There are times when a previously booked trip is cancelled. The reasons for cancellations fall into two categories: first, cancellations occur because of actions by someone other than the traveler, such as cancellation by the host. In addition, weather conditions might cause cancellations preventing flights or a travel warning may be issued that halts all travel to a certain area. Second, cancellations might occur for personal reasons; for example, illness, changes to plans, personal conflicts. Additional information is available from the University fiscal policy FI0705 - Travel.
The traveler or cardholder is responsible for cancelling any travel reservations made in advance including but not limited to airfare, hotel, car rental, and conference registrations. If the travel was booked/reserved via the online booking tool (Concur) or the university’s preferred travel agency (World Travel), the traveler or cardholder should contact World Travel. If the traveler paid out of pocket and did not use Concur/World Travel to book the travel, they should contact the vendors directly.
Expense Reports
Reimbursement for a cancelled trip depends on the reason for the cancellation. If the trip is cancelled by someone other than the traveler, expenses associated with flight delays and/or cancellations are reimbursable and do not require an exception to policy. If the trip is cancelled by the traveler for personal reasons, the expenses might or might not be reimbursable, but they must be marked as exceptions to policy. All out-of-pocket expenses must be marked as exceptions to policy.
An expense report is required for a cancelled trip anytime a UT Travel card was used to pay expenses, even if refunds were provided for the expenses. An expense report is also required anytime a traveler requests reimbursement for out- of-pocket costs related to the cancellation.
When submitting the expense report, travelers are required to fully document the reason for the cancellation. Reimbursement must first be approved by the department head or cost object approver. Please note that the department head has complete autonomy where their budget is concerned. For reports with exceptions to policy, the traveler’s campus CBO (and in some cases the System CFO) will make the final determination as to whether the traveler did their due diligence in following UT Fiscal Policy as well as the vendor’s policies regarding cancellations.
All expenses paid on a travel card must be reconciled by submitting them on an expense report, even if the charges and credits net to zero. The traveler or cardholder should do their due diligence to attempt to obtain a refund from all vendors where a cancellation was requested. If a refund is provided by the vendor, it will automatically feed into the cardholder’s Available Expenses queue and should be attached to the same expense report as the original transaction. This way approvers and auditors can see that the traveler has done all they can to be fiscally responsible. For any expense where a full refund was provided, no exception to policy is required.
If the vendor refuses to give a full refund, the traveler should submit those expenses as exceptions to policy. If the expense was an airfare expense, it is possible to submit without an exception to policy if the airfare was purchased via Concur or World Travel. For all other expenses where a refund could not be obtained, or for airfare not purchased through Concur/World Travel, submission as an exception to policy is required.
Unused Tickets
When tickets purchased through Concur or World Travel are cancelled, they are applied to the traveler as unused tickets. The ticket charge must be expensed on the current trip, but the ticket then can be used for a future trip. The traveler can use the ticket for future trips, or it can be transferred to another traveler for their use. To use the ticket, the traveler or departmental staff should contact World Travel directly. They will assist with applying any credits or unused tickets to the current airfare.
If the traveler has an unused ticket, it will be noted on the Travel tab. In addition, any unused tickets can be found under Profile > Profile Settings > Personal Information. Jump to - Unused Tickets and any available tickets will be displayed.
If you have questions or need additional assistance utilizing the University’s travel system, please contact travel@tennessee.edu.