Best Practices To Achieve Government Travel Budget Savings

1. Best Practices To Achieve Government Travel Budget Savings EdCon 2012 Certified Government Travel Professional Master’s Class Daniel M. Carozza - CGTP, CRP Department Of The Treasury Bureau Of The Public Debt Administrative Resource Center

2. Executive Orders Reduce Government Travel Budgets 11/09/2011 - Executive Order – “Promoting Efficient Spending”. Travel budget reductions of not less than 20% below FY 2010 budget totals. 05/11/2012 - Executive Order – “Promoting Efficient Spending To Support Agency Operations”. Mandatory 30% reduction in travel budgets from FY 10 levels starting in FY 13.* *Reductions to be maintained from 2013 thru 2016.

3. Impact of Reductions • Reduced number and/or frequency of trips. • Some in person trips replaced with virtual trips. • Fewer mission critical and customer/vendor trips. • Agency mission or business could suffer if trips cut. • Reduced training/conference attendance. • Professional development, peer interaction, and access to best practices information could be limited.

4. Compliance Strategy

5. Enforce Existing Regulations Approving Officials – • Verify the need for travel. • Evaluate alternatives (telephone or video conferences, virtual meetings). Travelers/Approvers – The Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) requires travelers and approvers to spend money wisely (Prudent Person Rule). § 301-2.3What standard of care must I use in incurring travel expenses? “You must exercise the same care in incurring expenses that a prudent person would exercise if traveling on personal business”. (The FTR for civilian agencies or the JFTR and JTR for DOD military and civilian employees share this provision).

6. Enforce Existing Regulations Hypothetical Trip - FTR Compliant Expense Detail Expense Total POV to regional airport $ 116.00 Lodging at regional airport night before early flight 136.00 Airport Red Lot parking @ $ 6 per day 30.00 YCA Government City Pair Fare (round-trip) 424.00 2 checked bags ($25/$35) 60.00 Rental car in Las Vegas 150.00 Per diem rate lodging Las Vegas 495.00 Telephone calls home 50.00 Conference ends at noon – extra lodging/M&IE Las Vegas 170.00 3rd bag fee for conference material 100.00 Total $ 1,732.00

7. Enforce Existing Regulations Approver Discretion Applied Expense Detail New Trip Old Trip POV to regional airport GOV $ 0.00 $ 116.00 Lodging at regional airport (afternoon flight) 0.00136.00 Airport Red Green Lot parking @ $ 6$4 per day 20.0030.00 YCA–CA Fare Government City Pair Fare (round-trip) 282.00424.00 21 checked bags ($25/$35) 25.0060.00 Rental car in Las VegasShuttle courtesy transp. 0.00150.00 Per diem rateFedRooms lodging Las Vegas 400.00 495.00 Telephone calls Government calling card0.0050.00 Conference ends extra lodging/M&IE (return home) 0.00170.00 3rd bag fee for conference material (carry on)0.00100.00 Totals $ 727.00 $ 1,732.00 For illustrative purposes only – limiting authorizations may not be appropriate or prudent in every case.

8. Top 10 Best PracticesGovernment Travel Policy Implement best practices for a sound managed travel program that attains travel budget savings. Important Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) Provisions: • The FTR requires agencies to formulate policies in specific areas. • Agency policies can be stricter than the FTR, but never more lenient. – there is no statutory authority to exceed legislative limits by agency policy or expense authorization. • The FTR has the force and effect of law. • FTR provisions may not be waived by travelers or approving officials. Numerous CBCA/GAO decisions support this.

9. Best Practice #1 Airport Choice The agency, not the traveler decides how to route travel. Look at alternatives, but keep in mind mission requirements and common sense. • Departure airports for Parkersburg - Columbus, Pittsburgh, Akron/Canton, Charleston, Parkersburg, Clarksburg, or Huntington. • Departure airports for Washington - National, Dulles, and Baltimore-Wash. Major cities with multiple airports/varying costs: Houston Houston or Hobby Los Angeles LAX, Ontario, Burbank, Orange County Chicago O’Hare, Midway New York JFK, LaGuardia, Newark Washington National, Dulles, Baltimore-Washington Int.

10. Best Practice #1 Example Airport Choice Determines Cost Parkersburg Area to Atlanta Washington Area to Atlanta

11. Best Practice # 2Discounted GSA City Pair Airfare Create an agency policy to require travelers to take the discounted City Pair fare in markets where both fares exist. • Travelers may need education that both fares are the same seat on the same aircraft but the discounted fare saves money. Both are fully refundable. • Travelers may not select the a higher priced contract fare to maximize frequent traveler points or in order to upgrade to a higher class of service using their points.

