Travel Reimbursement

All domestic and international travel must be approved prior to booking a trip. Please use a  for all domestic and international travel requests. You will need to enter your Request ID to finalize your international reservation.

Planning an international trip in the next six-twelve months? 

  • Check passport and other document requirements now. Many travelers are experiencing significant passport delays. 
  • For information on passport processing, including expedited services, see the , and the CIBT links on our .

Use the Concur Travel & Expense System (Concur) to book domestic and  travel and to process expense reports. Use the University's travel management company, Christopherson Business Travel (CBT), to book group travel; you can also use CBT for individual domestic and international bookings if desired. 

You may only purchase your own flights if the flight is not available on Concur or through the travel agent, or if the flights provide significant savings. 

  • Purchasing airfare on a personal credit card is only allowed provided you have obtained a comparison quote of the airfare through Concur for domestic travel or through CBT for international travel prior to your trip. 

Airfare for a combined business/personal trip must be purchased through the Concur Travel & Expense System (Concur) or Christopherson Business Travel (CBT). The traveler will need to obtain a comparison quote obtained prior to or at the time of booking from Concur or CBT documenting the cost of the business-only fare. This allows comparison of the cost of the combined-trip airfare with the cost of the business-only airfare. 

  • If the combined/extended trip results in a greater cost, the cost difference needs to be deducted from the subsequent travel expense report. If the amount is not completely covered by any out-of-pocket offsets (such as reimbursement for business travel per-diem), the traveler must reimburse the university prior to submitting the business travel expense report. See the for more information.

For further questions, please contact swxfinance@colorado.edu. 

Booking Travel

All domestic and international travel must be approved prior to booking a trip. Please use a  for all domestic and international travel requests. You will need to enter your Request ID to finalize your international reservation.

As an employee, you can book your domestic and trips through the  or through a  travel agent.

Airfare is charged to a central card (ghost card) and reconciled by the PSC. Airfare will need to be reconciled in Concur once you return. 

If you have not already done so, please work with SWx TREC Finance to obtain a  to facilitate payment of your other travel-related expenses.

For additional information, please visit the Infrequent Traveler links below:

  • Booking Travel: https://www.cu.edu/psc/training/booking-travel/concur-how-booking-travel
  • International Travel: https://www.cu.edu/psc/international-travel-employees

If your travel includes personal travel, please contact SWx TREC Finance prior to booking, as there are additional approvals and proof of cost that are required.  

For further questions, please contact swxfinance@colorado.edu. 

Keep itemized receipts and proof of payment for all single-item charges, regardless of the amount.  These items might include:

  • Rental car/ gas
  • Itemized hotel bill 
  • Official function meals with itemization and tip no larger than 20%
  • Transportation charges 
  • If driving a personal vehicle, the traveler should keep track of the mileage driven.
  • Conference attendees should retain the conference schedule in order to document whether or not meals were provided.

Receipts are not required for Per Diem.  The Per Diem rate is calculated based on the travel destination. If travel is wholly within a single day, meals are an allowable expense as long as the trip lasts 12 hours or more.  Reimbursement cannot exceed 75% of the daily M&IE per diem rate. If each travel day is not 12 hours or more, per diem is not allowable. 

As mentioned, since meals are paid via GSA per diem, receipts are not needed for meals in travel; however, please provide receipts for all other travel expenses. CU OCG Guidelines require that the department 鈥渆nsure proper documentation exists and is retained to support the appropriateness of all sponsored project expenditures. This documentation responsibility is required regardless of dollar amount." 

For further questions, please contact swxFinance@colorado.edu. 

All Travel and Personal Reimbursement requests will now be handled by the CEAS FSC.  Please submit your request at the link below as soon as your travel has been completed.  

CEAS Financial Service Center (CEAS FSC)

Airfare will be reconciled as part of your travel reimbursement request.  If that is your only expense, we will still need to create a request. 

*Receipts are not required for Per Diem.  The Per Diem rate is calculated based on the travel destination. If travel is wholly within a single day, meals are an allowable expense as long as the trip lasts 12 hours or more.  Reimbursement cannot exceed 75% of the daily M&IE per diem rate. If each travel day is not 12 hours or more, per diem is not allowable. 

As mentioned, since meals are paid via GSA per diem, receipts are not needed for meals in travel; however, please provide receipts for all other travel expenses. CU OCG Guidelines require that the department 鈥渆nsure proper documentation exists and is retained to support the appropriateness of all sponsored project expenditures. This documentation responsibility is required regardless of dollar amount." 

To avoid IRS implications, the Concur Travel Office must receive the expense report within 60 days of the trip end.

For further questions, please contact swxFinance@colorado.edu.