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Readout of secretary raimondo’s meeting with thai prime minister srettha thavisin, office of public affairs.

BANGKOK – Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo met with Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin during her official travel to Thailand. Secretary Raimondo thanked the Prime Minister for Thailand’s continued partnership in advancing shared economic priorities through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) and continuing to demonstrate the value of the Framework to IPEF partners’ workers, businesses, and economies. The two discussed potential collaboration on semiconductors and clean energy and sustainability, including cooperation on civil nuclear energy and electric vehicles. The Secretary and Prime Minister were later joined by members of the President’s Export Council to exchange ideas on strengthening the U.S.-Thailand commercial relationship and how to explore opportunities for U.S. firms in Thailand and the Indo-Pacific region.

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Energy.gov Home

  • Emergency Preparedness
  • Conferencing and Special Events
  • Copy Services
  • Document Imaging
  • Exchange Visitors Program
  • Facility Operations
  • Food Services
  • DOE Logo and Seal
  • Mail and Distribution
  • Parking and Garage
  • Photography
  • Safety and Health
  • Shuttle Bus and Couriers
  • Supply Stores
  • Definitions
  • Delivery and Receipt
  • Roles and Lifecycle

The Office of Travel Management serves as the Department's point of contact for the following services:

  • Headquarters Travel Management Center (TMC)

Official Travel, Domestic and Foreign

  • Required Foreign Travel Training

Foreign Travel Management System (FTMS)

  • Travel Card Information (on Powerpedia, DOENET access only)

Official Travel Regulations and Guidelines

  • Travel Services Training Videos   (on Powerpedia, DOENET access only)

U.S. Passports and Visa Services (Official and Diplomatic)

Non-Refundable Airfare Guidance

International Insurance

  • Hotel Reservations
  • Contacts for Travel Services
  • Travel FAQs

Travel Management Center (TMC)

The Office of the Chief Financial Officer oversees the Travel Management Center (TMC).

The Reservation Center phone number is 1-888-205-2369 (same number for emergency after-hours).

In addition, travel arrangements can be made via e:mail at [email protected] , or [email protected] . A transaction fee is charged for each ticket issued.

For questions about the Travel Management Center, email: [email protected] .

See ADTRAV Travel Bulletins at:  https://www.adtrav.com/travel-bulletins  

Official travel is any travel by a federal or contract employee who is conducting U.S. government business for authorized and official purposes. DOE federal travelers approved to travel for official purposes must make travel reservations through the Department of Energy E-Gov Travel Service 2 (eTS2) .

ADTRAV Travel Management is one of the Department of Energy’s Travel Management Centers, providing a full range of travel agent services including, but not limited to, arranging and booking official travel for individuals and groups; making travel related reservations; providing customer service; reconciling central billed accounts; and providing travel related reports and information to management.  

All Federal employees' travel for DOE requires prior travel authorization and approval in the eTS 2 at: https://in-gotravel.doe.gov

Official Foreign Travel

Official foreign travel is defined as approved travel (whether wholly or partly on official business) from the United States (including Alaska, Hawaii, the Commonwealths of Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands, and the territories and possessions of the United States) to a foreign country and return or travel between foreign countries by persons, including foreign nationals, or persons whose salaries or travel expenses or both will ultimately be funded in whole or in part by DOE/NNSA from its appropriations.  Official foreign travel may also include travel funded by non-DOE or non-NNSA sources for which the traveler represents the Department or NNSA or conducts business on behalf of the U.S. Government.

The Department of State offers a free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to U.S. citizens who are traveling to, or living in, a foreign country.  Registration allows you to record information about your upcoming trip abroad that the Department of State can use to assist you in case of an emergency.  The Department of State will also provide Travel Alerts and Warnings through STEP.  To enroll please go to: https://step.state.gov/STEP/Pages/Common/Citizenship.aspx

Foreign Travel Training Required by the State Department

The Foreign Travel Management System (FTMS) is a DOE-wide centralized system for recording, tracking, and securing approvals of all foreign travel conducted by DOE Federal employees and contractors. In order for DOE Federal employees and contractors to conduct international travel, the trip request must be entered and approved in FTMS.  Prior to final approval within FTMS, country clearance must be obtained from the respective country(ies) to be visited.  The system is located at:  https://ftms.doe.gov/   FTMS should be available from most, if not all, DOE sites (you need to be attached to a DOE network to access it).

Processing Foreign Travel at DOE includes the following requirements:

  • Approved Travel Authorization in the electronic Travel System 2 (eTS2)   (Federal employees only)
  • A completed trip request in FTMS
  • Country Clearance Approval
  • Valid Official or Diplomatic Passport
  • Appropriate and valid Visa(s)
  • Review of required immunizations
  • Letter of Invitation (LOI) - when required
  • DOE O 550.1 Chg 1, Official Travel  (DOE Directives)
  • DOE M 552.1-1A, U.S. Department of Energy Travel Manual  (DOE Directives)
  • Federal Travel Regulation (GSA)

Travel Services Training Videos

Travel Training Videos are being developed to address reoccurring issues found on DOE-HQ travel vouchers, and to educate DOE travelers and approving officials on travel requirements.

The videos are for DOE employees only, and are available though  Powerpedia  the Department's internal collaboration system.  Please follow this link to the Office of Travel Management's page with the links to the videos and other travel related resources.  The Powerpedia is accessible to all DOE employees while logged onto a DOE network.

The Office of Travel Management (MA-45) provides a variety of services, which facilitate DOE’s international travel for Official or Diplomatic purposes.  The Department of Energy has an authorized Passport unit, and as such, administers Official and Diplomatic Passport and Visa applications and forward to the Department of State for approval.  Further information regarding DOE employees requesting an Official or Diplomatic Passport is available on the Powerpedia, Passports and Visa Services .

The Passport is an internationally recognized travel document that verifies the identity and nationality of the bearer.  A valid U.S. Passport is required to enter and leave most foreign countries.  All persons, whether U.S. Citizens or foreign nationals, must present a valid passport or alternate approved travel document to enter or depart from the United States by air. Additional information is available at the following websites:

  • General Travel Information at the U.S. State Department
  • Department of Homeland Security, Traveling Overseas
  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Travel Information

Official and Diplomatic Passports are the property of the U.S. Government and are authorized for Official Use Only.  An Official Passport is issued to an official or employee of the U.S. Government proceeding abroad in the discharge of official duties.  Where appropriate, dependents of such persons may be issued Official passports (22 Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter 1 51.3 (c)(1)).  A Diplomatic Passport is issued to a Foreign Service Officer, a person in the diplomatic service or to a person having diplomatic status either because of the nature of his or her foreign mission or by reason of the office he or she holds.  Where appropriate, dependents of such persons may be issued Diplomatic passports (22 Code of Federal Regulations Chapter 1 51.3 (d)).

U.S. Passport Applications must be completed online via the Department of State's website at: https://www.travel.state.gov .  The completed form must be printed and submitted with an original signature, to the Office of Travel Management (MA-45) in room GE-180, Forrestal Headquarters.  Typically, advance timing of 3-4 weeks is needed for DOE to process and obtain a passport from the Department of State.  The requirements for an Official passport include:

  • the passport application,
  • two photos,
  • Proof of birth (passport, expired passport, or birth certificate),
  • Memo on the agency letterhead to the Director, Office of Travel Management, which provides information about the traveler’s grade, title, pending trip, and purpose of travel.

The Visa is a stamp placed in the passport, issued by the foreign consular officials at the Embassy of the foreign country which indicates that country’s approval of your visit and granting permission for you to enter that country for a specific time duration. Most countries require that a passport be valid for at least six months beyond the dates of travel before a visa can be issued.

Visa requirements for official travel differ from the visa requirements for personal and private industry travel.  Processing times for visas are dictated by the various embassies.  When planning official travel, employees are reminded to allow sufficient time for the passport and/or visa application(s) to be processed and returned to DOE. 

Important Notes:

  • Original signatures are required for each Visa Application.
  • Foreign embassies will not issue a visa in Official or Diplomatic Passports without a letter from the Department of State.
  • For purposes of official travel for DOE all officials are required to use a Diplomatic or Official  passport for a number of reasons:
  • A Diplomatic or Official visa cannot be stamped into a tourist passport.
  • A visa will not be granted for entry into a foreign country when the reason for travel to that country is stated as official business and the tourist passport is presented.
  • Some countries will deny entry at the border to individuals entering the country on official government business when they arrive with only a tourist passport and not the official passport.  Further problems may also occur upon departure from that country.
  • Violation of Sovereignty.  Use of the tourist passport when traveling in an official capacity misrepresents the true purpose for which the traveler has entered the country.  This can have serious and adverse affects on the U.S. reciprocal relations with foreign countries.
  • Security concerns. Should there be a problem which in the host country, the official passport provides quicker access to officials of the host country government and greater protection.
  • Travelers need to be 99.9% certain of itinerary.
  • The closer to departure date, the higher the price of a non-refundable ticket.
  • Non-refundable airfares should be ticketed within 24 hours of booking; however, this does not guarantee the airfare will be available.  Carrier tariff’s change frequently throughout a 24-hour period and are never guaranteed until ticketed.
  • All non-refundable tickets should be purchased on the CBA.

PROGRAM OFFICE ACCOUNTABILITY The employee and approving official are to be fully aware of all of the terms and conditions of the ticket.

The program office and approving official are responsible for ensuring that the ticket is reused for official business on a future trip and is not used by the employee for personal use in the unanticipated event that the ticket is not used for the planned trip.

  • Non-refundable seats are NOT upgradable.
  • Non-refundable seat maps are very limited, so seats may not be desirable by the traveler.

TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION

Travel authorization must provide a justification for use of the non-contract.

UNUSED NON-REFUNDABLE TICKET VALUES

Non-refundable is exactly that – if a traveler does not travel, or does not use all tickets, DOE will not receive a refund as such when using a contract fare.

Fully unused ticket – value of the ticket available usually 1 year from date of ticket issuance (not date of travel).  Some conditions vary.  Penalties and fees apply when fully unused ticket applied.

Outbound used, return unused – partial used tickets have NO value for future travel.

Only fully unused tickets will receive a credit, credits are not transferrable and only valid for one year from date of ticket issuance not dates of travel.

If the outbound is not taken, the return can never be used on a non-refundable ticket.  The carrier will negate the value of the ticket and show the reservation as “no-show.” 

Reservations must be cancelled or value of ticket is lost.  This applies to outbound and return segments.  If you are late for your outbound flight, the carrier will indicate traveler as a “no show.”

If a traveler leaves the Department before using the credit, cost for the unused return is lost.

For further information follow this link for the FAQs on non-refundable tickets .  

