Timeline for What does "qualify for a more competitive rate" mean when booking flights for academic travel?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
10 events
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| Feb 27, 2015 at 8:18 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | @BenWebster: In the scenario I described, the traveller books the tickets online and indicates the university address as the recipient of the bill. | |
| Feb 27, 2015 at 0:24 | comment | added | Ben Webster | @O.R.Mapper Having the university purchase the tickets for you is often an option, but I think most people have gotten too used to the convenience of just booking themselves online rather than dealing with whatever staff is needed to set this up. | |
| Feb 26, 2015 at 16:19 | history | edited | gerrit | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Feb 26, 2015 at 16:09 | comment | added | Bill Barth | @O.R.Mapper, I think I agree about the first option, but I also think that, from the sound of it, and from OP's original post and response to me about eating the interest, he's having to book the flight and wait for reimbursement. The part where OP asked "I was informed that I would be reimbursed for travel expenses" seemed to indicate this case to me. That made it pretty clear that OP wasn't able to book through the university's agent. | |
| Feb 26, 2015 at 16:03 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | @BillBarth: Well, paying oneself in advance is not required in the first case that you describe. And with that in mind, I'm actually used to booking flights myself via a travel agency that has a partnership contract with the university, and they will automatically send the bill directly to my travel expenses department, so I don't have to pay any money for that. It's possible that's only feasible for staff, though, not for prospective staff as in this question (and paying myself to get reimbursed later is also what I have to do for anything I do not book via that particular travel agency). | |
| Feb 26, 2015 at 15:40 | comment | added | Bill Barth | @O.R.Mapper, it's the way all universities I have ever interacted have worked. They either book the airfare on your behalf and pay directly upfront, or they require you to book it on your own and ask for reimbursement after the fact. The logic in the latter case is to not pay you until you have actually taken the flights. Otherwise, you could book, get reimbursed, and then cancel the travel and take their money. It would be rare in my experience for any large bureaucracy to trust you not to steal from them. | |
| Feb 26, 2015 at 14:27 | comment | added | O. R. Mapper | It's not that I disagree about the pay-yourself-first-get-money-back-later arrangement being somewhat likely in this case, but does any part of the question state this is the case here? Your statement "The university won't be able to reimburse you until you've actually taken both the flights." sounds extremely certain, as if you had some knowledge that I'm not seeing provided in this question. | |
| Feb 26, 2015 at 2:55 | comment | added | Bill Barth | It gets easier when you have a full-time job and can just eat the cost of the airfare while you're waiting for the reimbursement. My university offers a Diner's Club card with a 60-day grace period to be used for official travel purposes that might save you one interest payment if you work it right. You might not have enough time to do that, but you might inquire. | |
| Feb 26, 2015 at 2:44 | comment | added | user90593 | +1 for particular attention to the financial consideration of this reimbursement thing... that interest payment was exactly what I was thinking about :). Well, as long as they will pay me back in full. | |
| Feb 26, 2015 at 2:34 | history | answered | Bill Barth | CC BY-SA 3.0 |