RRC Travel Authorization Information Form

Travel requests now receive additional review to ensure that they reflect essential and cost-effective use of funds. The business purpose you provided on this form must include what you will be doing during travel, why you are traveling, and why this travel is essential for your scholarly or professional responsibilities. If it does not, please edit your previous response to provide more detail.

You may drive or take a train instead of fly to your travel destination 1) if it is nearby travel within the state of Idaho, 2) if required for fieldwork at the destination (RRC or other field vehicle needed), 3) if driving is less expensive and time allows (note that mileage cannot be reimbursed at a rate lower than the current mileage rate), or 4) if there is a medical accommodation for you to drive instead of fly (a medical accommodation must be on file with HR–please notify RRC admin of this, and there is no need to provide us with a copy). If none of these apply and you are instead driving instead of flying for personal reasons, check with departmental admin on limitations. If you responded Yes to the previous question for any of the above reasons, provide the reason in the Business Itinerary Narrative. If an Expense Report request is made, you must provide: 1) a Google Map PDF showing the mileage from your workplace to the destination and back, 2) a mileage log (either the form for a personal vehicle or the mileage log for a university vehicle, if applicable), 3) a PDF of the cost of a theoretical roundtrip flight you otherwise would have taken to your destination (must show all the way to the payment screen), and 4) if you are driving your personal vehicle – a Personal Vehicle Use Memo. Additional travel time due to longer travel if driving instead of flying for personal reasons is not eligible for per diem.

You indicated that personal travel will be scheduled in conjunction with business travel. IMPORTANT: After the TA is approved, you MUST save screenshots of the airfare comparison for business-only travel compared to business plus personal travel showing the images were captured on the date of the transportation purchase (e.g. include the date at the corner of your screen in the screenshots). Flight schedules do not constitute a valid comparison. The comparison must show the purchase page, reflecting the booking that would have occurred if there was no personal travel and the booking with personal travel. This documentation is required for all Expense Report requests and to accompany p-card purchases of flights. If the cost of the flight including personal time is the same or less than business-only travel, the airfare may be charged to a p-card. If the cost of the flight including personal time is more than business-only travel, the traveler must pay for the flight personally and be reimbursed for the documented amount of the business-only flight after travel. In either case, the flight cost comparison MUST be documented.