The Department of Energy provides insurance for DOE employees on official overseas travel.  The Office of Travel Management (MA-45) manages the Travel & Medical Insurance accounts for the Office of the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and Under Secretary of Energy.  In addition, MA-45 provides information to DOE Program Offices regarding travel insurance services. The International plan includes the following coverage:

  • Travel Insurance for International Travelers
  • International Emergency Assistance
  • 24 hour multilingual emergency medical and security assistance
  • Evacuation and repatriation programs
  • Customized global travel solutions, pre-travel advice and contingency planning

Click here to go to the Travel FAQs

MAAdm updated 04/05/23

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Projects in travel: Integrating PRINCE2 for a cross-functional project Case Study

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  • Project management
  • Project planning
  • Project progress
  • Programme management

Author   Adina Gabor

UK & USA Account Manager, G2 Travel

July 28, 2020  |

  15  min read

All of our White Papers and Case Studies are subject to the following Terms of Use .

G2 Travel is a wholesale tour operator, providing travel-related resources to groups of travellers. Every year, the organization works to contract all of the resources for the next twelve months, which is an enormous project. In 2019, for the first time, G2 Travel used PRINCE2.

The project team used PRINCE2 to structure their project into stages, organize the roles and responsibilities, and to manage the risks and challenges they encountered along the way. They were so successful that PRINCE2 is now used for all of G2 Travel’s internal projects.

This case study describes the benefits and versatility of adopting the PRINCE2 method on a large cross-functional project with a return on investment of over €4.5m.

Introduction

G2 Travel is a dynamic, wholesale tour operator, specializing in group travel for the B2B sector. The company is focused on group business and offers a range of solutions for global group travel. G2 Travel provides resources for traveling, which it is able to do because of its third-party, wholesale-type relationship with tour operators.

As a leading wholesale travel provider, G2 Travel is unique because it:

  • has a global presence with over 30 offices around the world
  • books up to 2m room nights each year across Europe and North America
  • has dedicated departments that handle specific activities, such as contracting, reservations, services, operations, and finance
  • provides 24/7 on-call support worldwide for everyone on the road
  • partners directly with local suppliers, offering clients an extensive product/service inventory and competitive rates.

With over 18,000 groups operating annually and an increase of 30% in business year-on-year, G2 Travel is bringing opportunities for new business cases and potential customers. Opportunities to expand ultimately lead to changes in strategy to reassure stakeholders of the overall quality of the business and its services.

G2 Travel and the project 

In February 2018, G2 Travel received the project mandate from Deter Travel* (one of the major accounts at G2 Travel). They brought in their yearly project: contracting all services and hotels for 450 groups in Europe that were scheduled to travel in 2019. The predicted increase in business was over 20%, compared to previous years. The project ran from March 2018 to December 2019.

The project was divided into six main milestones:

  • sales enquiry
  • service definition and offer submission
  • operations and reservations
  • project closure and invoicing
  • lessons learned and experience.

* The account managed by this organization has been given a fictitious name for confidentiality.

This was a long-term project that required a cross-functional collaboration with multiple offices across Europe. It also involved all major internal departments (sales, reservations, operations, finance). External partners were involved with the scope of delivering the entire project.

One of the aims of this project was to choose the best suppliers, those offering high quality services at competitive rates, for each service. The aim was to define an attractive and complex programme for all Deter Travel’s end customers.

Project aims and objectives 

The overriding goal was to create a delivery model based on PRINCE2 principles, themes, and processes, leading to improved quality and efficiency in every step of the service delivery.

Creating a project by defining objectives, milestones, and responsibilities helped G2 Travel integrate efficient changes to the overall structure of the business. A series of key performance indicators (KPIs) were used to measure the success of the project:

  • percentage of tasks completed on time
  • overdue project tasks/missed milestones
  • identified risks and points of action
  • number of customer change requests
  • number of customer complaints.

All of the KPIs where monitored over the project’s lifetime and provided direct input to the lessons learned.

Choosing a project management method

As the travel and tourism industry develops, it is necessary to respond to new and emerging markets to deliver projects.

G2 Travel has been working with Deter Travel for over five years, so we had a lot of history. This meant that we could look back at past challenges and analyse them to identify opportunities for change and improvement. Throughout the years, our projects have experienced delays, lack of transparency around allocated tasks, risks, challenging deadlines, incorrectly allocated resources and responsibilities, and difficulties around managing deadlines.

In an effort to improve the project results, alternative management methods have been considered. In 2018 and 2019, the Deter Travel project was used as a pilot to test PRINCE2.

We set certain targets, including:

  • increase efficiency during the allocation of deadlines
  • define roles and responsibilities clearly to avoid confusion
  • divide the project into stages to make it easier to manage
  • use five steps to engage with stakeholders: identify/analyse/plan/act/review
  • regularly review the project progress.

PRINCE2 is both project and process focused. A clear approach that showed the roles and responsibilities of everyone on the team helped us to execute the project with fewer questions and issues, as did dividing the master plan into smaller project plans, stage plans, and team plans.

Project stages and planning structure

We divided the entire project into stages (we called them ‘major milestones’) that were easier to monitor and could be reviewed by management.

Before the project began, the activity structure, shown in Figure 3.1, was shared across the organization and with the client. This provided an overview of the activities, major tasks, deadlines, and expected achievements. The major milestones were:

  • sales enquiry: receive, review, and assess the sales request
  • service definition and offer submission: work with all internal departments and external partners to build the sales offer and submit it for customer approval
  • operations and reservations: the deployment of the process (starts once offer is approved) and the reservation of services offered
  • delivery: coordination across multiple suppliers for service delivery
  • project closure and invoicing: once the group services were delivered, the project moves to the finance department and customer satisfaction for invoicing and feedback
  • learn from experience: review what went well or could be improved in order to define and influence future projects, followed by an internal project review.

Figure 3.1 The high-level project delivery model

Figure 3.1 The high-level project delivery model

Project approach

Because we followed the PRINCE2 principles, we were able to assess each stage before proceeding to the next. This meant we could segment the project and manage by stages.

During the initiation phase, we defined the management products.

Communication management:

  • We scheduled phone calls for twice a week to identify issues and risks in delivery. An activity status tracker was established during this call.
  • We held weekly status management calls to update and present the POAP (plan on a page: the high-level project management status).
  • We used ad-hoc brainstorming calls to work on risk activities and close specific topics.

Document management:

  • The work breakdown structure (represents the list of detailed activities and their status) used for activity tracking was maintained using Excel spreadsheets.
  • The POAP (created using Microsoft PowerPoint) was maintained to show the high-level project status.
  • All documents where shared on a common repository (Google Sheets), which allowed every team member to check their status at any given time.

Risk management:

  • A pre-defined escalation channel procedure was put in place in order to deal with incidents and problems, ensuring everything gets resolved and issues are addressed at the right level.
  • The tolerances for the projects and escalation procedures were confirmed with each department head as applicable for our project (head of sales; head of reservations; head of contracting, and so on.)
  • report any activities that were at risk
  • address any lack of resources
  • activity report for tasks that could not progress for specific reasons.

Business case:

  • The business case was created at the beginning of the project, shortly after Phase A of the sales inquiry. In terms of financial growth, the expected benefit was calculated at 20% increase in business compared with the previous year. This was just an estimation.
  • number of groups received compared with the previous year
  • new destination requested to be delivered
  • new services
  • overall: financial metrics (sales revenue, sales growth year-to-date, gross and net profit margins, and so on)
  • group specific: considering the aspects of increased efficiency in the delivery model used by the organization to reduce time and costs in any activity.

Project Start-up

During the project start-up, we appointed a project sponsor and a project manager. The existing organizational structure at G2 Travel was tailored using PRINCE2 into a simple three-level format. The levels and corresponding roles were:

  • Project sponsor: Head of sales
  • Project manager: Account manager
  • Project support: Account executive

We held a kickstart meeting as the official project starting point. The workshop included the project management team, heads of each department, and managers that were involved in the project delivery. The workshop included a presentation about the overall project structure, requirements, and the importance of the delivery to the business. This helped create a common understanding of the project goals. The team were able to ask questions and have the answers explained, which helped to ensure their support and commitment.

4.1.1 DEFINING ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Defining roles and responsibilities for the project was not difficult; the business’s infrastructure already had specific departments and roles. The most difficult part was securing resources to be fully or partially dedicated to the necessary project phases. Our key advantage in setting resources was that the work packages clearly defined the deliverables and the stages in which they are supposed to be executed. This provided everyone with the opportunity to see their role within the overall project structure, the expected duration, and how they could influence the entire delivery.

The project board consisted of:

  • Head of sales (project stakeholder): not directly involved into the project but monitored the overall progress and provided support in response to issues.
  • Project manager/account manager: responsible for the overall project coordination and execution of the sales process.
  • Head of contracting: regional managers from our contracting team were provisionally allocated to the project to support and provide input for the offer definition (new service enquires, prices, pre-bookings).

*The above roles were part of the project board meetings.

  • Reservation team: supervisors and their team of executives allocated to support all the reservation of the services and products approved by Deter Travel.
  • Operations: checking and grouping all services together for each individual group (based on their arrival date) and ensuring that there were no missing steps in delivery.
  • Customer care: support for all the groups on the road.
  • Finance: responsible for monitoring the costs of each delivery and performing invoicing as the final step of the process.
  • Head of product: directly responsible for supervising the overall project progress and status. No direct input to the project delivery.
  • Product manager and product executive: direct input to the overall process with the sales team. All sales enquiries, clarifications, and approvals followed this channel of communication. This was the most important level of responsibility across the two companies.

*The above roles were part of the project board meetings

  • Operations executive: direct mapping to the G2 Travel operations sharing similar responsibilities.
  • Financial department: responsible for the project closure phase with invoicing and contract closure.

Figure 4.1 shows a map of the project organization.

Figure 4.1 Project organizational structure

Figure 4.1 Project organizational structure 

Directing the project stage and project plan

The next step was splitting the milestones into activities and assigning resources against them. Due to the dynamics of the project, this activity was drafted but was continually updated over the lifetime of the project by adding or removing activities so that they could be tracked.

The project plan was deliberately brief, with defined activities and dates against each milestone. The POAP was used to report the status on a weekly basis. Figure 4.2 showcases the POAP.

Figure 4.2 The plan on a page - POAP

Figure 4.2 The plan on a page

To support the plan, a detailed model was used (defined in Excel) to elaborate on the activities, adding their status, dates, and responsible parties. Without this, we would not have been able to check the status of any specific activity or understand why it was delayed, could not be delivered, or was approaching the defined tolerances.

Risks and challenges 

  • Sales enquiry Several points from the initial request were changed after the first offer, pushing us back to the first step (e.g. hotels that received bad reviews in previous years; restaurants with bad ratings; closure and replacement of a specific attraction etc.).
  • Service definition and offer submission The biggest challenge was relying on external providers from whom it was necessary to receive specific information in order to build the offer. The quality, speed, and accuracy of the details they provided were the key risks that could make the difference between losing or winning a specific group series against competition.
  • Operations and reservations Change of initial contractual conditions which resulted in an increase in cost forced G2 Travel to spend more to keep offers competitive. Internal miscoordination of activities resulted in mistakes because certain services were not confirmed as stated within the contract.

