TRAVEL CARD PROCEDURES
The Travel Card is a type of P-Card that can be issued to University departments for the purpose of making authorized travel-related purchases on the University’s behalf.
Travel Cards do not “travel” with individual cardholders. The card is meant to be kept in the office and pay for certain travel-related expenses in advance.
If employees wish to have an individual card to take with them when they travel to pay for University travel-related expenses, they may apply for the Diners/Mastercard Corporate Travel card.
When using the travel card, all Travel Policy and Procedures should be followed.
Special Points about Travel Cards:
- Travel Cards must follow P-Card procedures (except where travel-related expenses are prohibited). This includes statement reconciliations and administrative reviews.
- The Travel Card may be used to pay for the following travel-related expenditures in advance of travel:
o Airfare (Delta, Southwest, Expedia, Travelocity, etc.)
o Travel Agencies (including agency airfare)
o Hotel
o Shuttle Service (Airport Shuttle, for example)
o Bus Service
Note: The Travel Card cannot be used to pay for workshop registrations. Departments may use their P-Cards, or employees may use their personal credit card and request reimbursement through the travel authorization process.
- All hotel charges on a Travel Card MUST be University travel-related business expenses.
- When using a Travel Card, you are authorizing a “third-party payment.”
- Most hotels will fax a single page document to the Cardholder asking for information to be filled in before accepting third-party payment.
- Please indicate to the hotel that the rooms should be paid for in advance of the travel.
- DO NOT send a copy of the Travel Card or your driver’s license to the hotel if it is requested. If they require this in order to accept a third-party payment, you MAY NOT use the Travel Card. Instead, the hotel rooms will need to be paid for using a personal credit card (which includes the Diner’s Card issued through the University).
- Please advise your travelers that even if their hotel room charges are being paid for via the Travel Card, they will still need to present a personal credit card when they check in to the hotel to cover any incidental expenses. If the incidental expenses are University travel-related business expenses, travelers will be reimbursed through the Travel Authorization form process.
- If a department wishes to rent a hotel to host a conference, the appropriate payment process is to submit a requisition to Purchasing Services using a non-travel account code.
- Please note that if the hotel requires a contract, departments may negotiate the terms, but ONLY the Director of Purchasing may sign the contract.
- Please indicate on the requisition if the hotel ONLY accepts credit card for payment. Buyers in Purchasing are able to accommodate this request.
- If you are renting a hotel for a conference and part of the contract includes paying for hotel rooms as well, based on the following circumstances, the payment process is as follows:
- The hotel rooms are for your employees. You may use either your Travel Card or a requisition to make payment.
- If you use a Travel Card, you must keep a copy of the contract as support documentation with the US Bank statement. You will also need to reallocate the conference room rental to a NON-travel related expense code.
- If you use a requisition, please separate the two expenses so that the conference room rental is charged to a NON-travel related expense code and the room rentals are charged to a travel expense code. You must also include the TA number associated with the employees who are traveling and staying in the rooms. You must also include a copy of the requisition with the Travel Authorization Forms as proof of payment for the hotel rooms.
- The hotel rooms are NOT for your employees. Often times, hotels will require a conference host to pay in advance for a block of rooms. At the end of the conference, an adjustment is made to the contract price to account for rented and non-rented rooms. For this type of scenario, you must use a requisition to pay for both the conference room and hotel room rentals.
- If bus service is needed the following have an existing University Contract:
- Le Bus
- A contract number needs to be referenced on the Travel Authorization.
- Aggie Shuttle Charter Bus Service
- If another bus service is needed:
- Contact the Director of Purchasing Services to establish a contract.
- Reference the Contract Number on the Travel Authorization.
- Departments can choose between the two following options:
1. One card for all University travel-related expenses. Since a Travel Card can be assigned to only one index, expenses can be reallocated to other indexes by the Cardholder or Card Manager.
2. One card per index for University travel-related expenses
- Transaction and Monthly Limits
o Departments are allowed to set the monthly total limit and single transaction limit based on their volume of travel.
o Single transaction dollar limits and monthly total limits can be considerably higher than for regular P-Cards.
o For example, if a department has a high volume of travel, they might set their monthly total at $25,000 with a single transaction limit of $5,000.
- Travel Authorization Forms
o Travel Authorization (TA) Forms must be filled out and approved (electronically or signed). All TAs must be submitted to the travel department even if there is no need to reimburse an employee.
o A copy of the TA must be attached to the Travel Card US Bank Statement for each line item charge. A correlating TA number is encouraged to be provided next to each line item charge on a Travel Card US Bank Statement. This will be helpful during reconciliation and any kind of review for the department.
o Each line item charge should have an itemized receipt for support documentation. Copies of itemized receipts are fine as long as they are readable.
- Travel Cards need to be reallocated with the correct account code during the four working days available prior to being submitted to finance.
o In-State Travel - 750300
o Out-of-State Travel - 751300
- Travel Cards may not be used for on-campus expenditures, excluding the University Inn. When using the Travel Card at the Universtiy Inn you need to use an OCC number, if your initial card did not have an OCC number(sticker) please contact Karlene Combs (435)797-1037.
- Travel Card Training
There is a separate online training for the travel card. Please review the training slides at http://www.usu.edu/controller/acctpay/forms/TravelCardholderPresentation.pdf and return the signed Travel Card Training and Agreement form which you will find at the end of the training to USU: Karlene Combs UMC 2400 or fax (435)797-1077 , or USU-CEU: Lisa Sherman lisa.sherman@usu.edu.