Frequently Asked Questions About Travel

Travel status means that you are eligible for reimbursement of travel expenses. You are in travel status when you are on state business at a location that is more than 35 miles from both your work location and your home.

State business is any activity directly related to an employee’s job responsibilities and/or furthers the mission and operations of the college. Examples include:

• Recruitment
• Off-campus supervision,
• Class field trips
• Meetings and conferences held by or with state officials
• Intercollegiate athletic games, attendance at relevant professional conferences

Your work location, also known as your "Official Station" is the place designated by the college to be the location where you typically work. For most employees, it will be your office location on the main campus.

If you don't know your work location, talk to your supervisor.

The purpose of the work location designation is to establish when you are in travel status and eligible for reimbursement of travel expenses. Work location can have an impact on the income reportable to the IRS.

No. Travel between your home and work location is considered commuting and is generally not reimbursable.

If you are traveling to a location that is within 35 miles of both your home and work location, you are not considered to be in travel status. The expense of meals or lodging will not be reimbursed.

The appropriateness of travel expense reimbursement will be made on a case-by-case basis consistent with OSC Travel Guidelines.

Be aware there are tax implications for getting reimbursed for travel expenses within proximity of your home and work location.

Review our Travel Policy

Complete the online travel authorization and advance form and route it for necessary approvals.

Learn how to Complete a Travel Authorization and Advance Form

A travel authorization is needed for several reasons:

• OSC Travel rules require prior approval for all trips.
• It indicates your intention to travel on SUNY related business.
• It ensure that there is funding available to support your trip

Yes, you need to do a travel authorization for any trip that takes you away from your usual work location as assigned by SUNY.

Yes, a travel authorization is still required. However, we have developed a blanket travel authorization for travelers who conduct routine travel throughout a semester or fiscal year as part of their responsibilities (e.g. admissions recruiters, coaches and student teacher supervisors

Complete a Blanket Travel Authorization

Yes, each employee should complete a travel authorization.

As a traveler, you are responsible for making your travel reservations. This includes selecting the lodging accommodations that best meet your needs. Generally, you can stay at any paid accommodations as long as you do not exceed the daily maximum per diem rate for lodging.

Per diems are the maximum rates reimbursed for overnight lodging, meals and incidental expenses and are established by the state of New York and the federal government. For meals, the per diem only includes dinner and breakfast. Lunch is not reimbursable.

It depends upon the nature of the travel, the location you are traveling to and when you are going. For more information, see our How-To Guide on Determining Per Diem Rates.

The college expects travelers to secure lodging that is equal to or below the maximum per diem rate for the travel destination effective at the time of the travel.

Occasionally, you may not be able to find lodging at or under the per diem rate. If that happens, do the following:

1. Review lodging at other hotels within close proximity to the event location to see if a room at the per diem rate can be obtained
2. Document these findings.
3. Upload an Over Per Diem Lodging Justification with the Travel Authorization and Advance Form.
4. Confirm approval of the justification.

Complete an Over Per Diem Justification Form

You should use the per diem rate associated with the location of the overnight stay.

If breakfast or dinner is provided as part of a conference registration fee then the breakfast or dinner must be deducted from the meal reimbursement.

First, get a quote from Direct Travel by calling 800-774-0655. Direct Travel has a state contract and should be checked first. You will need a profile setup to get a quote from Direct Travel. To request a profile, email [email protected].

If you wish to make alternate arrangements, get two additional written quotes dated the same date the alternate flight is booked and keep copies.

Get a quote from Direct Travel showing the price of the airfare if the travelers had flown for the business dates only. The actual dates of travel must be listed on the authorization to travel (including the personal dates) and you should add a note stating what dates are personal.

New York state has contracts with Hertz and Enterprise Rent-a-Car.  Learn more getting a rental vehicle.

You should make your reservation online using the website established under the state contract or by calling a dedicated reservation line. Do not call local branches. For more information, see our detailed how-to guide for getting a rental vehicle.

No and if accepted insurance will not be reimbursed. Using the state contract with rental companies and the travel card provides sufficient insurance. The purchase of additional insurance is not authorized.

Charges are incurred on a 24-hour basis from the point at which charges begin.

• If you pickup the vehicle after 5 p.m. charges will not begin until the next day under the state contract.
• If you pickup the vehicle before 5 p.m. charges will begin the time you pick it up.

A personal vehicle may be used for state business purposes when a state vehicle or common carrier is not available, is not cost effective or is otherwise not appropriate. Mileage reimbursement rates are determined by the IRS.

Travelers using their personal vehicle on official state business should be aware of the following:

• There is no state coverage for any of the following: uninsured or underinsured motorists, personal injury protection, medical payments. These coverages must be provided through the traveler’s own personal policy.
• Workers' Compensation coverage is provided as if the traveler was using a state-owned vehicle on state business.
• Comprehensive and collision losses to the personal vehicle are not covered by the state.
• Liability to other persons, including passengers in the traveler’s vehicle, must be covered by the traveler’s own personal auto policy. If the suit is for more than your insurance coverage, the employee must request Public Officers Law Section 17 coverage from the attorney general in writing within five days of the notification of the suit. If the employee was acting in the course of employment and the act was not malicious or intentional, the attorney general may grant defense and indemnification under Public Officers Law, Section 17 subject to the conditions contained therein.

