How to Book
UW Travel Agencies
UW Travel Discounts
How to Pay
Rewards Programs
Package Deal
How to Book Travel
Must be the lowest logical cost, and observe/exclude any fees due to personal preference or convenience not necessary/critical to UW business.
It is not mandated how travel is booked. Travel may be booked through a travel agency, directly with the vendor, or through other booking channels. Departments may be stricter with a mandated travel program due to funding and compliance concerns, refer to your administrator for guidance.
It is not recommended to book package deals through a fare aggregator such as Expedia, Travelocity of Orbitz. Package deals may be taxed or not reimbursable due to non-compliance with receipt documentation. See Package Deal Policy.
UW Travel Agencies
UW Travel Discounts
How to Pay for Travel
Individual:
- Personal funds (debit/credit card, cash, check)
- UW Individual Travel Card (managed by UW Card Services)
- **restrictions apply
Department:
- Central Travel Account (CTA) (managed by UW Card Services)
- **restrictions apply
Advance:
- Per Diem Advance
- **restrictions apply
- Living Allowance
- **restrictions apply
Rewards Programs
Expenses purchased using any rewards program, such as mileage points, credit card travel points, my wallet funds, gift cards or other personal rewards programs are not reimbursable. See State Ethics Board Advisory Opinion 03-03.
Companion airfare is reimbursed at the amount itemized on the receipt for the UW business traveler.
Expenses paid by flight credits due to a previous cancelled flight may be reimbursed with the appropriate documentation attached to the expense report. The previous cancelled flight may be personal or business.
Required Documentation:
- The original ticket(s) that the flight credit came from
- Confirmation of the cancelled flight and/or when the flight amount turned into a credit
Package Deal (effective January 1st, 2018)
There are different requirements and restrictions for package deals depending upon the itemization of cost.
If a detailed breakdown of the individual costs (e.g., airfare amount, airfare class of service, room rate per night, taxes, etc.) can be obtained then the expenses can be reimbursed to the traveler. Individual costs (e.g., airfare, lodging) should be allocated to the appropriate line item in Workday.
If a detailed breakdown of the individual costs cannot be obtained then a distinction cannot be made between business travel and personal benefit. Per IRS regulations, if a distinction cannot be made then the travel is considered to be personal benefit and the travel will be liable for taxes. UW is thus required to tax the cost of the package deal as income.
Note for travel on Federal Sponsored Awards: Travel on Federal Awards requires proof of compliance with the Fly America Act, the class of service is economy or coach (or a documented exception applies), and it is the cheapest available airfare. If that detailed information cannot be provided then this “package deal” would not be an allowable cost.
If receipts are not itemized and not compliant use the 'Package Deal' line item in Workday and follow the built in tax instruction
For UW employees, email travel@uw.edu with employee name, employee ID #, expense report #, payment description and package deal line item amount. Please attach proof to the expense report.
The traveler (UW employee) will be taxed through payroll as income based the amount of the non-compliant package deal total:
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Current withholding (subject to change):
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Federal Income Tax = 22%
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Social Security Tax = 6.2%
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Medicare Tax = 1.45%
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For non-UW Individuals, due to tax reporting requirements, non-UW employees are to be paid honoraria through the Workday Miscellaneous Payment module.
**All resources should be exhausted to acquire compliant receipts. The package deal line item should be used as a last resort when those resources have been exhausted.