Travel by the Book

A Veterans Affairs Department employee, Cheryl Korman, relocated from New Hampshire to Connecticut. She spent money on temporary quarters, basing the amount on what had been authorized. When she filed her claim, the department paid her $2,000 less than she had spent.

Air Force civilian employee Robert Dawes was leaving California for business travel to Colorado when he realized he had forgotten his airline tickets. After trying unsuccessfully to reach his contracted travel management office, he bought another ticket at the government rate from the airline. Although he was able to turn in the unused tickets for a refund, the Air Force refused to reimburse Dawes for the tickets he bought at the airport.

Most of the time, federal travelers get their reimbursements-maybe slowly, but they get them-and everything works out. But occasionally, an employee and the government can't agree on how much, or even whether, the government should pay. Those disputes end up in one of two places: the General Services Administration's Board of Contract Appeals or the Defense Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals.

If you're one of the unlucky few who is out of pocket a couple of hundred-or even a couple of thousand dollars-it's cold comfort to learn that things go well for the vast majority of the 93,000 federal workers on temporary duty travel on any given business day. But you can avoid getting stuck in a reimbursement quagmire.

Common Pitfalls
Some employees end up in trouble with the regulations while they're trying to be good. Lorna LaRoe-Barber, for example, saved

the Army more than $300 on a round-trip ticket from Anchorage to Dallas. The problem: She didn't buy the ticket from the government-contracted travel agency. So she was out more than $450.

To avoid this and many other travel reimbursement perils, follow the rules. The government requires that travel arrangements be made through the commercial travel office or travel management center under contract to an employee's organization or through an in-house travel office. Perhaps the worst situations arise when workers do exactly what they were instructed to-rent a car, book a flight, store household goods, whatever-and it turns out the regs don't allow it. Like Korman, federal employees spend money in good faith, on the instructions of a supervisor (and sometimes even a travel office).

Korman had checked her reimbursement rate not once, not twice, but six times before she spent the money for temporary lodging while relocating. Here's the really bad news: Even if you were just following orders, and no matter how outrageous or unfair the situation, the appeals boards can only grant what the law allows. Bad information can't obligate the government to pay for something the law doesn't cover.

The fix? Know the law. Every regulation, every city-pair contract carrier, every per diem rate, every travel tidbit can be found on the Web. Look it up and print it out, says GSA travel trainer Nancy Murphy. Don't rely on the word of others.

The majority of reimbursement disputes arise not about temporary duty travel but about relocation expenses. And probably the most common of those disputes concern payment for moving household goods. In dispute is where Sabrina Swenson, an Agriculture Department veterinarian, ended up after being transferred from Kansas to Iowa. The mover estimated that her shipment weighed less than 18,000 pounds. Knowing that movers routinely add 10 percent in weight to ensure a realistic estimate, Swenson felt assured she was well within the 18,000-pound limit. But after the move, she was billed $662.71 for exceeding the limit.

The same thing happened to Robert Boggs when the State Department moved him overseas. But when he got back to the United States, he got a bill not only for moving belongings that exceeded 18,000 pounds, but also for storing them for seven years.

More bad news: no matter how inaccurate a pre-move weight estimate, the government is limited by law to paying for no more than 18,000 pounds worth of stuff. So pare down before you move or prepare to pay for anything over the limit.

So what's a traveler to do? Say "Show me in writing," says travel trainer Murphy. Verify what your supervisor or travel manager is telling you. Go to the Web and download the regulations. "The onus is on the employee to know the rules," she cautions.

In the most extreme situations, GSA's Board of Contract Appeals can forward a case to the Office of Governmentwide Policy for review. Under a pilot program established by the 1998 Travel and Transportation Reform Act, that office has the authority to grant relief in "meritorious" cases that fall outside the bounds of the statute. But don't get your hopes up. Any dispute still must be processed through your agency and the appeals board before it can be recommended for review. Only about two cases a year clear that hurdle.

Words to the Wise
A few basic rules can keep you from making some of the most common travel mistakes. (Ignore these at your peril-you'll probably end up paying money out of your own pocket if you do.)

1. Thou shalt make all travel arrangements through the proper channels. If you are a military service member, you are required to use the commercial travel office (CTO) under contract to your department or installation. If you are a civilian agency worker or a Defense Department civilian, the law strongly encourages you to use the travel management center (TMC) under contract with your office. On Jan. 1, 2001, using the TMC will become a requirement.

You must use these travel offices for all types of transactions, including buying airplane tickets, reserving hotel rooms and booking rental cars. Contact the contracted travel agency, if at all possible, if you need to change any travel plans. Using the travel agency will help you comply with other travel rules as well, such as those governing use of city-pair airlines, per diem rates, fire-safe lodging and so on.

2. Thou shalt use the contract airfares (a.k.a. city-pair fares). The law permits only limited exceptions to the requirement that federal workers on official travel buy airline tickets at the government rate from the carrier that holds the contract for the city pair they are flying. If you follow commandment No. 1 and make your arrangements through a contracted travel agency, you won't be able to mess up this one. 3. Thou shalt use the government-issued travel card for all travel expenses.

This one is self-explanatory. The rules allow only limited exceptions, including those for things that can't be paid for with a card (such as taxi fares or fast food) and for workers who go to remote places where cards are not accepted. Individual agencies also can make their own exceptions.

And here's the corollary: Don't put anything on the travel card that is not a travel expense, even if you incur it while traveling. You won't be paid back.