Risk management assessments were conducted throughout the lifecycle of this project. It was essential to have a list of potential risks, finding the root cause of possible problems, while ensuring that suitable back-up solutions were available.

We looked at the risk of increased inflation, war conflicts (that could influence the number of passengers going to specific destinations), high-input costs, and limited product options.

We introduced a brainstorming technique via a workshop session with all members of the project management team. These were ad-hoc calls in which we covered the following activities:

  • contracts that could not be renewed
  • price increases
  • delays in offers submission
  • competitors obtaining better prices for similar services etc
  • possible approaches for mitigating or leveraging the newly identified risks or opportunities using the probability impact grid
  • reviewing the risks identified in previous calls.

This was an efficient approach that lowered our exposure to threats while increasing our exposure to opportunities. Logging everything in the risk register made all parties involved accountable for their section of services.

Project closure

Before transferring the services to the final users, G2 had to secure over 30,000 individual services, covering all 450 groups arriving in 2019. The services have been grouped by destination, type of service, and seasonality to create travel packages for Deter Travel’s end customers.

We analysed a complex project with a well-established existing structure, which offered the perfect opportunity to make improvements wherever we noticed gaps in delivery.

Overall, the project was successfully closed and delivered. A few milestones were delayed but still were met in time to supply the necessary services for end customers.

Tailoring PRINCE2 to suit the needs of our project led to positive changes around key aspects that guaranteed the overall success. The method has helped:

  • engage management to support the project and understand its advantages
  • facilitate the coordination and implementation of project activities
  • foster beneficial interactions among team members with a minimum amount of disruption, overlaps, and conflict
  • all responsible parties know what they need to focus on at a certain time
  • create efficient workflows
  • enable collaboration across multiple departments
  • encourage good communication with the project team and third-party suppliers
  • keep the project work remain within tolerances.

The expected benefits were evaluated throughout the project to ensure that they were still aligned with the initial objectives. A few examples are:

  • financial growth matched initial expectations (as listed in the business case chapter)
  • contracts locked in for all services
  • confirmations submitted for all requested services.

Other benefits that were to be realized after project delivery (while groups were on the road) were measured as soon as possible; for example, via customer survey feedback.

As this project recurs every year, it was essential that a review performance was considered to appropriately review the entire project lifecycle. This activity aimed to assess the benefits and any relevant feedback on lessons learned. If the benefits are addressed effectively, future projects will be initiated with a benefit-led approach.

Conclusions and lessons learned

The project resulted in a new approach of offering a service that provides unique opportunities for both clients and users. The submitted project plan was designed according to the lifecycle stages of the project, broken down by individual parts, including the evaluation of the project outcome and recommendations for possible measures.

After a long period of documentation on various topics of project management, I consider the project method essential. It provides the starting point of understanding the work on projects. The project method practically teaches you how to proceed in different phases of the project lifecycle. Some specifics include common terminology, the type of forms used, when and who completes or approves them, what you should do in certain situations, and so on.

The most important advantage of using a specific project method is the fact that everyone will work in the same way; a consistent, consolidated work system means that projects can be planned and followed in a unified way, the reports will be complete and correct, conclusions and decisions can be drawn or made in real time, people always know what to do (thus increasing their efficiency and productivity), and so on.

The 2018/2019 project was efficiently integrated using PRINCE2 method and it is now being used as a pattern for internal projects in G2 Travel.

About the author

Author Adina Gabor

Adina Gabor is an account manager for UK & USA at G2 Travel. Adina is a PRINCE2 practitioner and has over four years’ experience in sales, account/team management, customer services innovation, and project coordination.

AXELOS (2017). Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 ® . London: The Stationery Office. Bentley, C. (2010).

The Essence of the Project Management Method . England: INBOX SK. Caulking, C; Davies, G (2007).

PRINCE2 Process Model. Key Skills Ltd.

Hinde, D (2018). PRINCE2 ® Study Guide . 2nd edition. Sybex.

Further reading

AXELOS (2017). Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 ® . London: The Stationery Office.

AXELOS (2020). Focusing on pipeline construction products using PRINCE2 ® .

AXELOS (2020). Ichiban LLC: Adaptation of a residential unit.  

Projects in travel - Integrating PRINCE2 for a cross-functional project

  • Projects in travel - Integrating PRINCE2 for cross-functional project

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Travel guide:

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about booking travel, how to book flights or rail, enter your destination, then origin.

  • Go to Concur at travel.gsa.gov
  • In the shortcuts menu on the upper left hand corner, select Travel - New Booking
  • Click on the Air/Rail icon (this should be already selected). If you need to travel by train only, choose the Rail icon instead.

*Note: If you need to travel by both air and rail, call AdTrav at (877) 472-6716 and they will make your reservations for you. An hour after your call, skip ahead to this step to submit your AdTrav reservation for approval.

choosing destination city

*Note: The destination city is entered before the departure city

auto-fill of Per Diem Location

  • Click Search to move onto the next screen.

How to Choose a Flight

When choosing flights, you may notice they fall into four different categories:

Concur flight selection screen

  • Govt. Contract Discounted: the preferred option. In general, these fares are only available 15 or more days in advance, so try to book your travel as early as possible.
  • Govt. Contract: the standard option, based on the city pair rate , the agreed upon rate for government flights between two cities. These are preferred if no govt. contract discounted fares are available.
  • Non-contract Government: these fares are also acceptable to book if the timing is more advantageous. All these fares are within the City Pair rate and are fully refundable. No additional approvals are required to book a non-contract government fare.
  • Lowest published: while these fares may come at a lower cost than the contract options, they also come at increased risk to the government because many of these fares are nonrefundable. Any flight that is nonrefundable must be explicitly approved by the authorizing official before the TTS travel team can approve. If you think that choosing a "Lowest published" nonrefundable fare is your best option, skip ahead to securing your approval email now , and then come back to book later. You'll want to ensure you secure the approval before you book because these fares expire quickly, often before authorizing official and travel team approval can be reasonably obtained.

*Note about flights with policy violations:

If you need to take a flight which indicates a policy violation, the type of violation will inform what steps you need to take next. Click on "View Fares" to pull up additional details about your flight selection.

If any part of the fare that you chose is nonrefundable, or exceeds the City Pair rate (note that lookup values here are for one-way fares), you will need an additional email approving the risk of nonrefundable airfare and/or additional costs from your authorizing official sent to [email protected].

What justifies using a non-contract fare?

viewing fares

  • Select the lowest cost, most compliant fare available by clicking on the blue button at right with the price. This will take you onto the confirmation page.

selecting a flight

  • This will take you to the Trip Overview . This page also lists your current reservations.

viewing the Trip Overview

By choosing "I will book a hotel now." you will be allowed to book your hotel directly in Concur. Before doing so, please ensure that your travel card is saved in your Concur profile .

Book lodging

*Note : If you don't have a travel card yet, make sure that you've applied for one (it is required by GSA policy), then choose "I will book a hotel later". Call AdTrav at (877) 472-6716 to reserve your hotel (and rental car if needed) on your personal card in the meantime. Assuming you've already booked your flight or train in Concur, mention the authorization number associated with your itinerary so you don't get a second overlapping authorization for your hotel and/or rental car. You can verify your authorization number by going to the "Authorizations" tab in Concur and finding the number in blue on the left side associated with your travel dates. An hour after you call with AdTrav, proceed on to completing trip information .

How to Book a hotel in Concur

selecting hotel booking option

*Note: if you are coming back to this step after going back to the main menu of Concur, make sure your saved authorization is selected, go to Travel Home , reopen your itinerary, and then choose "Hotel" under "Add to your Itinerary".

*If you didn't need to book flights or rail, you can go to the Travel tab of Concur and make your reservations selecting the "hotel only" option.

Enter check-in and check-out dates, location, any preferred hotels, and then click next.

Confirm the per diem location and click next. The maximum lodging rate and M&IE allowance is indicated below.

Choose a hotel from the list of search results. Unless you have approval otherwise, or intend to pay for the difference in price personally, sure that you pick a hotel with a nightly rate equal to or less than the government maximum for the area listed here . In the side bar you can filter your search results to only those under the Per diem rate by checking Hide hotels over Per Diem limit ($XXX.00) .

Click on View Rooms , to view a detailed list of rooms within the hotel and select the room by clicking on the listed price at right.

Review and Reserve Hotel On the review screen:

  • Select your hotel room preferences
  • Choose a credit card
  • Agree to the hotel's rate policies.
  • Click on Reserve Hotel and Continue

You will now be taken back to your trip itinerary. Note that the hotel has been added to the flight.

Scroll down and click Next and complete your trip information , or if needed, continue on to reserve a rental car .

Can I book outside of Concur?

Unless there are extenuating circumstances, you should use Concur for all reservations (flights, hotels, and rental cars). If you choose to book a hotel outside of Concur, include a justification that corresponds with one of the following (from the Federal Travel Regulation):

  • When you are attending a conference where the conference sponsor has negotiated with one or more lodging facilities to set aside a specific number of rooms for conference attendees and to ensure that a set aside room is available to you, you are required to book lodging directly with the lodging facility.
  • When your travel is to a remote location and it is not possible to book lodging accommodations through the TMS or ETS (Concur).
  • When such travel arrangements are so complex and circumstance will not allow you to book your travel through an online self-service booking tool (Concur).

If you need to book a hotel outside of Concur, check if booking comes with any nonrefundable fees. If it does, make sure that you get your authorizing official to approve the approximate amount of what is nonrefundable and send the email to [email protected]. Nonrefundable hotel fees that are not pre-approved are the traveler’s liability. Should booking a hotel in Concur or via AdTrav not be possible, , external, Fedrooms offers hotels within government maximum rates that have flexible cancellation policies.

When you are finished booking your hotel, proceed on to complete trip information .

Booking a Rental Car

Before booking a rental car ensure that manager or client who approved your travel explicitly approved budget for a rental car-- in certain situations, rental cars and parking charges are not as advantageous to the government as common carriers such as taxis and/or public transit. Government vehicles may also be available-- check out the guide , external, TTS-only, here for more details.

*If you didn't need to book flights, rail, or hotel, you can go to the Travel tab of Concur and make your reservations selecting the "rental car only" option.

How to Book A Rental Car in Concur

  • From the itinerary page, choose "Car" under "Add to your Itinerary" and then select the trip leg when prompted.
  • Indicate pick-up and drop-off dates, location(s), car type, and preferred vendor(s).

*Note GSA employees are required to use the lowest cost compact car unless approved for a larger vehicle based on meeting one or more of the justifications listed in FTR §301-10.450(c) .

  • Confirm your email address and travel card information, and then Reserve Car and Continue.

Important notes:

Be aware that the rental company you select must participate in the , external, Defense Travel Management Office's (DTMO) Rental Car Program . Rental car companies participating in the program established ceiling rates; unlimited mileage (except for one-way rentals); vehicle contract will be ready upon arrival; if size/class reserved is not available, the company will offer an upgrade at the same cost; no underage drivers’ fee for drivers between the ages of 18-25; no minimum rental period; no cost for additional drivers; and full coverage insurance for damages resulting from an accident while performing official travel.

