RESEARCH SUPPORT OFFICE

All airfare must be booked through the Concur online booking tool or directly with an agent at Fox World Travel. Use of a third-party online travel booking site (e.g. Travelocity, Orbitz) or booking directly with an airline is prohibited. Fox World Travel is the University’s contracted travel agency for individual travel and are able to assist you in addition to the SSEC Travel Office. Higher Education Team hours are from 7am – 7:30pm CST.  Call (608) 710-4172.  Chat is available Monday-Friday 7am-10:30pm (After hours fee applies after 7:30pm).  Live chat with an agent through the Fox Portal or your e-invoice.  For complete information on how to book and pay for a flight, and what air travel-related expenses are allowed, see Planning a Trip – Air Travel

When to call Fox World Travel for booking –

• International Flights
• When traveling with a companion (non-business-related traveler) to reserve flights for both
• Trip that includes multiple locations/legs
• To apply unused credit to a flight
• For help with cost comparisons

All lodging must be reserved through the Concur online system, directly with an agent at Fox World Travel, by booking directly with the lodging facility, or by booking through AirBnB. Use of other third-party booking sites (e.g. VRBO, Hotels.com, Travelocity) is prohibited. For complete information on UW lodging policy, see Planning a Trip – Reserving Lodging.

The University has contracts with various lodging suppliers in top travel destinations, including Wisconsin. UW contract rates are only offered within Concur.

Any employee who will operate a vehicle on UW business must be an authorized driver prior to traveling. This includes rental vehicles, fleet vehicles, and personally owned vehicles. No vehicle-related expenses will be paid or reimbursed for unauthorized drivers. For information on using vehicles during UW business travel, see Planning a Trip – Vehicles.

For information on registration fees, see Planning a Trip – Registration Fees.

Local transportation while in travel status is payable/reimbursable to the extent it is supported by a business purpose.

Travel by taxi, shuttle, subway, Uber/Lyft/rideshares, bus, train, or any other necessary means of transportation is allowable.

Travelers should choose the most reasonable, cost-effective means of traveling locally. Payment/reimbursement for tips is limited to 20%.

Costs associated with cancelling or changing a flight are payable/reimbursable provided the reason for the cancel/change is outside of the traveler’s control. Be sure to save documentation to support reimbursement claims. All airfare changes and cancellations must be made with the UW contract travel management companies.

Cancel flights in Concur or by contacting Fox World Travel directly.

Travelers are responsible for retaining their receipts and other supporting documentation in accordance with the UW Reimbursement Requirements.

Reimbursement may be reduced or disallowed if costs are not supported by an itemized receipt and/or other supporting documentation. Example: if a conference’s dates change unexpectedly, save the email correspondence between the conference organizers and the traveler to support the fees for changing the flight.

• Deadline for reimbursements
• What can be reimbursed
• Receipt requirements
• Other supporting documentation
• Non-travel reimbursements

Employees get reimbursed by submitting an expense reimbursement through Workday. Once submitted, expense reimbursements are reviewed by at least two levels of approval. This process is currently taking anywhere from 15 to 30 days.  Please submit your expense info to SSEC Travel promptly after your trip to allow time for approvals.

In order to process your expense report, please submit a completed TER-Travel-Expense-Report and scanned or .pdf versions of all your receipts to travel@ssec.wisc.edu.

The SSEC Travel office will enter the expense report on your behalf.  When your expense report has been entered, you will receive an email letting you know the expense report is ready to be reviewed and approved in Workday.

Reimbursements must be submitted on behalf of non-employees (see Non-employee E-Reimbursement).

Meals are reimbursed on a per-diem basis, not for actual costs (see Meals Policy UW-3018).

Determine which meals and incidentals are approved for reimbursement during business-related travel with the New Lodging and Meal Per Diem Calculator.

If personal travel is combined with business travel, an airfare cost comparison is required. The University will not incur additional expense for personal travel. Airfare payments or reimbursement claims submitted without a valid cost comparison will be paid or reimbursed at a flat rate of 80% of the total cost of the fare, no exceptions.

When traveling with a companion (non-business-related traveler), contact Fox World Travel to reserve flights for both the business traveler and companion.

UW System-Combining Personal and Business Travel Webpage

• Traveler User Guides
• Webinars
• Concur Support & User Guides

1. Can I enter Expense Reports for myself instead?  We would prefer to enter them for you.  There are specific Workday funding tags that need to be used and business justifications are needed.  Without the correct information the expense reports will get held up in UW Central Audit and sent back to be corrected, which will increase the length of time before the reimbursement is issued.
2. I’ve always handled all of my own travel arrangements, can I still do that?  Yes, but if you choose to handle your own bookings you accept the full responsibility of knowing and complying with the University Travel Policy – UW-3015.
3. I see the UW policy requires that I turn in my receipts within 90 days.  What happens if I miss that deadline?  The 90 day rule is necessary to be in compliance with IRS Accountable Plan Rules.  After 90 days the reimbursement is considered taxable income.  For employee reimbursements, if there are extenuating circumstances an Exception Request Form must be completed and approved through the divisional offices.  For non-employee reimbursements payment will need to be made through a Payment to Individual Report (PIR).  These expense reimbursements are reported as taxable income and taxes will be assessed by the IRS from these reimbursements.  Please note that some expenses require submission 90 days from the date the expense was incurred and others are required 90 days from the last day of the trip:
   1. The following list of expenses must be submitted within 90 days from the last day of the trip: Registrations, Airfare, and Lodging.
   2. All other expenses must be submitted within 90 days from the date of purchase.