Travel Information
State Travel Office - Note: Questions & exception requests are to be routed through the Travel Program
Administrators: Susan Clow, x5122 sclow@ulm.edu and Jamie Mondragon, x5115 stahley@ulm.edu for travel cards/CBA, and Beth Weatherford, x5106 eweatherford@ulm.edu for travel authorizations, advances, and expense reports.
PORTALS:
CHRISTOPHERSON BUSINESS TRAVEL - CONCUR:
TRAVEL PRESENTATIONS:
TRAVEL POLICY LINKS:
TRAVEL INFORMATION LINKS:
TRAVEL FORMS -- INTERNAL, ULM:
- Request for Rental Vehicle Upgrade .DOC -- TO BE SUBMITTED WITH TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION FORM
- Travel Advance Request .DOC
- Travel Authorization - Revised 9/14/2022 .XLS
- Travel Expense .XLS
- Travel Policy .PDF
- Travel Procedure .PDF
- Travel Procedure (International) .PDF
- Travel Card Exit Form .DOC
ULM STATE TRAVEL CARD/CBA INFORMATION & LINKS:
BANK OF AMERICA (BOA) WORKS/WORKFLOW INFORMATION:
Travel Announcements
AMERICAN AIRLINES
American Airlines now offers a direct flight from Baton Rouge to Washington, DC, option
that departs at 5:46 a.m. from BTR and around 7 p.m. from DCA each day. Starting in
November, the morning flight out to DCA will leave BTR an hour later at 6:45 AM. Christopherson
has increased the visibility of these flights in CBT and has modified the window of
time when a traveler chooses to search for "morning" flights. Previously, when "morning"
was chosen, the earliest flight displayed would be 6 a.m., but that has been changed
to 4 a.m. When booking a flight to DC, the traveler must still follow PPM49 and choose
the lowest logical fare.
Per Shelita Woods, State Travel Manager
FY24 Information
The Office of State Travel has published the new travel regulations, which went into
effect on July 1, 2023. This updated travel guide, which provides guidelines and establishes
procedures for individuals incurring business travel expenses on the State’s behalf,
can be located at:
https://www.ulm.edu/controller/travel.html
https://www.doa.la.gov/doa/ost/ppm-49-travel-guide/
Here are the two key areas that were updated this year:
- Under Methods of Transportation, Uber Black, Uber Black XL, Uber Premier, Lyft Lux,
Lyft Lux Black, and Lyft Lux Black XL are not reimbursable.
- Under Lodging, the Commissioner of Administration must approve rates exceeding the
Conference Lodging Rate.
Refer to the new 2023-2024 PPM-49 for complete updates, changes, and regulations.
The exemption to utilize personal cards for individual travel has been renewed for FY 2024.
Please remember that all travel expense forms are to be submitted within 30 days of
the travelers’ return date.
In the event you have any questions concerning state travel, please contact Susan
Clow (x5122), Jamie Mondragon (x5115), or Beth Weatherford (x5106).
Effective April 10, 2023 Christopherson will no longer offer State of LA manual approval process when a traveler needs to
make changes to a ticket that causes creating a new ticket at a price increase. Changed
tickets booked through CBT at an increase cost above the original ticket, will automatically
be charged to the agency’s CBA without going through the approval process with the
CBA accountholder. Justification will need to be kept on file when a change and/or
increase occurs.
Shelita Woods, State Travel Manager, Division of Administration, Office of State Travel
ENTERPRISE
If problems occur with Enterprise booking, please contact Joey Rosenfeld at Joseph.G.Rosenfeld@ehi.com with the information below.
State of Louisiana Vehicle Request
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Renters Name
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Rental Date & Time
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Return Date & Time
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Rental Location Needed
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Size Vehicle Requested
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Renters Phone #
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Renters email address
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Account Number
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Billing # if applicable
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Shelita Woods, State Travel Manager, Division of Administration, Office of State Travel
FYI from Office of State Travel
UNUSED AIRFARE TICKETS should be utilized before purchasing new tickets. Christopherson
is the commercial travel company and must be used.
Shelita Woods, State Travel Manager, Division of Administration, Office of State Travel
Enterprise
- Enterprise has added a Premium segment to their cars.
- Please note PREMIUM cars are not allowed.
- Including the new full-size premium designation are not allowed.
- You will have to reimburse the difference between a full size and a premium.
- Also we have had people using it was the only car on the lot excuse.
- This is not an acceptable excuse.
- Enterprise is supposed to charge what you asked for online.