The Government is self-insured and rental vehicles under the DTMO agreement include full coverage for damages resulting from an accident while performing official travel. Employees on TDY travel within CONUS will not be reimbursed for collision damage waiver (CDW) or theft insurance available on commercial rental contracts. Employees will be reimbursed for collision damage waiver or theft insurance while on TDY in non-foreign areas in accordance with FTR §301-10.451 . Personal liability insurance is considered a personal expense and will not be reimbursed.

Once you have reserved your rental car, continue on to complete trip information .

Questions about securing approvals

Completing trip information.

On the Trip Booking Information page you must enter some general information in order to ensure that your trip gets billed to the right client and/or budget.

*Note: If you called Ad Trav to book travel, you'll need to open Concur about an hour after your initial call to AdTrav, going to the Authorizations tab, clicking on your authorization, and selecting Edit Authorization . This will open up the document, where you can go to the General tab and see the fields that are presented below:

How to Complete Your Trip Information

Trip Booking Information screen

Trip name: Identify the budget of your trip here, based on the type of project you are traveling for:

  • Billable projects: for 18F and CoE, include the exact name and number of the project as it appears in , external, TTS-only, Tock . For PIF billable travel, simply indicate the project is billable.
  • All other projects: include the name of the team budget that is paying for this travel (a list of options is in cell C5 of the , external, TTS-only, TTS Budget and Accounting Lookup

*Note: If you are traveling for multiple projects (whether billable or not), list all of the relevant Tock name and numbers and budget names as appropriate.

  • BILLABLE: 18F / HHS / CMS FY19 #997
  • BILLABLE: CoE / USDA Phase 2 / Cloud Adoption #980
  • BILLABLE: PIF - DHS
  • NONBILLABLE: OPP Smarter IT Solutions Division (QXD)
  • NONBILLABLE: 18F Strategy Branch (QEAD)
  • NONBILLABLE: Cloud Adoption CoE

Type Code: "SINGLE TRIP". Trip Purpose: “Mission (Operational)” in most cases, unless attending a conference or training. Document detail: Brief summary of the purpose of the trip. Will this travel be a detail to another location? No.

  • Proceed by clicking Next to finalize the reservation.

confirming the booking

Additional step if you booked your hotel outside of Concur or Ad Trav

*Note: If you did not book a hotel from Concur, a policy violation will be flagged. If this applies to you, briefly justify your hotel choice .

Additional step if you are extending travel for personal reasons

Deleting hotel expenses which auto-populate on your authorization is relatively straightforward, but an additional step is required to remove M&IE. In some cases, Concur may not allow you to do this on the authorization. If that's the case, proceed as normal and return to this step when creating your voucher after you get back.

How to Justify Rental Cars and Personal Vehicle Mileage

In most cases, you can proceed straight on to stamping and submitting for travel team approval at this point . However, since "common carrier" transit (e.g. public transit, flights, trains, buses, shuttles, taxis, etc) or a , external, TTS-only, government car are the preferred modes of transit for official GSA travel, additional justification is required if you intend to incur the following expenses:

  • Rental Cars: You must add a comment on the "Expenses and Receipts" page justifying the use of a rental car as advantageous to the government (considering both cost and time) compared to common carrier transit or a government car.
  • Mileage: You must add this in as an expense on the "Expenses and Receipts" page and then justify the mileage claim as advantageous to the government (considering both cost and time) compared to common carrier transit, government car, and rental car. Mileage from your home to the airport (plus associated parking fees or round-trip travel in case of a drop-off) need only be justified as advantageous compared to taxi and public transit, as it is understood that obtaining a government car or rental car is impractical over such a short distance.

How to Stamp and Submit for Travel Team Approval

Following this step will ensure your authorization or voucher is in SUBMIT TO APPROVER status, which is required for your request to be reviewed, approved, and ticketed. Before you submit, you can review , external, this Checklist to ensure you've addressed all potential issues that can result in your request getting rejected or returned for correction.

  • Click Document Actions -> Submit Document (in the upper right hand corner of your authorization)
  • You will be taken to a document history page. If your “Status to Apply” is “Submit to Approver” , then click Stamp and Submit Document at either the top or the bottom of the page and continue. If not, please correct any other failures.
  • The next page will show you your pre-audit results . These will let you know if anything might be awry, which is represented by either a FAIL or a HARDFAIL . Many of these are not a cause for concern as long as you secure approvals in the right way. For a more detailed guide on what to do for each FAIL or HARDFAIL , read on , external, TTS-only, here . As long as you don't have any hardfails, you are clear to Continue Stamping the Document
  • If you successfully stamped the document, you be taken to a page with the button Close Post Stamping Document Closure Screen . It doesn’t look like it, but when you see that button, you are done! Your authorization has been submitted. You don’t even have to click the button again (but you can if you want).
  • In the case of authorizations, your travel will be approved by the TTS travel team once you have secured approval from your authorizing official . Ensure this is complete by 3:30 PM Eastern, else your travel will not be approved until the next business day. If you require approval after business hours, see the guide for after-hours and emergency travel here .

*For vouchers, your travel will be approved within 3-5 business days.

  • Once you have been approved by the TTS travel team, you should receive a notification from Concur. Please note that in most cases, government contract airfare does not ticket until 72 hours before departure , so you may not receive official confirmation of your itinerary until then. Don't worry about this, the TTS travel team is not aware of any situations where approved travelers have not been issued tickets :)

*For vouchers, reimbursement will be issued to your personal account and travel card 3-5 business days after travel team approval. For issues with reimbursement, read on more here

Once your authorization is approved and ticketed, you might want to take a look at what to expect while traveling !

How to secure authorizing official approval

You must formally request your authorizing official's approval* via email and forward it to [email protected], unless you are traveling to a training, conference, speaking event, or other "IRL" or large team gathering, in which case you must follow the event request process instead . Who is my authorizing official? The body of the email must include the following: See an individual template here and a group template here

  • Names of individuals traveling What if this changes?
  • Start and end dates of travel What if I am extending travel for personal reasons?
  • A brief description of work to be done on the trip
  • Identified budget that will be paying for the trip How do I identify my budget?
  • Origin and destinations for each individual What if I am returning to or traveling from a location other than home?
  • Estimated expenses for each individual, including a sufficient budget for local travel and miscellaneous expenses such baggage fees How should I estimate my expenses?
  • Include the travel expenses estimator as an image in the body of the email to make the travel approver's life easier.

* Note that in many cases, your engagement manager or team lead may request approval on behalf of the group-- reach out to them before emailing your authorizing official.

Who is my authorizing official and what is my budget?

Your authorizing official must be a supervisor or director at GSA.

If your travel is non-billable , and coming from your team's budget, your authorizing official would be your supervisor or director. If expenses will be paid out of another team's budget (list of budgets available in cell C5 of , external, TTS-only, this sheet ), you will need a supervisor or director from that team to approve.

If your travel is billable , you will need to have the Account Manager of the project or Director of the team overseeing the project verify the budget prior to submitting the travel request. Please use the following process to document the verification:

  • Project teams should send travel request(s) with estimated costs via email to the Account Manager
  • The Account Manager will reply with either "Approve" or "Reject" and provide additional context if they deem necessary
  • Once approved/rejected the Account Manager updates the comment session for the project in Airtable.
  • Submit the travel request(s) to the appropriate approver as listed below

The following list provides Concur approvers for billable travel:

  • 18F: 1st Line Supervisor (verify with the project's Account Manager first per instructions above)
  • 10x: Nico Papafil
  • cloud.gov: Ashley Mahan until a new cloud.gov director is selected
  • login.gov: Dan Lopez
  • Centers of Excellence: Jenny Rostami.

What if I am traveling for multiple projects?

Secure approval from each authorizing official as you would normally, but with an eye on which project will be covering each expense. When completing your trip information in Concur , ensure that either the Trip Name or Document Detail mentions that the travel will be split between multiple projects. If more than one authorizing official has approved expenses for a particular day or leg of the itinerary, clarify which project will be paying for each part of the trip, either via email to [email protected] or comment in the Trip Name or Document Detail sections of Concur. Splitting overall trip costs by a percentage is acceptable as well, as long as the split is agreed upon by all parties.

Another common situation which arises when splitting travel across multiple projects is having days in between, such as a weekend in between travel for two projects. Having official travel approved for the days in between, including weekends or leave is possible as long as the following conditions are met:

  • It is not possible to reschedule one of the meetings or events to avoid having days in between.
  • Considering both the travel time and overall cost, it is advantageous to the government to pay for the hotel and meals for the time in between rather than the round trip travel cost of having the employee return home.
  • One or both authorizing officials agree to cover the costs of the time in between.

* Note that this same situation may arise when travel is required for one project on both sides of a weekend-- the same considerations apply.

How can I get my travel approved to attend a training, conference, speaking event, or other "IRL" or large team gathering*?

Instead of obtaining an email of approval, you must follow the event request process . You may book your travel in the meantime. However, if you will be extending your trip at your own expense , flying to or from points that are not either your duty station or location of the event , or combining your event travel with travel for some other reason, you must secure an email from your authorizing official approving of the revised itinerary.

*The threshold for a large team gathering is over 6 employees traveling for an internal management meeting (not day-to-day business) and/or more than $10,000 in estimated travel expenses for the group. Requests for approval of these events is typically handled by the organizer of the meeting.

What if who is traveling changes?

A follow-up to the original email from the authorizing official indicating who the new travel is, and if there is any change in dates or estimated cost is sufficient.

What if I am extending travel for personal reasons?

Include language that specifies which days will be at your own expense, and acknowledge that "I understand all other travel expenses including lodging and meals before or after the official travel dates specified above are my own responsibility." You may remove hotels and M&IE from your authorization in Concur if you haven't already.

Alternatively, you may book your official travel and have it approved as normal. Once your travel has been approved by the travel team in Concur, you may then call AdTrav at (877) 472-6716 and request to be re-booked on a different flight for personal travel. In the case of most government contract flights, there is no additional charge. However, if there is an additional cost compared to your original itinerary, AdTrav will request you provide a personal credit or debit card number to pay for the difference.

What if I am returning to or traveling from a location other than home?

If you were previously scheduled to be on leave or telework at the other location*, the full cost of travel from or to that location can be approved at the discretion of your authorizing official. Ensure that there is language in the email that reflects your itinerary.

If you'd like to schedule personal travel that's incidental to your work trip (i.e. planned after the work trip), after your official work itinerary has been approved in Concur, you can give AdTrav a call at (877) 472-6716 and request that your itinerary be changed for personal reasons, with you covering any difference in cost that may arise.

*Note that while GSA travel policy doesn't explicitly forbid being approved to travel from a foreign location, travel to or from foreign locations must be requested in Event Tracker for GSA Administrator approval at least 7 weeks in advance, making approval in these circumstances extremely unlikely.

