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Travel

FAQ

General Travel FAQs

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  • How can I view the CSU Travel Policy?

    (CSU) Travel Policy is located here.

  • Who needs a Travel Request form?

    Travel must be authorized prior to travel, utilizing the Travel Request. *Excludes service providers, candidates and non-employee students.

    • All stateside employees using state funds for travel (includes self-support, state trusts, and split funding between state funds) will use Concur. 
    • All others use the Adobe Sign Travel Request Form.
  • How long does it take for my travel forms to be approved?

    Variables in Timeline:

    The below timelines are an estimate, approval times may vary based on the below:  

    • Additional approvers
    • Additional previewers
    • Auto Approval in concur
    • Approvers out of office
    • Missing documents
    • Missing or incorrect information

     

    Estimated Travel Timelines:

    Domestic Travel Request Timeline
    System  Timelime
    Adobe Sign 5-10 Business Days
    Concur 5-10 Business Days
    Domestic Travel Expense Timeline
    System  Timelime
    Adobe Sign 7-10 Business Days
    Concur 7-10 Business Days
    International Travel Request Timeline
    System  Timelime
    Adobe Sign 10-30 Business Days
    Concur 10-30 Business Days

    International Travel Expense Timeline
    System  Timelime
    Adobe Sign 10-30 Business Days
    Concur 10-30 Business Days

     

  • What if I travel without approval?
    Travel must be pre-approved via the travel request. If a Travel Request is not approved before the travel event, an approved Travel Exception Request must be attached to the Travel Request. 
  • How do purchase registration?

    All registrations must be purchased with a ProCard.

    (If a traveler does not have a ProCard, please contact your department AC. A ProCard can be used to purchase anyone's registration within the cardholder's department.)

    Please do not purchase registration with personal funds, as the Travel Office can no longer reimburse for this on a Travel Expense Report. 

  • How do I determine the most economical mode of ground transportation?

    Travelers should consider all reasonable and economical modes of transportation such as mileage and parking, train, rental car, and rideshare services such as Uber or Lyft.   

    Below is an example cost comparison for renting a car versus taking a rideshare service for a conference where the airport is about an hour from the conference hotel.

    Cost Comparison - Rental Cars vs Rideshares
    Travel Rental Car Rideshare Service (Uber/Lyft)
    Airport to Hotel   $65
    Hotel to Airport   $65
    Rentel Car Fee $175.05  
    Hotel Parking $75  
    Gas $25  
    Total $275.05 $130

    The cost comparison indicates that taking a rideshare service is the most reasonable, economical option.

  • What should I consider when booking airfare?
    • Coach or Economy Class (example: Southwest = Wanna Get Away).
    • Refundable airline tickets are not permitted.
    • Airline upgrades (including Southwest Early Bird Check In) are prohibited and non-reimbursable.
    • Upgrades such as Southwest early Bird check-in are not reimbursable.
  • Is a traveler able to purchase travel upgrades (For example: business class, seats with extra leg room or early bird boarding) if they pay out of pocket?
    If a traveler prefers to use a higher class than the one authorized for reimbursement, or select upgrades, the traveler must pay the incremental cost of the airfare. A documented cost comparison must be attached to the Travel Expense Claim.
  • What is needed if a traveler has a combination of business and personal travel?

    When a traveler is combining business and personal travel, a documented cost comparison of flights must be attached to the Travel Expense Request.

    If you need assistance, please reach out to the Travel Office, (traveloffice@csusm.edu).

  • When traveling, do I claim mileage from my home or work?
    • Reimbursement shall be made for round-trip mileage between home and the assignment location, or between the normal work location and the assignment location, whichever is less.
    • Mileage expenses may be allowed between the traveler's residence and the common carrier or destination if University business travel occurs during the traveler's non-working hours, or during a regularly scheduled day off. 
  • When do I need to submit receipts for travel expenses (Meals, taxis, uber, registration, etc.)?
    Per, CSU Travel Policy, itemized receipts for all expenses in excess of $75 dollars must be submitted with the travel expense claim. Your manager has the discretion to ask for receipts for expenses below the $75-dollar threshold.

     

    Please ensure that when documenting ride-share receipts, they are broken out on individual lines. For example, if you had two ride-shares that totaled $79 dollars, we would want to see them broken into two lines on the travel claim. If you include them in the same line, they appear as one charge and we will reach out for a receipt (see example below).

     

    Date of Travel Time Location of Travel Lodging Breakfast Lunch Dinner IE Cost of Transportation Type Used
    11/3/21   Seattle, WA           $35.00 T
    11/3/21   Seattle, WA           $44.00 T
    Date of Travel Time Location of Travel Lodging Breakfast Lunch Dinner IE Cost of Transportation Type Used
    11/3/21   Seattle, WA           $79.00 T
  • How do I expense hospitality while traveling?

    Both Adobe Sign and Concur now have a mechanism to record hospitality expenses while traveling. Please include the approved Hospitality Form in the Travel Expense Report. 

    Hospitality expenses are only reimbursable via the Travel Expense Report when there are associated travel expenses.

  • What are the requirements for interview candidates who are seeking reimbursement?

    All candidate travel must comply with the CSUSM Travel Guidelines and the CSU Travel Policy. 

    Candidates should submit all receipts and information to department admins, who will submit a Travel Expense Report on their behalf. 

    See the Candidate Quick Guide for more information.

    Please note, Candidates do NOT need a travel request.

  • What rental car agencies can I rent from?