- Upgrade forms are still needed.
- The travel authorization and expense report have been updated on the website.
CONVENIENCE FEES
The section below is now officially part of the State of Louisiana Corporate Liability
“Travel Card /CBA Policy and LaCarte” Purchasing Card/CBA Policy.
Merchants may include a surcharge or convenience fee. VISA and MasterCard have strict
merchant guidelines governing the assessment of surcharge fees:
- The merchant must register with VISA 30 days prior to beginning a surcharge policy.
- The merchant must provide clear disclosure to the customer.
- The amount of the surcharge must be listed as a separate item and detailed on the
receipt.
- The surcharge must apply to all credit cards accepted by the merchant.
- The surcharge must be equivalent to the merchant’s interchange rate, but cannot exceed
4%.
For any charge where the Supplier has charged a surcharge, a cardholder or user should
obtain a copy of the acknowledgment letter sent to the Supplier by Visa authorizing
the Supplier to impose a surcharge as part of their supporting documentation.
Convenience Fees are charged as a flat fee (regardless of the total cost) when purchases
are made via one form of payment channel over another – online or by phone vs. in
store or by mail.
The decision to use a State Travel Card/CBA on a purchase that will incur a surcharge
or convenience fee should be based on rare and extenuating circumstances such as no
other form of payment is accepted, timeliness of payment to avoid late fees, urgency
of the needed item or services, lack of other vendors, etc. Agencies are required
to carefully evaluate the necessity of the State Travel/CBA Card transactions which
are subject to surcharge or convenience fees.
Shelita Woods, State Travel Manager, Division of Administration, Office of State Travel
The travel guidelines require that in-state vehicle rentals (for all travel) and out-of-state
vehicle rentals (for group travel) be charged to a state card. This new website will allow the state CBA account (Controlled Billing Account) to
be charged directly each time a vehicle is returned to Enterprise. Enterprise will
no longer directly bill the University, so it is important that this website be used
for vehicle rentals in order for the University to more easily comply with the state
travel requirements. Training for the use of this website was provided on May 6th and May 7th.
Important items to note:
- Taxes will appear when the reservation is made through the website. However, those
taxes should not appear on the paper receipt that you receive at the Enterprise location
and the taxes will not be charged to the University’s CBA account.
- A unique billing code is needed in order to reserve the vehicle. Please contact Susan at #5122, sclow@ulm.edu, and they can coordinate getting the billing codes to those who need them or direct
you to who is responsible for your billing code.
- If the vehicle is picked up a day early in order to leave for the trip before Enterprise
opens the following day, when you pick up the vehicle, you will need to notify Enterprise that charges should start the following morning.
- If the vehicle is being returned after hours, remind Enterprise (when the vehicle is picked up) that the charges should be stopped on the night the
vehicle will be returned.
Please contact our office with any questions.
Hotels have brought to our attention that travelers staying at hotels in the State
of Louisiana are not presenting their tax exemption form. Hotels will begin charging in-state taxes and the employee will be responsible for
reimbursement if the tax exemption form was not presented at time of check-in. Please advise all necessary personnel immediately. Thanks for your assistance in
this matter.
Shelita Woods, Office of State Travel
Travel Advances/Expense Reports and Check Requests:
Please make every effort to send or deliver the Travel Advances/Expense Reports and
Check Requests by the Friday, 11:30 a.m. deadline to Coenen Hall Room 103 so they
may be stamped before being distributed to the proper processor. We are working very
diligently and expediently to process all payments in a timely manner. It is our goal
for all completed requests that have been received in Accounts Payable by Friday,
11:30 a.m. to be processed in the check run for the following week; however, incomplete
Receivers and/or incorrect/incomplete Travel Advances / Expense Reports will delay
payment. No travel expenses will be paid through Check Requests and you must submit
your PRIOR travel authorizations for ALL out-of-state travel and in-state conferences.
In order to verify if payment has been made, first access FAIVNDH in Banner and check
Vendor History. However, due to the high volume received in AP, please allow two weeks
before making an inquiry to AP, preferably by email, as to why payment has not been
made.
Questions should be directed as follows:
Travel – Beth Weatherford, (318) 342-5106, eweatherford@ulm.edu
We appreciate your cooperation, patience, and adherence in these procedures.
We will inform you of the training sessions once the dates have been determined.
Nicole Walker, Controller; University of Louisiana Monroe; Phone: (318) 342-1040;
Fax: (318) 342-5103
Controller's Office