International travel

All official international travel taken by GSA employees, regardless of funding source, requires Salesforce event approval. Please reach out to [email protected] at least 7 weeks in advance in order to coordinate this.

Teleworking from locations outside the U.S. while on personal travel is not allowed.

How should I estimate my expenses

In the case of individual or small group travel, you may estimate your expenses based on the total amount of your authorization in Concur, plus an reasonable allowance for any additional expenses such as taxis, parking, and baggage fees.

For larger group travel, it is recommended to use this , external, TTS-only, travel expenses estimator template which automatically calculates most airfare and per diems.

Questions about reimbursement

How do i create a "voucher from authorization".

Visit Concur at travel.gsa.gov . Click "Vouchers" in the top bar and then "New Voucher" in the next-to-top bar. In the field Document Type, select "Voucher From Authorization" and click Next. You will be led through creating a voucher from your authorization that you got approved prior to traveling.

  • Under Document Search, you’ll see a list of your “open” authorizations (i.e. your authorizations that don’t have vouchers yet).
  • Hit the pencil button to select the authorization you’d like to be reimbursed for. You will be moved onto the next step, Reviewing and completing trip information on the Document Information screen.
  • TIP : If you can't figure out which authorization is your recent trip by name, look at the departure date column.

Once you've selected your authorization and continue, you'll be taken to the Document Information page. This should all be auto-populated, so unless some of the details of your trip changed, no further action is required here and you may continue on to Create Document and start adding your expenses . More guidance on what receipts or justifications are required can be found here

What if I can't find my authorization listed here?

If you can't find your authorization on this list, it may be because an amended authorization was generated for you. If you changed your trip such that trip dates or locations fall outside what was originally approved, you'll need to submit that amended auth for approval by going to the Authorizations tab, selecting the amended authorization corresponding to your trip, and going in to Open Document .

However, in some cases, Concur will generate an amendment in error. If you suspect this is the case, head to the Authorizations tab, select the amended authorization corresponding to your trip, and Delete Document

How do I create a local or miscellaneous voucher?

Upon selecting the Local voucher option, you will be taken to a blank Document Information page. Here's what you need to include for each field:

  • Trip Name This should follow the same naming conventions you would use for a travel authorization . Ensure you have an email from your authorizing official approving all of the expenses you'd like to claim sent to [email protected].
  • Type code and Trip purpose If the voucher is for local travel (taxis, mileage, etc.), choose Local travel . For any other sort of reimbursement, choose Misc voucher .
  • Document detail Enter a brief description of what the reimbursement is for here.
  • Click on Create Document

Proceed on to entering your expenses . Note that any local transit over $25 requires a receipt, and all expenses claimed on a miscellaneous voucher require receipts.

How to add, edit or delete expenses

Adding expenses.

Expenses can be added by clicking the Add expense button either above or below. Make sure to save and click the Add expense button again before creating a new expense.

Editing expenses

Expenses can be edited by clicking the pencil button and then making changes on the right hand side. Don't forget to save any changes you make!

Selecting payment type

Make sure you correctly indicate what was paid on the travel card vs personal means of payment to avoid issues with reimbursement .

  • Use IBA for anything paid for on the travel card. Not seeing this option? Add your travel card to your Concur profile
  • Use CASH for anything paid for using cash or a personal card.
  • CBA is only used for air and rail expenses paid through Concur directly.

Attaching receipts

You can attach receipts by clicking on the Add receipt to lodging button (looks like a slip of paper with a checkmark, just to the right of the pencil button for editing expenses.

Deleting expenses

Expenses can be deleted by clicking the checkbox next to the expense and then clicking the Delete selected expenses button either above or below.

When are receipts or further justifications required to claim expenses?

Simple expenses.

The following expenses can be entered as-is without further receipts, written justifications, or other considerations, provided that each expense is under $75:

  • Airfare or Amtrak tickets booked through Concur or AdTrav
  • Airplane wifi
  • Fees for one checked bag per leg of itinerary
  • Laundry expenses, if official travel is at least 4 nights
  • Tolls, if government car, POV mileage or rental car is pre-approved
  • Meals and Incidental Expenses
  • Public transit expenses of $25 or less.

Expenses requiring receipts

The following expenses require receipts:

  • Flights or Amtrak booked outside of Concur (Requires additional justification and is only approved on a case-by-case basis)
  • Rental cars and gas for rental cars (also requires additional justification
  • Any other expense exceeding $75, including local transportation (This threshold is $25 for local vouchers)
  • Any expenses claimed on a miscellaneous voucher.
  • Professional liability insurance

Expenses requiring further justification:

The following expenses don't require receipts, but do require brief descriptions to justify claiming them:

  • Local transportation expenses of $75 or less per trip (Metro, taxis, personal vehicle mileage, etc.)
  • Checked baggage fees for more than one piece of luggage per leg of your trip.

Questions about entering specific expenses

How should i claim meals and incidental expenses.

  • The allowance for Meals and Incidental Expenses (M&IE) is a flat rate given to a traveler regardless of what they actually spent. No receipts or justification is needed to receive M&IE.
  • For example : Consider a trip taken between 9/16 and 9/18. M&IE is $69 per day in DC, and is 75% of $69 ($51.75) on the first and last days of a trip. We see that the three days of M&IE has been added automatically.

How should I claim meals paid on the travel card?

When meals are paid on the travel card, there are a few different ways of documenting it:

  • One can create a new M&IE expense with expense method IBA in the amount spent on meals per day. The amount of M&IE reimbursed to your personal account will be automatically reduced accordingly (you will see negative charges appear that correspond with this). If you document all expenses correctly, your travel card bill will be paid off exactly.
  • One can change the payment method of M&IE expenses to IBA so that all reimbursement is routed to the travel card. If the entire allowance was not used, any amount left over will show up as a positive balance. You may call the customer service number on the back of the card and request that a check be mailed for that remaining amount.
  • One can leave the payment method of M&IE expenses as the default, CASH . After the voucher is processed, there will be an outstanding balance remaining. This will need to be paid-- call the customer service number on the back of the card for more details on making a payment.

How can I remove extra days at personal expense from my authorization or voucher?

If you were authorized to extend your trip at your own expense and need to delete M&IE, there are some special instructions that you should follow:

  • Edit your first full day of travel at your own expense by clicking on the pencil icon.
  • Click on the View Per Diem Conditions . You should see a menu expand below.
  • Choose M&IE Override , then Override by amount , and 0 .
  • Check On leave . Use Other leave , 8 hours .
  • If you are requesting leave for multiple days, return to the top and enter in the last full day you are traveling at personal expense.
  • Save. Your M&IE should show as zero for the day. If it didn't work, just go ahead an add in a comment about the days you would like to zero out in the comments field, and the travel team will take that into account when they review your voucher for approval.

How should I claim hotels and lodging taxes?

If you booked a hotel in Concur, your actual hotel expenses should populate automatically. However, that automatic amount will often lump in the taxes, which should be considered a separate list.

First, attach your receipt to the first night of lodging only, unless you have multiple receipts. Note that Concur will flag all expenses needing receipts

Then, correct the lodging expenses so they reflect the actual nightly rate paid, not including taxes.

Finally, add a new expense for lodging taxes in , keeping in mind the following:

  • Create Expenses Through: Enter the last night you were checked into the hotel, and each night’s lodging tax will be copied through.
  • Expense Date: The night that you checked in.
  • Expense Description: Lodging Tax
  • Cost: Tax per night (tax can also be reported as a lump sum, though lodging itself must be broken out per night)
  • Payment Method: Travel card -> IBA , and other form of payment -> CASH

Don't forget to Save!

How should I claim air or Amtrak booked outside of Concur

Any airfare or Amtrak tickets booked outside of Concur are at your own risk and may not be approved. If you are seeking reimbursement for personally booked airfare or Amtrak, you must choose Other - Miscellaneous as the expense description, and in the comments section under Show other details , you must provide a justification as to why it was not possible for you to book your travel via Concur or AdTrav.

How can I get reimbursed for professional liability insurance?

Supervisors may be reimbursed for up to half the cost of professional liability insurance, up to $150. In order to claim reimbursement, get an email from your supervisor approving the amount of the reimbursement you intend to claim and send it to [email protected]. Then, create a miscellaneous voucher in Concur and attach the receipt you received after purchasing the insurance.

How should I claim local transportation expenses?

For public transit, taxis, rental cars, POV mileage and other forms of local transportation, you may add the expense as normal , choosing whichever expense description reflects the nature of the method used. Choose the payment method used , and upload a receipt only for rental cars, rental car gas, or any other expense greater than $75 (this threshold is $25 for local vouchers .

Any local transit expense other than public transit under $25 requires a brief comment describing the origin and destination of the travel (e.g. "from airport to office").

You can add this by clicking on Show other details and filling out the Comments section that pops up below.

For public transit over $25, a “blanket entry” describing generally the origins and destinations of travel paid for is acceptable.

For rental cars and mileage claims, the comment should also include an additional justification as specified here .

For mileage claims over $75, instead of attaching a receipt, attach a screenshot showing a map of your itinerary with the calculated distance.

Issues with reimbursement

I received a bill for an outstanding balance on my travel card. should i pay it.

A: First, verify that your most recent voucher was paid to the travel card account. Go to the Vouchers tab of Concur, then click on the voucher number you want to view and choose View Summary . In the voucher view, navigate down to the Totals and travel advances section and verify the amount on the Pay to Charge Card line. This amount should match with a payment made to the travel card in your travel card statement. TTS-only, More information about logging into and managing your travel card account. If it does, and there is still a remaining balance, it is likely that you used the travel card to pay for something that was either claimed as CASH on the voucher, or not claimed at all.

If you discover a valid charge to your travel card that you need to be reimbursed for after your voucher is initially approved, you may create an amended voucher .

If you were reimbursed to your bank account for a charge made on your travel card, you will have to pay the bill for it. Contact the number on the back of your travel card for details on how payment can be made.

Positive balance on travel card

If you have a positive balance on the travel card, it is likely that you claimed an expense as paid for on the travel card when you actually paid for it via a personal means of payment. You can call the number on the back of your travel card and request that they mail you a check in the amount of the positive balance.

My reimbursement never arrived!

If it has been over a week after your voucher has been approved and your reimbursement hasn't arrived (whether to your travel card account or personal account), contact [email protected] and describe the issue you are having. cc [email protected].

How do I amend my voucher after it is approved?

To amend a voucher, go to the Vouchers tab of Concur, then click on the voucher number you want to view and choose Amend voucher . Provide a brief reason for the amendment, then proceed with adding your revised expenses and resubmitting for approval . Note that if you want to revise a voucher that has not yet been approved, you can simply Edit Voucher instead of amending.

Note: Vouchers should NOT be amended in the case of revising the payment method ( IBA to CASH or vice versa , or reducing a claim on an already-approved expense. If you were over-reimbursed for something, you will need to mail a check for that amount, made out to GSA to the following address:

USDA-OCFO Financial Operations & Disbursement Branch Attn: Bryan DeLeve - 2SE 2300 Main Street Kansas City, MO 64108

Reference the authorization and voucher number along with the payment.

