As communicated previously and included in the Fall 2021 Return Plan, UA-sponsored domestic travel is allowable, per UA travel policies and with supervisory approval. Any non-essential UA-sponsored international travel continues to be prohibited, except as approved by UA’s International Travel Health and Safety Officer, Chad Berry at chad.berry@ua.edu.
Pre-Trip Approval Form
The Pre-Trip Approval Form is required for all out-of-state overnight trips for faculty and staff (unless fully funded by a contract or grant). The form will automatically route to the traveler’s supervisor for approval. After the form is approved, the traveler and the delegate who entered the form, if applicable, will receive a PDF version of the approved form via email that should then be attached to all Expense Reports related to that trip.
Booking Travel
Effective for trips booked on or after August 1, 2021, the Concur booking tool must be used to book all airfare. The Concur booking tool is recommended for lodging and rental cars when possible. When lodging and rental car reservations must be booked outside of Concur, the UA P-Card is the required method of payment. If you need to obtain a UA P-Card, please complete the Concur-P-Card User Access Form.
There are many advantages to booking all University airfare through the Concur booking tool. The primary advantage is the visibility and availability of unused flight credits. Departments can see and use flight credits for trips booked through Concur and later cancelled. Departments can reassign flight credits for future UA travel even when the original traveler is no longer affiliated with the University. Another advantage is that travelers who book through the Concur booking tool receive the support of the University’s travel agent 24/7 for any flight issues or changes that occur, and Concur bookings are captured by UA’s duty of care program for traveler safety. Finally, booking through Concur will lead to an easier reconciliation process as the e-receipt, itinerary and card transaction (if using traveler p-card) will all be in the traveler’s profile.
If you have any questions about Concur bookings or would like to discuss a potential exception to the booking mandate, please contact Accounts Payable at acctspay@ua.edu.