from each location visited throughout your travel period (personal time should be included, but make sure to note which days were business days, and which were personal).
Receipts must be:
- Dated
- Numbered
- In good condition. If it’s difficult to read a receipt, please initial somewhere on the receipt and make a note of this on the spreadsheet.
- Accompanied by a spreadsheet
- Hand-written receipts must be signed by the recipient - If no signature, traveler must initial somewhere on receipt
Receipts that aren’t numbered or included on the spreadsheet will be returned to the traveler and will not be accepted until they are submitted in the proper format. Note: it is the traveler’s responsibility to review receipts, to ensure unallowable expenses are not included. Unallowable expenses include alcohol, personal hygiene expenses, cigarettes, clothing, or other items not on your budget. For additional clarification, please talk to your Financial Assistant before you depart.
When you return from traveling, please submit your original receipts to your department’s Financial Assistant, along with a spreadsheet detailing all receipts (both in hard copy, and emailed electronically).
Spreadsheet needs to contain at least these 5 columns:
- Receipt number
- Date of receipt
- Amount
- Type of expense (preferably tied back to budget categories: lodging, food, services, etc.)
- Funding source to charge (if multiple grants will be used for a single trip, each expense must indicate to which grant it should be charged.)
The spreadsheet must be signed by the traveler (and PI, if the PI is not the traveler), and should include the following handwritten statement:
“I certify that I have reviewed the above receipts and that these expenses are appropriate and beneficial, and should be charged to the grant(s) indicated.”