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TSA is prepared for a busy spring break travel season, expects travel volumes at nearly 6% above 2023

WASHINGTON – As spring break travelers prepare for their vacation getaways, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is up for the challenge and is offering practical tips to help them plan for a smooth journey as they go through the security checkpoint and take to the skies. The busy peak spring break travel season begins around March 7 and continues through March 25.

“TSA screened a record number of passengers in 2023, and we expect that trend to continue this year,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. “So far in 2024, travel volumes are trending at nearly 6% above the same period in 2023. We always work closely with our airline and airport partners to plan for and meet the increasing travel demand while doing our best to maintain our wait times of 30 minutes or less in standard lanes and 10 minutes or less in TSA PreCheck ® lanes.”

TSA knows travelers put a lot of time and effort into planning the perfect spring break getaway, so we are providing the following tips and tricks to help make sure your special trip gets off to a great start:

Pack smart and remember the 3-1-1 rule. Make sure to start with an empty bag to avoid packing any prohibited items. If you’re heading to the beach, you may wonder how to pack your sunscreen. Any liquids, sunscreen containers and alcohol over 3.4 ounces must be packed in a checked bag. Liquids, aerosols, gels, creams and pastes are allowed in carry-on bags as long as each item is 3.4 ounces or less and placed in one quart-sized bag. Each passenger is limited to one quart-size bag of liquids, aerosols, gels, creams and pastes.

Unloaded firearms must be packed in a locked, hard-sided case in checked baggage only and must be declared to the airline. Travelers who bring firearms or other weapons to the security checkpoint face consequences . To avoid delays, passengers should search TSA’s “ What Can I Bring? ” webpage.

Be checkpoint ready and bring a valid ID. Arrive at the checkpoint with a mobile or printed boarding pass and readily available valid ID . Listen closely to and follow instructions from TSA officers for guidance through the screening process. At many checkpoints, you may be asked to insert your physical ID into one of our Credential Authentication Technology (CAT) units, where a boarding pass is not needed. Nearly 30 airports have a second generation of CAT, called CAT-2, which adds a camera with optional facial recognition technology and smartphone reader. This technology better detects fraudulent IDs. Passengers who do not want their photos taken may ask the TSA officer for a manual ID check without losing their place in line. For more information on how TSA is using facial recognition technology, see our TSA Facial Recognition Technology Fact Sheet . Starting May 7, 2025, every air traveler 18 years of age and older must have a REAL ID -compliant driver’s license or another acceptable form of ID to fly within the United States. 2024 is a good time to get your REAL ID. Contact your state DMV for more information.

Enroll in TSA PreCheck ® . Enjoy the benefits of faster checkpoint screening with a TSA PreCheck membership. Traveling with kids? Teenagers aged 17 and under may accompany TSA PreCheck-enrolled parents or guardians through TSA PreCheck screening lanes when traveling on the same reservation and when the TSA PreCheck indicator appears on the teen’s boarding pass. Children 12 and under may still accompany an enrolled parent or guardian through the TSA PreCheck lanes any time, without restriction. Most new enrollees receive a Known Traveler Number (KTN) within five days, and membership lasts for five years. TSA PreCheck starts at $78 for a five-year membership. That’s about $15.60 per year. Online renewals are $70. Don’t delay. Enroll in TSA PreCheck today.

Arrive early and please be patient. Spring break travelers should give themselves plenty of time to account for traffic, parking, rental car returns, airline check-in, security screening and making any airport purchases before boarding a flight. The airport environment can be stressful. Remain patient, and remember everyone around you is also on their own journey. Passengers who engage in unruly behavior at the checkpoint, the gate area or inflight may face substantial penalties and possible prosecution on criminal charges.

Call ahead to request passenger support. Travelers or families of passengers with disabilities and/or medical conditions may call the TSA Cares helpline toll-free at 855-787-2227 with any questions about screening procedures and to find out what to expect at the security checkpoint. If you call at least 72 hours prior to travel, TSA Cares also arranges assistance at the checkpoint for travelers with specific needs. For more information, visit the TSA Cares website .

Ask TSA before you travel. Contact TSA over social media by sending a message to @AskTSA on X or Facebook Messenger. Passengers may also send a text directly to 275-872 (“AskTSA”) on any mobile device. An automated virtual assistant is available 24/7 to answer commonly asked questions, and AskTSA staff are available 365 days a year from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET for more complicated questions. Travelers may also reach the TSA Contact Center at 866-289-9673 from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET on weekends/holidays. An automated service is available 24/7.

TSA encourages all passengers to remain vigilant. If You See Something. Say Something ® . Those traveling abroad for spring break should check the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Know Before You Go page to learn about required documentation.

For more information on airport security screening, visit tsa.gov .

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New Fed Grant for Queens Park Project Pushes Rail Proposal to the Brink

Good news for QueensWay means that the QueensLink transit proposal is in danger of running off the tracks.

3:49 PM EDT on March 15, 2024

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Imagine Yellowstone Boulevard looking like this. Mayor Adams seems to prefer this to a transit connection.

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A proposal to restore train service to central Queens is in danger of running off the tracks.

On Wednesday, federal authorities announced a $117-million Reconnecting Communities grant for the city to fund another piece of the QueensWay — a 3.5-mile linear park proposed for an abandoned Long Island Rail Road spur between Rego Park and Ozone Park.

The federal grant marks the second big-money infusion into the park proposal, following Mayor Adams's announcement in 2022 of $35 million for an environmental review and construction of first phase in a stretch between Metropolitan Avenue and Union Turnpike, known as the Metropolitan Hub.

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But a separate group of Queens residents has a different plan for the right of way: a subway extension dubbed " QueensLink " connecting Rego Park and Rockaway. That proposal also includes 33 acres of public green space and bike paths, which proponents say hits the sweet spot of both expanding transit and adding park space — a two-birds-one-stone solution not accomplished by QueensWay.

As such, QueensLink advocates say the city's rush to advance QueensWay annihilates the possibility of any rail project on the corridor.

"Its purpose is to derail the train," QueensLink Executive Director Rick Horan said about the federal grant. "They just want to get this thing started so that the train can never seriously be considered."

The Adams administration seems to favor the QueensWay park concept, but City Hall insists that both ideas remain feasible. After Adams approved $35 million for the Metropolitan Hub, spokesperson Charles Lutvak said, "The proposed Met Hub does not preclude an MTA project if [MTA officials] determine one is feasible, and we are ready to partner with them if they decide to move forward."

Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi echoed that message on Wednesday, refusing to declare the transit piece of the project dead and buried.

"It doesn't necessarily prohibit future investment in rail along the same line," Joshi told NY1 . "Those two don't directly conflict. But just as transit is connection, parks are immense connections."

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QueensLink supporters say it's technically true that building a park wouldn't prohibit reestablishing train service in the future. But if the park is fully built out, the MTA would have to rip it up to make a rail link, a politically unpalatable option once people start enjoying the Queens version of the High Line.

"The more they build, the more money they invest, the less likely it will be that anybody will want to rip up a brand new park to put transit in," said Horan.

It's unclear exactly what the design of the second phase will look like, but an illustration of the park indicates it will be built over the existing rail right of way:

official travel project

QueensWay advocates are more circumspect about the possibility of rail, noting that the government would always have the right to reactivate the transit right of way.

"The QueensWay will not preclude rail," said Friends of the QueensWay spokesperson Karen Imas. "If government many years from now does want to fund and implement rail, they always have that right."

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One of the legislative supporters of the QueensLink said that he's not giving up yet — and that he still believes in the prospects of the train and park happening together.

"What I've learned about government is that it ain't over till it's over," said state Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D-Queens), who pushed for the Senate to include $10 million in its one-house budget to fund an environmental impact statement on the QueensLink .

Sanders said he's hoping to get a meeting with U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who was instrumental in getting the grant for the QueensWay, and try to convince her of the case for the rail project.

"God willing, you're able to show them the incredible opportunity to maximize not just that one thing, but to have two beautiful, major things," he said.

The $152-million total investment in the QueensWay so far suggests the city favors the park plan as the more permanent solution. QueensLink supporters, on the other hand, have struggled to get funding or recognition of their idea, beyond the State Senate's EIS proposal this year.

QueensLink advocates have accused the MTA of sandbagging the project by releasing an $8.1-billion price tag. Supporters of the rail link say it could get done for $3.4-$3.7 billion.

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The MTA has since reduced its cost projection to $5.7 billion, but predicted that it would only attract 2,000 new riders per day and wouldn't dramatically enhance an area already served by the public transit ( Woodhaven Boulevard Select Bus Service , the recipient of nearly $260 million in federal money in recent years, runs parallel to the route). The MTA also noted that completing the QueensWay park would force MTA to "compete ... along this corridor."

The proposal to do both things at once has won the QueensLink support from an odd-fellow coalition that stretches from democratic socialist Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani to self-professed "common sense" conservative Council Member Bob Holden. But neither the MTA nor Gov. Hochul have shown any inclination to support the transit project, instead backing the reactivation of a different Brooklyn-Queens rail connection to create the Interborough Express .

Dave Colon is a reporter from Long Beach, a barrier island off of the coast of Long Island that you can bike to from the city. It’s a real nice ride.  He’s previously been the editor of Brokelyn, a reporter at Gothamist, a freelance reporter and delivered freshly baked bread by bike. Dave is on Twitter as @davecolon . Email Dave Colon at [email protected]

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A pair of Israeli airstrikes deep into northeastern Lebanon kills at least two people, officials say

Civil defence workers and firefighters gather near a destroyed warehouse which was attacked by Israeli airstrikes, on the Hezbollah stronghold town of Safri, near Baalbek town, east Lebanon, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. A Lebanese security official and an official from the militant Hezbollah group say two Israeli airstrikes over northeastern Lebanon have killed at least two people and destroyed a warehouse. (AP Photo)

Civil defence workers and firefighters gather near a destroyed warehouse which was attacked by Israeli airstrikes, on the Hezbollah stronghold town of Safri, near Baalbek town, east Lebanon, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. A Lebanese security official and an official from the militant Hezbollah group say two Israeli airstrikes over northeastern Lebanon have killed at least two people and destroyed a warehouse. (AP Photo)

People gather near a destroyed warehouse which was attacked by Israeli airstrikes, on the Hezbollah stronghold town of Safri, near Baalbek town, east Lebanon, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. A Lebanese security official and an official from the militant Hezbollah group say two Israeli airstrikes over northeastern Lebanon have killed at least two people and destroyed a warehouse. (AP Photo)

Islamic Group known as Jamaa Islamiya, carry the body of their comrade Mohammad Riad Mohyeldin, who was killed in an apparent Israeli strike on Sunday, during his funeral procession in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese paramedics hold placards as they attend a protest supporting their colleagues in Gaza and Lebanon who were attacked by Israeli forces, in front of the headquarters of U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. The Arabic placard on the right reads:"Israel is the killer of the paramedics."(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Islamic Group known as Jamaa Islamiya carry the body of their comrade Mohammad Riad Mohyeldin, who was killed in an apparent Israeli strike on Sunday, during his funeral procession in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese paramedics hold placards as they attend a protest in supporting their colleagues in Gaza and Lebanon who were attacked by Israeli forces, in front of the headquarters of U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. The Arabic placards read:"Israel is the killer of the paramedics, the killing of a paramedic is savagery."(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese paramedics hold placards as they attend a protest supporting their colleagues in Gaza and Lebanon in front of the headquarters of U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. The Arabic placard on the left reads:"In the name of humanity, we stand in solidarity with the paramedics teams."(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Hezbollah paramedics stand next of a poster that shows their destroyed ambulances which were attacked by an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon, as they attend a protest in supporting their colleagues in Gaza and Lebanon in front of the headquarters of U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

An Islamic Group known as Jamaa Islamiya carry the body of Mohammad Riad Mohyeldin, who was killed in an apparent Israeli strike on Sunday, during his funeral procession in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

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SAFRI, Lebanon (AP) — A pair of Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday in northeastern Lebanon killed at least two people and wounded 20, marking a continued escalation between Israel and Hezbollah over the war Israel is waging against Hamas militants in Gaza .

