Before you travel on University business, you are encouraged to review this page to ensure you are fully reimbursed for any expenses you incur while traveling. The policies discussed here are just a sampling of issues that have presented themselves during the reimbursement process. Your primary source for all travel related policy is the “Policies and Procedures” section of the Business Services travel planning page.
Selected Travel Reimbursement Issues
Adding Personal Travel to a UW Business Trip
Receiving Reimbursements for Personal Vehicle Expenses
Location Maxima and Booking Lodging
Adding Personal Travel to a UW Business Trip
If you are traveling for a University business purpose (e.g. conference, work with a collaborator) and intend to extend your trip by adding on personal days, you must obtain a price comparison to be reimbursed for air travel. This is necessary in all cases, whether you simply spend extra time in the primary business location or if you add extra stops or indirect routing to your itinerary. The price comparison should show that the flight cost is the same or lower with your personal time included as it would be if only University business were included.
When traveling with a companion (non-business-related traveler), contact Fox World Travel to reserve flights for both the business traveler and companion. More on this policy can be found here: Policy 311 – Air Travel Policy.
Personal Vehicle Expense Reimbursements
If you plan to drive while traveling on University business, including your personal vehicle, you must be authorized to drive by UW-Madison Risk Management. You must be registered as a driver to receive reimbursement for any expenses tied to your vehicle use, including mileage and parking fees.
To register as a driver, you’ll need the following information:
- Your NetID and password
- Your driver’s license number
- Your supervisor’s name and email address (for faculty, this is the Department Chair)
- The UDDS for our department, which is A537700
If you have all of this information, please register through the Fleet Management system.
More info is available on the Business Services page for driver authorization.
Location Maxima for Lodging
Whenever you are booking lodging for travel on University business, each location has maximum allowable costs for lodging and per diem expenses. If you intend to be fully reimbursed, lodging maxima should never be exceeded except where a conference has designated a specific hotel as the conference hotel. You should substantiate this by including conference documentation stating this designation.
Lodging should be is booked through Concur, which provides clear signs of which hotels and rooms are and are not compliant with UW-Madison policy, as outlined below and shown in the following screenshots:
While Scrolling through Hotel Options:
- A yellow warning sign appears next to hotel options above the location maximum. These should only be booked if they are conference hotels. Details are available by clicking on the warning.
- A red warning sign appears next to hotel options that cannot be booked under any circumstances because they have been flagged by the UW system. Details are available by clicking on the warning.
While Selecting a Room:
- A green check mark appears next to room options that are beneath the location maximum and are therefore able to be booked.
- A yellow warning sign appears next to rooms that are above the location maximum, and should not be booked.
