Travel Reimbursement Presented by Ronald Sol, ERA Compliance Analyst C ASE STUDIES

Case Study 1 – Economy Plus Professor Sheldon Cooper traveled to Washington, D.C. for a NSF Project Review Meeting. He purchased an Economy Plus round trip ticket from United Airlines. Economy Plus offers extra legroom and seats closer to the front of the plane. After his trip, his faculty administrator submits a travel reimbursement for your review. The airline ticket is being charged to the NSF project, and the business purpose explains that the extra costs were needed so the PI could work on his laptop. What should you do?

Case Study 1 Answer – Economy Plus The RFA should return the reimbursement to the originator and explain that the Economy Plus premium is an unallowable cost to the federal award. Travelers may only charge the lowest available airfare to the federal award, and Economy Plus does not apply given the business purpose provided. The policy for Economy Plus is currently being worked on at Stanford. Presently Travel & Reimbursement may allow the premium to be charged to a non-sponsored project under an unallowable expenditure code on an exception basis with a reminder that future travel should be the lowest available airfare. In this case, the RFA should request that the Economy Plus premium be removed from the reimbursement. However, if the PI can provide justification to show that the extra costs were for Stanford Business, and this was a first time “offense”, the RFA can contact T&R and request for an exception. The policy may be updated early 2015, so please stay tuned.

Case Study 2 – Unused Ticket Professor Newton traveled to DARPA project review meeting in Tucson, AZ where he was to present research findings on the day of his arrival. Since there are no direct flights from SFO to Tucson, Professor Newton decided to travel to Phoenix, AZ and catch a connecting flight to Tucson, which is about 115 miles away. Unfortunately, on the day of his trip, his flight from SFO to Tucson was rain delayed by 2 hours. When he finally arrived in Tucson, his flight had already left. The next available flight would have been too late for him to make his presentation, so he decided take a taxi instead. He was able to make his presentation on time. After the trip, he requests reimbursement of the airline ticket and taxi, and would like it to be charged to the DARPA project. Is this allowable? What should you do?

Case Study 2 Answer – Unused Ticket According to the Stanford Administrative Guide section 3.d, travelers are encouraged to rebook unused tickets whenever possible. If it is not possible to use the ticket through rebooking, then it may be payable with proper documentation. An unused ticket affidavit must be completed and submitted with the expense report. Unused tickets should be charged to a non-sponsored account (PTA). In this case, the recommendation is to charge the taxi cost to the federal award, since it was the most economical available option. A comparative quote for SFO-PHX airfare should be obtained, and the amount should be charged to the federal award. The difference between the actual airfare cost and comparable quote should be charged to a non-sponsored account. Per Stanford policy, an unused ticket affidavit should be completed and submitted with the expense report.