One of the airstrikes destroyed a warehouse that reportedly was used to store food.

The Israeli military said the airstrikes hit two Hezbollah sites and were in response to rocket attacks over northern Israel earlier in the day. Hezbollah said they struck several Israeli military positions, including two bases in northern Israel with a barrage of 100 Katyusha rockets on Tuesday.

The exchanges also followed Israeli strikes near the Lebanese city of Baalbek late on Monday night.

Initially, an official from the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group told The Associated Press that one person was killed in the airstrikes in the town of Safri. A Lebanese security official later said at least two people were killed and 20 were wounded, nine of whom remain at a local hospital.

The official said it was unclear if the two killed were Hezbollah members or civilians. Both the security official and the Hezbollah figure spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

A Lebanese army officer stands next to a destroyed car in the southern outskirts of Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 13, 2024. An Israeli drone strike Wednesday targeting a car in southern Lebanon near the coastal city of Tyre killed a member of Hamas and at least one other person. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

Last month, at least two Hezbollah members were killed in airstrikes near Baalbek and another warehouse was destroyed . It had also stocked food that’s is part of Hezbollah’s Sajjad Project, which sells food to people in the group’s stronghold at prices lower than on the market.

Earlier Tuesday, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah met with a top Hamas official, Khalil Hayeh, who was involved in negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza. Last week, Qatar and Egyptian-mediated efforts to broker a truce in Gaza before the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan broke down .

Since the Gaza war erupted after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7 , killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage, there have been near-daily exchanges along the Lebanon-Israel border and international mediators have scrambled to prevent an all-out war in tiny Lebanon.

In Israel’s subsequent offensive into Gaza, at least 31,000 Palestinians have been killed and most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been forced from their homes, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run coastal enclave. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.

In the strikes near Baalbek late Monday, one person was killed and six were wounded.

The Israeli military’s Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Israeli jets bombed two Hezbollah compounds in northeastern Lebanon in retaliation for Hezbollah launching attacks on the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military said said the strikes near Baalbek targeted Hezbollah’s drone locations. The Iran-backed militant group had claimed on Monday attacking Israeli military units in northern Israel with explosive drones.

President Joe Biden’s senior advisor Amos Hochstein had urged for a lasting cease-fire along the tense border when he visited Lebanon and Israel earlier this month.

Hezbollah has said that a cease-fire in Gaza would be the only way to restore calm along the Lebanon-Israel border, though Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last month that anyone who thinks a temporary cease-fire for Gaza will also apply to the northern front was “mistaken.”

Separately, Lebanon’s caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib appeared to underscore the link between peace in Gaza and the volatile Lebanon-Israel border and urged in comments Tuesday for a “full implementation” of the U.N. Security Council resolution that brought an end to a brutal monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

“Full peace with Israel would come after they have peace with the Palestinians,” said Bou Habib.

Since the war in Gaza started, more than 220 Hezbollah fighters and nearly 40 Lebanese civilians have been killed on Lebanon’s side while in Israel, nine soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed.

Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell in Beirut and Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

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Biden-Harris Administration Announces History-Making $3.3 Billion for Locally-Led Projects That Reconnect Communities as Part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda

More than 130 communities in 41 states and Washington, DC will benefit from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to stitch back communities by capping highways, adding new transit routes, adding sidewalks, bridges, bike lanes and more 

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced $3.33 billion in grant awards for 132 projects through the Reconnecting Communities Pilot and Neighborhood Access and Equity discretionary grant programs as part of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda. The funding is aimed at reconnecting communities that were cut off by transportation infrastructure decades ago, leaving entire neighborhoods without direct access to opportunity, like schools, jobs, medical offices, and places of worship. 

The Biden-Harris Administration is taking historic action to deliver for communities that have been left behind for too long. Thanks to additional funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, this investment is 18 times larger than the investments from the previous year’s standalone Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program.  Both programs are part of the President’s Justice40 Initiative . 

“While the purpose of transportation is to connect, in too many communities past infrastructure decisions have served instead to divide. Now the Biden-Harris administration is acting to fix that,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg . “Today we are proud to announce an unprecedented $3.3 billion to help 132 communities deliver better infrastructure that reconnects residents to jobs, health care, and other essentials.”

The Department has created a virtual story that spotlights communities’ stories, the historic context for the program, and the future it seeks through funding the reconnection of communities here .

In this round of funding for the Reconnecting Communities Pilot and Neighborhood Access and Equity program, the Department is awarding 72 Planning Grants, 52 Capital Construction grants and 8 Regional Planning Grants. Awarded projects include:

  • The second Atlanta grant is for The Stitch Phase 1 Implementation , a cap of Interstates 75/85, known locally as the “Downtown Connector,” will seamlessly reconnect the torn urban fabric of Downtown with a new major park, extensive transportation improvements, sustainable infrastructure, and increased affordable housing. The Downtown Connector was intentionally planned to run through established low-income Black communities as a racially charged method of ridding Downtown of “blighted” areas in favor of new commercially focused development centered around the automobile. The Stitch will provide multi-modal connections over the interstate via multi-use paths, an improved surface transportation network, and enhanced transit amenities.
  • The Reconnecting 4th Ave N: A Two-Way Vision for Reviving Legacy and Inspiring Progress project in Birmingham, Alabama was awarded a grant for a 15-block Complete Streets redesign of Birmingham’s Black Main Street. The redesign will include converting the road from one-way to two-way and will help reconnect downtown neighborhoods and businesses divided by the construction of Interstate 65 in the 1960s. The project encompasses the Historic 4th Avenue Business District, a once thriving hub of black businesses and community in Birmingham. This multimodal project will help to revive the access and connectivity that helped the community thrive prior to its conversion into a one-way street during the 1970s.   
  • The second Portland grant, I-5 Rose Quarter Improvement Project will be used for the project’s design and constructing the project’s main reconnecting feature—a highway cover that will support new community space and future development, while reconnecting [Lower Albina to] local streets over Interstate 5 (I-5) and providing better access to the central city and the waterfront in Portland, Oregon. Building the highway cover is an essential first step to actualizing the community’s vision and improving the transportation network in partnership with the City of Portland.
  • The Reconciliation, Regeneration, and Reconnecting the Selma to Montgomery Trail through Equitable Transportation Infrastructure in Montgomery, Alabama will reconnect the West Montgomery residents located on the Selma-to-Montgomery Trail to opportunities, access, and connectivity by addressing poor social determinants of health that exist because of segregation, redlining, and construction of Interstates 65 and 85. The project identifies many disenfranchised local communities that will benefit by enhancements to the trail. These enhancements will allow the City of Montgomery to reinvest in foundational transportation solutions in Historic West Montgomery to facilitate the renaissance of the Selma-to-Montgomery Trail community.  
  • The Reconnecting Rexburg: Planning & Designing Connections Across US Hwy 20 project in Rexburg, Idaho will address the impacts of the construction of US Highway 20, which had a profound impact on Rexburg residents when what was once a convenient and well-connected community suddenly found itself faced with a significant barrier, disrupting daily routines, and altering the dynamics of everyday life. The City of Rexburg intends to have a professional company research, assess, design, and plan the best options for reconnecting the disadvantaged communities that lie on the west side of Highway 20 with the town amenities that are necessary and important for daily living.   
  • The Chinatown Stitch project in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will complete the first phase of design and construction work for a highway cap to reconnect Chinatown, a community that is disproportionately impacted by the Vine Street Expressway (I-676). Since its inception in the 1960s, the Vine Street Expressway has represented a threat to the Chinatown community and upon completion in the 1990s, the highway effectively separated the neighborhood into the commercial core of Chinatown to the south and a more industrial area to the North. The proposed project aims to address historic inequities caused by transportation infrastructure, restore community connectivity, and improve quality of life. 

The full list of Reconnecting Communities Pilot and Neighborhood Access and Equity awards can be viewed here .

These programs are part of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative , which set the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution. The Department prioritized applications from disadvantaged communities that demonstrated strong community engagement and stewardship to advance equity and environmental justice, and would catalyze shared prosperity project development and job creation.

Last year, in the inaugural round of the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program, the Biden-Harris administration awarded grants for transformative, community-led solutions, including capping interstates with parks, filling in sunken highways to reclaim the land for housing, and converting inhospitable transportation facilities to tree-lined Complete Streets. These projects will help revitalize communities, provide access to jobs and opportunity, and reduce pollution. 

The Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program (RCP) in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has been combined with the newly-established Neighborhood Access and Equity discretionary grant program in the Inflation Reduction Act.

This joint application makes it more efficient and accessible than ever for project sponsors to apply for the historic levels of infrastructure funding made available by the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda. While Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods grants can come from either program, they share important key characteristics including prioritizing disadvantaged communities — including rural, Tribal and urban communities — and improving access to daily needs and basic services.

The Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods program is an important component of the Department’s commitment to equity and the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to supporting communities marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution and strengthening equitable development. Restoring communities like those awarded grants today helps give everyone an equal chance to get ahead and opportunity to accessing jobs and essential services such as healthcare services, grocery stores, and places of worship. To find out more about what the Department is doing to support equity, see the recently update Equity Action Plan, which can be viewed here .

For more information on the Reconnecting Communities and Neighborhoods, the Reconnecting Communities Pilot and the Neighborhood Access and Equity programs, including additional resources and information for interested applicants and stakeholders, click here .

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  • Per Diem Lookup

Frequently asked questions, per diem

What is per diem?

How do I find the per diem rate for (city/county, state)?

What is the difference between non-standard areas (NSA) and standard CONUS locations?

How are the CONUS per diem rates set for NSAs?

How does GSA set boundary lines for where per diem rates apply?