12. Best Practice # 3Baggage Fee Policy Baggage fees apply to GSA City Pair contract airfares and are reimbursable. • Approvers should generally limit one checked bag for trips lasting two to four days. * • Encourage travelers to join airline frequent flier programs that allow free baggage with a certain level of points or member status. * Longer trips may require another checked bag, however the approver can also limit the bags in favor of reimbursing for laundry and dry cleaning (more than 4 consecutive days) § 301-12.2   What baggage expenses may my agency pay? Your agency may reimburse expenses related to baggage as follows: …(d) All fees pertaining to the first checked bag. In addition, charges relating to the second and subsequent bags may be reimbursed when the agency determines those expenses necessary and in the interest of the Government ( see §§301–70.300, 301–70.301). Travelers should verify their agency's current policies and procedures regarding excess baggage prior to traveling;…

13. Best Practice # 4 Transportation At TDY Location Require travel approvers to ensure transportation is limited by availability and mission need according to this hierarchy: Free hotel/courtesy transportation as a first choice, if readily available. Low cost paid transportation - commercial shuttle/public transportation. Taxi cabs only if paid or free transportation is not available. Rental cars should be a last option unless there is a mission related need. (Note: Taxi cab and rental car are not normally authorized at the same TDY location, may depend on mission need with advanced authorization and approval)

14. Best Practice # 5 Lodging Policy “Government Rates” for lodging are set by hotels, not the Government. Government rates can be at or above the established per diem rate for the TDY location involved. The FTR asks travelers to give first consideration to FedRooms rates are guaranteed to be at or BELOW the per diem rate. In a down economy, most FedRooms hotels have reduced their rates to be well under the per diem rate (average of 17% below). • If there is no mission reason to stay at a specific hotel, require travel approvers to promote the use of FedRooms as a cost savings means. • Approvers must verify any ETS/DTS justifications that may have been selected to not use a FedRooms property (verify your agency policy on this point).

15. Best Practice # 6 Telephone Calls Update telephone call policy to encourage phone card use rather than claim business and authorized calls home the travel voucher. Telephone card costs are applied to the communications and not travel budget. Costs are not claimed on the travel voucher.

16. Best Practice #7 Airport Parking Travelers should use the least expensive airport long term parking option when available. Example: If departing from Port Columbus Airport, require travelers to use the new green long term shuttle lot over the red or blue lots when available. This applies to any airport that has discounted parking lots – most now have this option.

17. Best Practice # 8 Plan Trips In Advance • Use ETS/DTS: Make reservations in ETS/DTS together to avoid calling TMC/CTO later at the higher agent-assisted transaction fee. • Plan Ahead: Make reservations early to take advantage of discounted City Pair rates. • Ask For Help: Contact your agency Travel Office or Help Desk for assistance.

18. Best Practice # 9 Think “Out Of The Box” For Savings • Coordinate Agency Trips: share costs if travelers can ride together. • Combine Traveler Trips: traveler can have 2 destinations in some cases. • Remote Attendance : useconference calls, WebEx, etc. • Non-Traditional Transportation: - Consider bus lines. For Parkersburg, Mega Bus from Morgantown to Washington ($14 each way); Go Bus from PKB/Athens/Columbus/ CIN/. Traveler that do not like to drive or fly give good feedback. Other cities have similar lines. • Gain Sharing – travelers/agency share savings (if benefits > costs.) Some agencies have programs, but others think administration too costly. • Share best practice ideas withGSA, other agencies, and peers at SGTP. • Take the CGTP class to learn more best practices for Government travel. • Post policies and tips on your travel guidance website. • Create a travel newsletter and/or send direct emails.

19. Best Practice #10Travel Policy Training Needed Approvers and travelers make these common post payment audit errors and/or ask these types of questions about travel policy. This demonstrates the need for periodic travel policy training. • Authorized both rental car and taxi at TDY location. • Actual expenses allowed when lodging available at per diem. • Lodging - “Gov. Rate” at per diem but FedRooms under per diem. • Cheaper non-contract fare used; trip canceled – results in unused tickets or high change fees. (contract fare is refundable) • Departed from one regional airport for personal reasons but other regional airports were cheaper. • Taxi authorized when free hotel shuttle was available. • Higher priced airport parking used over cheaper alternatives. • Personal and official travel combined but no cost comparison. • Not using the ETS/DTS for reservations. • Authorizing POV and not verifying if a GOV was available.

20. Best Practice #10Travel Policy Training Options The FTR tasks approvers and travelers with knowledge of the FTR, but there is no training requirement. Traveler & approver training is the key to applying existing regulations and best practices to reduce travel spend. Agencies should consider:

21. Formula For Compliance Enforce FTR and Agency Specific Travel Policies + Add Best Practices To Your Agency Policy + Provide Traveler/Approver Policy Training = Travel Budget Savings & OMB Compliance

22. Thank You! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments: Dan Carozza dan.carozza@bpd.treas.gov As in my original white paper I will also mention here that the contents of this presentation are mine personally and do not necessarily reflect any position of the Government or my agency.