No, you are not required to use a personal vehicle. You may choose to do so if the cost of using a personal vehicle is less than the cost of a rental vehicle.

LENS clearance verifies the validity of NYS drivers licenses and any reports of vehicle or traffic convictions/license suspension or revocation activity on the license. All drivers need LENS clearance before driving any vehicles on state business in accordance with the college's Fleet Management Policy.

When preparing a travel authorization you should use a mapping software to calculate mileage such as Mapquest or Google Maps. Enter your destination and departure points. Don't forget to include your return trip.

For actual travel, you should be logging your miles using the Statement of Automobile mileage.

Where feasible, employees should carpool to minimize the expense to the state.

The mileage rate changes annually and is established by the IRS.

Required Procedures for Any Accident:

1. In the unfortunate event of an accident, you should first get medical attention if injuries have been sustained.
2. Call the police and file a report. Request a copy of that report and any pictures that the police have taken.
3. If the police have not done so, take pictures of the accident and any damage to both vehicles and request a copy of the police report.
4. Contact University Police and the facilities department to notify them of the accident.
5. When you return to the campus, submit a copy of the police report, along with a completed NYS MV-104 Report, and any pictures to the facilities department.
6. Be aware that you may have an obligation to file an MV-104 with the Department of Motor Vehicles for serious accidents. This is your responsibility; the college does not do so.

Additional Steps for Rental Vehicles:

1. Call the branch you rented the vehicle from. That branch will file an incident report and can assist with setting up a tow truck or replacement vehicle if necessary.
2. The rental vehicle company's claims team will take over after the branch incident report is filed. They may reach out to the renter for additional information to settle the claim, especially if there is a third party involved.
3. Notify Procurement Services of the accident.

Additional Steps for Personal Vehicles:

1. If you are driving a personal vehicle, notify your personal automobile insurer and submit any documentation needed to their claims team.

We encourage employees to use a state travel card. You can also pay for travel out-of-pocket with a personal credit card and seek reimbursement for expenses after the travel.

We strongly encourage use of the travel card. However, you are not required to use a travel card.

Complete a travel voucher within 30 days of returning from travel. Be sure to attach all required documentation and get all necessary approvals. See our Travel Voucher How-To Guide for more information.

Complete a Travel Voucher

A summary of receipts needed is available on our reimbursement webpage.

There may be cases where receipts are not customarily provided and, therefore, you are unable to provide receipts for your expense. You are still entitled to reimbursement of these expenses. You should claim the reimbursement on your travel voucher and note that a receipt was not provided for the expense. Examples include:

• Tolls where a receipt is not available (e.g., Garden State Parkway, NYC Westside Highway Bridge).
• Parking (e.g., coin meter parking, parking lots with no receipt machine, honor system parking lots).
• Train/bus fare when used from a personal, prepaid mass transit card (e.g., MetroCard).

For overnight accommodations, receipts are only required if you use a travel card to pay your meals. We recommend you pay for your meals out-of-pocket and request the meal per diem.

For extra meals that the traveler is entitled to for leaving early on the first day or returning late on the last day, it depends. See our Travel Authorization and Advance How-To Guide for more information.

Lodging, rental vehicle, train ticket and airline ticket receipts can be replaced fairly easily by contacting the vendor.

The college has the discretion, on occasion, to allow reimbursement if a receipt is missing and there is no reason to question the legitimacy of the expense. Even if you are unable to replace a receipt, you should still claim reimbursement on your travel voucher and note that you have lost the receipt.

You can find a list of miscellaneous expenses on our Paying for Travel webpage.

You may receive a per diem reimbursement for breakfast or dinner for day trips based on your departure and return times. You are entitled to reimbursement for breakfast if you must leave before 7 a.m. or for dinner if you return after 7 p.m.

• If you do not have itemized meal receipts, you will be reimbursed $5 for breakfast or $12 for dinner.
• If you have itemized meal receipts, you will be reimbursed for costs incurred at the GSA/US State Department maximum meal rates.

Please note: Day trip meal reimbursements are reportable as income to the IRS.

Review our Per Diem Flowchart

All employee reimbursements follow the same path as your paycheck. If your paycheck is direct deposited, your reimbursement will also be direct deposited into your bank account. If you receive an actual paycheck, your reimbursement will be mailed to the address on file with payroll.

Reimbursements are processed daily so if all paperwork is correct, you should see your reimbursement within two weeks of submitting your paperwork.

Most of the time travel reimbursements are not considered taxable income. However, there are a few instances where the IRS requires tax withholding and W-2 reporting such as meal allowances paid for day trips. For more information, please see the OSC Travel Manual.

Review the OSC Travel Manual

If a trip is cancelled at the direction of the agency, the traveler will not be responsible for any costs incurred.

If a trip is cancelled for the traveler’s convenience, the traveler will be responsible for any costs incurred by the college that cannot be cancelled.