How can a CONUS non-standard area (NSA) receive a special review?

How can I request the establishment of a new NSA?

What if a city is not listed on the CONUS Per Diem website?

Can hotels refuse to honor the per diem rate to federal government employees and federal government contractors?

Is the hotel’s GOV rate the same as the federal per diem rate?

Are lodging taxes included in the CONUS per diem rate?

Are taxes and gratuity (tips) included in the Meals and Incidental (M&IE) expense rate?

What is considered an incidental expense?

How often is a study conducted on the M&IE expense rates?

What is the M&IE reimbursement rate during the first and last travel day?

Can I combine the lodging and M&IE per diem rates ("mix and match") in order to get a nicer hotel room or spend more on meals?

Do I need to provide receipts?

What do I do if there are no hotels available at per diem?

Do I receive a meal reimbursement for day travel away from my regular duty station?

How much per diem can I pay a contractor?

How much can a trucker deduct for meals per day?

Per diem is an allowance for lodging, meals, and incidental expenses. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) establishes the per diem reimbursement rates that federal agencies use to reimburse their employees for subsistence expenses incurred while on official travel within the continental U.S. (CONUS), which includes the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia. The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) establishes rates for travel in non-foreign areas outside of CONUS, which includes Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories and possessions. The U.S. Department of State establishes rates for travel in foreign areas. For more information on rates established by DOD and the State Department visit travel.dod.mil and aoprals.state.gov .

Please visit www.gsa.gov/perdiem  to find the rates. Click on a state on the map to view that state's rates or enter the location in the search box. Even though some cities are listed for your lookup convenience, not all cities can or will be listed. To look up the county a destination is located in, visit the Census Geocoder . If neither the city nor county you are looking for is listed on the GSA per diem rate page, then the standard CONUS rate applies.

Non-standard areas (NSAs) are frequently traveled by the federal community and are reviewed on an annual basis. Standard CONUS locations are less frequently traveled by the federal community and are not specifically listed on our website.

Per diem rates are set based upon contractor-provided average daily rate (ADR) data of local lodging properties. The properties must be fire-safe and have a FEMA ID number. The ADR is a travel industry metric that divides room sales rental revenue by the number of rooms sold. All rates are evaluated to ensure that they are fair and equitable in the GSA and Office of Management and Budget approval process. For more detailed information, visit the Factors Influencing Lodging Rates page.

5 U.S.C § 5702 gives the Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) the authority to establish the system of reimbursing Federal employees for the subsistence expenses (lodging, meals, and incidentals) of official travel. The law governs how GSA sets rates today, and allows the GSA Administrator to establish locality-based allowances for these expenses with a reporting requirement back to Congress. The law was established to protect Federal employees by fairly reimbursing them for travel expenses. In addition, if a Federal employee cannot find a room within the established per diem rates, the travel policy allows the agency to reimburse the actual hotel charges up to 300 percent of the established per diem rates.

The per diem program has several standards that it follows in its systematic structured per diem methodology. The first level is having a "standard rate" that applies to approximately 85 percent of counties in the continental United States.

It is GSA's policy that, if and when a Federal agency, on behalf of its employees, requests that the standard rate is not adequate in a specific area to cover costs of travel as intended by the law, GSA will study the locality to determine whether the locality under study should become a "non-standard area." If the study recommends a change, a change will be implemented as deemed appropriate. GSA has implemented a process to review and update both the standard and non-standard areas annually.

The standard "boundary line" for where non-standard areas apply is generally one county. This is the case for approximately 85 percent of the non-standard rates that GSA sets. However, in some cases, agencies have requested that the rate apply to an area larger than one county, such as a metropolitan area. In a very small number of cases, an agency can and has requested that a rate apply to just a city and not the entire county. In some rural areas, a rate sometimes applies to more than one county due to lack of an adequate data sample to set a rate otherwise.

GSA uses the Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) code standard for its apply areas. While GSA often uses ZIP codes to select hotel data samples, the apply area is coded by a FIPS code, unless a Federal agency only wants the rate to apply to certain ZIP codes. These codes are managed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to ensure uniform identification of geographic entities through all federal government agencies.

In order for GSA to conduct a "special" review of a non-standard area (NSA) during the current fiscal year, a Federal Agency Travel Manager or an equivalent individual in grade or title must submit a signed letter on agency letterhead or stationery stating that the present per diem rate is inadequate. The request should contain the following information:

  • The geographical areas you want us to study, especially ZIP codes.
  • The property names (including addresses, ZIP codes, and rates) where your federal travelers stay while on temporary duty travel and those properties (including addresses, ZIP codes, and rates) that will not honor the federal lodging per diem rate.
  • The number of times actual expenses were used and/or federal travelers had to use another lodging facility to stay within the maximum allowable lodging per diem rate, which resulted in additional transportation expenses (rental car, taxi) being incurred.

All valid requests postmarked no later than 12/31 will be eligible for this review. All valid requests received after 12/31, but before 4/1 will be evaluated during the following fiscal year's annual review cycle. After all the requirements are submitted, GSA will obtain updated data from our contractor to determine whether a per diem rate should be increased, decreased or remain unchanged. We will conduct no more than one "special" review for a particular NSA annually.

Letters should be sent to: General Services Administration, Office of Government-wide Policy, 1800 F St. NW., Washington, DC 20405. For more direct service, please also scan and email your request (a signed letter on agency letterhead must be attached) to [email protected] .

The procedure and the request deadline are the same as FAQ #6. However, requests received after 3/31 will not be included in the following fiscal year's annual review cycle because the annual review will have already begun.

If a city is not listed, check to ensure that the county within which it is located is also not listed. Visit the Census Geocoder to determine the county a destination is located in. If the city is not listed, but the county is, then the per diem rate is the rate for that entire county. If the city and the county are not listed, then that area receives the standard CONUS location rate.

Hotels are not required to honor the federal per diem rates. It is each property’s business decision whether or not to offer the rate. Hotels also may or may not choose to extend the rate to other individuals, such as government contractors.

Hotels sometimes offer a "GOV" rate, which might be different than the federal per diem rate. If it is higher, you need to receive approval for actual expense prior to travel in order to receive full reimbursement. It is the traveler’s responsibility to know the federal per diem reimbursement rates, and should not assume a GOV rate is the same as the federal per diem rate. See the FTR Chapter 301, Subpart D-Actual Expense and follow your agency's guidelines.

Lodging taxes are not included in the CONUS per diem rate. The Federal Travel Regulation 301-11.27 states that in CONUS, lodging taxes paid by the federal traveler are reimbursable as a miscellaneous travel expense limited to the taxes on reimbursable lodging costs. For foreign areas, lodging taxes have not been removed from the foreign per diem rates established by the Department of State. Separate claims for lodging taxes incurred in foreign areas not allowed. Some states and local governments may exempt federal travelers from the payment of taxes. For more information regarding tax exempt status, travelers should visit the State Tax Forms page.

Yes, the meals and incidental expense (M&IE) rate does include taxes and tips in the rate, so travelers will not be reimbursed separately for those items.

The Federal Travel Regulation Chapter 300, Part 300-3 , under Per Diem Allowance, describes incidental expenses as: Fees and tips given to porters, baggage carriers, hotel staff, and staff on ships.

An M&IE study has traditionally been conducted every three to five years. Based upon the recommendations of the Governmentwide Travel Advisory Committee, GSA began reviewing rates every three years starting with rates for FY 2016.

On the first and last travel day, Federal employees are only eligible for 75 percent of the total M&IE rate for their temporary duty travel location (not the official duty station location). For your convenience, the M&IE breakdown page has a table showing the calculated amount for the "First and Last Day of Travel."

For federal employees, the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) does not make a provision for "mixing and matching" reimbursement rates. The lodging per diem rates are a maximum amount; the traveler only receives actual lodging costs up to that maximum rate. Therefore, there is no "extra" lodging per diem to add to the M&IE rate. Likewise, the M&IE per diem cannot be given up or transferred to lodging costs. See FTR 301-11.100 and 301-11.101 for more information.

For any official temporary travel destination, you must provide a receipt to substantiate your claimed travel expenses for lodging and receipts for any authorized expenses incurred costing over $75, or a reason acceptable to your agency explaining why you are unable to provide the necessary receipt (see Federal Travel Regulation 301-11.25 ).

You may ask your agency to authorize the actual expense allowance provision. The Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) 301-11.300 through 306 notes that if lodging is not available at your temporary duty location, your agency may authorize or approve the maximum per diem rate of up to 300% of per diem for the location where lodging is obtained. You should also ensure you have checked www.fedrooms.com to confirm there are no rooms available at per diem in the area where you need to travel.

According to the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR), travelers are entitled to 75% of the prescribed meals and incidental expenses for one day travel away from your official station if it is longer than 12 hours. Please see FTR 301-11.101 .

GSA establishes per diem rates and related policies for federal travelers on official travel only, and cannot address specific inquiries concerning the payment of contractors. If the contractor is on a federal contract, check with the contracting officer to see what is stated in their contract. Contractors should also check the travel regulations of their company.

GSA establishes per diem rates, along with its policies for federal employees on official travel only. Truck-related questions should be addressed either to the Department of Transportation ( www.dot.gov ) or the Internal Revenue Service ( www.irs.gov ).

PER DIEM LOOK-UP

1 choose a location.

Error, The Per Diem API is not responding. Please try again later.

No results could be found for the location you've entered.

Rates for Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. Territories and Possessions are set by the Department of Defense .

Rates for foreign countries are set by the State Department .

2 Choose a date

Rates are available between 10/1/2021 and 09/30/2024.

The End Date of your trip can not occur before the Start Date.

Traveler reimbursement is based on the location of the work activities and not the accommodations, unless lodging is not available at the work activity, then the agency may authorize the rate where lodging is obtained.

Unless otherwise specified, the per diem locality is defined as "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city, including independent entities located within those boundaries."

Per diem localities with county definitions shall include "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city as well as the boundaries of the listed counties, including independent entities located within the boundaries of the key city and the listed counties (unless otherwise listed separately)."

When a military installation or Government - related facility(whether or not specifically named) is located partially within more than one city or county boundary, the applicable per diem rate for the entire installation or facility is the higher of the rates which apply to the cities and / or counties, even though part(s) of such activities may be located outside the defined per diem locality.

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  29. Privately owned vehicle (POV) mileage reimbursement rates

    GSA has adjusted all POV mileage reimbursement rates effective January 1, 2024. Modes of transportation. Effective/Applicability date. Rate per mile. Airplane*. January 1, 2024. $1.76. If use of privately owned automobile is authorized or if no Government-furnished automobile is available. January 1, 2024.

  30. Frequently asked questions, per diem

    The lodging per diem rates are a maximum amount; the traveler only receives actual lodging costs up to that maximum rate. Therefore, there is no "extra" lodging per diem to add to the M&IE rate. Likewise, the M&IE per diem cannot be given up or transferred to lodging costs. See FTR 301-11.100 and 301-11.101 for more information.