    Per the CSU Travel Policy "when renting a vehicle, travelers are expected to utilize rental agencies with which the State of California or the University have negotiated contracts that include insurance coverage. Renting vehicles from a non‐contracted vendor is prohibited, unless vehicles are unavailable from a contracted vendor. See Travel Related Insurance, Rental Vehicles."

    CSU is contracted with Enterprise Rental Car. 

    Please note: Stateside Employees should make Enterprise reservations directly through Concur.

  • What is our corporate code for booking with Enterprise Rental Car?

    Rental cars are only authorized when renting would be more economically advantageous to the university than other means of transportation, such as using a rideshare service.

    Rental cars booked through Enterprise in Concur will have the corporate discount automatically applied.

    For auxiliary employees or the personal travel discount code, please reach out to the Travel Office, (traveloffice@csusm.edu).

  • What if my trip was cancelled?
    • If a trip must be cancelled or changed, the traveler must make every effort to cancel/change any travel reservations. Fees incurred as a result of cancelling/changing a trip will be covered if the cancelation/change was work related or due to unforeseen circumstances out of the control of the traveler. A business justification must be submitted and approved by the approving authority
    • Travelers who are unable to honor a reservation shall be responsible for canceling the reservation in compliance with the cancellation terms established by the vendor. The traveler must return any refundable deposits to the University.
    • Charges or lost refunds resulting from failure to cancel reservations, registrations, etc. shall not be reimbursed unless the traveler can show that such failure was the result of circumstances beyond the traveler's control.
    • The traveler shall be responsible for promptly returning for a refund any unused or partially used transportation tickets.
    • If applicable, a cash advance must be returned immediately if a trip is cancelled or indefinitely postponed.
    • A non‐refundable ticket associated with a cancelled trip must be used for the employee's next trip.
  • Are credit card statements accepted as receipts?
    No, credit card statements are not considered actual receipts. Please do not use your statement as proof of payment as your claims will not be processed.
  • For International Travel, what approvals are required?
    • Employees traveling to foreign destinations must receive approval from the campus President or Designee prior to making any travel arrangements.
    • Travelers should contact the Travel Office for guidance and foreign travel insurance.
    • See CSU Travel Policy International section for more details.
  • How do I obtain a Defensive Driving (DD) certification?
    • Employees using their personal vehicle for business travel must obtain a Defensive Driving (DD) certification before mileage reimbursement can be submitted.
    • Apply for Defensive Driving certification through Safety, Health & Sustainability.
  • How do we setup direct deposit for Travel Reimbursements?
    Fill out the Adobe Sign Direct Deposit Request. *Please note: this is for direct deposit for reimbursements only, not for Payroll.
  • Can travelers request meal reimbursement on day trips?
    No, overnight stay is required for meal and incidental reimbursement.
  • Can I book through broker sites like Expedia, Hotels.com or CheapOAir? The rates are lower on those sites.
    Utilizing broker sites is not advised. Itemized receipts are required for travel, and often these sites do not provide adequate detail. Broker sites often charge up front for hotels, and do not provide refunds. It is highly encouraged to book directly with airlines and hotels.
  • Can I use Airbnb (or similar) as my lodging?

    Although CSUSM encourages standard hotel accommodations, we have provided the following “best practices” to help reduce risk:

    • Use listings that appear to be solely used as rental properties, rather than incidental rentals (e.g. family going on vacation and listing their primary residence as up for rent for two weeks each year, or it is a family’s vacation home, and they rent it off-and-on and stay there off-and-on).
    • We strongly discourage renting of just a room or any accommodation that would require shared restrooms.  (Exception for a “B&B” type space where the property is a commercial property that rents individual rooms with private bathrooms within a large house intended solely for the purpose of renting rooms to transient travelers, and the room has its own key lock.)
    • Look for properties with a high number of reviews for the property, and that it has a 4-star or higher rating, that the property owner/manager has a “superhost” or similar designation, etc.
    • Encourage reading of any negative reviews (even if overall rating is high) to look for potentially problematic trends (more than one mention of a last-minute cancelation by the owner, safety or security concerns, etc.)
    • Have back-up plans, such as knowing where a few hotels in the area are, in case you arrive, and there are no keys, no one answering the phone # provided, etc.
  • What is a PAT Member and how do I determine who is my PAT Member?

    The President's Administrative Team (PAT) is comprised of the senior management team of the university.

    Please use this link to determine your PAT Member: https://www.csusm.edu/president/leadership/universityorg.html

  • When can I secure lodging? (How many miles away)
    Travelers may secure lodging when traveling on business more than 25 miles (one way) from their normal work location or home whichever is closer.
  • When submitting in Adobe Sign the following error comes up "The Transient Document ID specified is invalid". How do I fix this?
    • A file that the Submitter is trying to upload is not acceptable by Adobe Sign. This usually means they are trying to upload a secure/encrypted pdf (i.e. A completed pdf from Adobe Sign).
      • The Submitter can try to ‘flatten’ (that’s what Adobe calls it) the secure/encrypted pdf by doing the following:
        • Find the pdf file you want to ‘flatten’ (Could be in your ‘Desktop’ or ‘Downloads’ folder or wherever you saved it)
        • Right click on the file and select “Open with Adobe Acrobat DC“
        • After the file opens in Adobe Acrobat DC, click on File -> Print -> Change ‘Printer’ to ‘Microsoft Print to PDF’ -> Print
        • Name new file and Save to same location you found file (i.e. Desktop or Downloads folder)

    After the file has been ‘flatten’, please try to attach to the flattened file to the Workflow Selector and re-submit.


Concur Travel FAQs

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