Travel Procedures

Airfare/Flights

• Allowable Expense: ✅ Yes
• Companion travel costs are not reimbursable when the companion is not traveling on official UMBC business. Travelers should ensure that any expenses billed to the university exclude companion-related costs. Any additional charges—such as higher lodging or transportation rates—are the responsibility of the traveler. If reimbursement is requested for more than a standard single-occupancy room, a comparison quote showing the cost difference will be required.
• All Federally funded travel must comply with the Fly America Act and the use of U.S. flag air carriers which require that a United States flag carrier be used unless an exception applies.
• Use of personal vouchers, airline points and/or coupons are not reimbursable to the traveler.

Premium Seating

• Allowable Expense: ⚠️ Conditional
• University travelers are expected to book the lowest cost logical fare. First-class travel is not reimbursable under any circumstances. Travelers seeking a more expensive class should ensure that the additional cost is permitted by their department and approver(s). Premium seating (e.g., Comfort Class, Business Class, Coach Plus) is only allowable if one of the following applies:
  • The traveler has an approved accommodation from Accessibility and Disability Services.
  • A single flight segment exceeds 8 hours, or total scheduled flight time (including layovers) exceeds 14 hours. In such cases, the upgrade is allowable for the entire round trip.
• Travelers may also sit in a premium section when there is no additional cost to the university.
• Travelers are to consider the lowest cost options first.

First Class Airfare

• Allowable Expense: ❌ No
• The purchase of first class airfare is not allowed.

Flight Insurance

• Allowable Expense: ❌ No
• The cost of flight insurance is not reimbursable.

Baggage Fees

• Allowable Expense: ✅ Yes
• Allowable to support business travel, receipt must be provided for expense reporting.

Early Bird Seating

• Allowable Expense: ❌ No
• Early bird seat selection that incurs an additional cost is not allowed.

Alternative short term car rental services on campus (Zipcar rentals)

• Allowable Expense: ❌ No
• Alternative on campus car rentals (Zipcar) are exclusively for personal use and cannot be used for University business travel.

Car Rental

• Allowable Expense: ✅ Yes
• Rental cars should only be used when documented less expensive than comparable rideshare expenses.

Car Rental in U.S. – Insurance Coverage, Collision Damage Waiver (CDW/LDW)

• Allowable Expense: ❌ No for Employees, ⚠️Conditional for non-employees/guests
• For UMBC Employees: Not an allowable expense. The State of Maryland is self insured. When signing the rental agreement, the renter must include traveler name, University of Maryland, Baltimore County and State of Maryland. Travelers are advised to utilize discount codes.
• Non-employees need prior approval and must buy additional insurance (including CDW), which is reimbursable.

Car Rental Outside the U.S -Insurance Coverage, Collision Damage Waiver (CDW/LDW)

• Allowable Expense: ✅ Yes
• CDW/LDW is reimbursable for international rentals, outside the 50 United States. Travelers are advised to use the available car rental contracts listed on the Travel Discounts page.

Car Rental (Optional Coverage)

• Allowable Expense: ❌ No
• Including, but not limited to Prepaid Fuel service, Car Wash, Carefree Personal Protection (CPP), Extended Protection (EP), Liability Insurance Supplement (LIS), Personal Accident Insurance (PAI), Personal & Accident & Effect Coverage (PAE), Renter’s Liability Protection, Roadside service Plan (RSP), Super Personal Accident Insurance (SPAI), Supplement Liability Insurance (SLI), Theft Protection (TP), Third Party Insurance (TPI).

Rental Car Fuel

• Allowable Expense: ⚠️ Conditional
• Rental Vehicles: Fuel expenses for rental vehicles are reimbursable only with an original, itemized receipt from a gas station. Credit card transactions will not be accepted unless they clearly indicate that the purchase was for fuel. Fuel charges from car rental agencies—whether prepaid or incurred upon return—are not eligible for reimbursement.

Fines/Violations

• Allowable Expense: ❌ No
• Not an allowable expense. Fines including, but not limited to, fines for traffic, toll, photo enforcement, and parking violations are the personal financial responsibility of the individual who incurred the violation. The driver is responsible for payment of the violation as well as any associated fees received from the issuing jurisdiction.

Parking Fees

• Allowable Expense: ✅ Yes
• Reasonable, with an itemized receipt.

Toll Charges/EZ Pass Toll

• Allowable Expense: ✅ Yes
• Toll charges are allowable with an itemized receipt. EZ Pass is allowable with a copy of toll statement.

Personal vehicle use-mileage reimbursement

• Allowable Expense: ✅ Yes
• Mileage for use of personal vehicles is calculated at the current State of Maryland rate.
• Mileage is calculated from the traveler’s official work location (or from their home) to their business destination, including airports, train stations, and lodging locations. Personal vehicle use does not include commuter travel or work related travel on campus.
• Travel by road in a personal vehicle may be appropriate for UMBC business travelers to save time, transport equipment and/or reduce costs. Travelers and approvers are expected to evaluate the cost of reimbursed vehicle mileage compared to other means of travel (air/rail/rental car) and choose the most economical means of travel. If they opt to drive their personal vehicle, they will be reimbursed for mileage up to the cost of the cheapest airline ticket.
• ❌ Fuel for Personal Vehicles: Fuel costs for personal vehicle use are not reimbursable separately, as they are included in the standard mileage reimbursement rate.

Ride Share Service (i.e., Uber and Lyft)

• Allowable Expense: ✅ Yes, ⚠️ Conditional for larger vehicles
• Ride share services such as Uber and Lyft may be used as an alternative to car rental, taxi, and shuttle services while traveling with an itemized receipt. Receipts must include start location and time.
• Larger vehicles may be approved when multiple UMBC travelers are attending the same destination and ride-sharing is determined to be more cost-effective. Priority booking is permitted in locations where rideshare options are limited and/or when timely transportation is required, such as for flight departures.

Tips – Taxis, Bus, Shuttle, Limo

• Allowable Expense: ✅ Yes
• Reasonable, tips not to exceed 20%, must be detailed on Expense Report.

Business Class Rail Fare

• Allowable Expense: ⚠️ Conditional 
• You may only reimbursed for Acela Business Class Fare if a comparison quote provided at the time of booking shows the same cost as the Acela Fare. You may also be reimbursed if there are no regular trains that will get you to destination in time for the event.

Travel to and from: Baltimore, MD and Washington, D.C. by Train

• Allowable Expense: ⚠️ Conditional
• Rail travel exclusively between Baltimore, MD and Washington, D.C. should be booked only on the MARC Train.
• Amtrak and Acela are not reimbursable for this short route.
• If Baltimore or Washington, D.C. is part of a longer trip to another destination, Amtrak is acceptable and may be reimbursed.

Metro/Local Transit

• Allowable Expense: ✅ Yes
• The purchase of a transit pass of $10 or more requires a receipt. It is suggested that travelers purchase per ride fares rather then full days passes. If the traveler chooses to purchase multi day passes only the days related to business will be reimbursed.

Non-Conventional Lodging

• Allowable Expense: ⚠️ Conditional 
• Alternative lodging such as AirBnB and Vrbo are allowed for reimbursement with documentation. Please see the Non-Conventional Lodging Form process.

In-room movie, pay-per-view, additional cable charges

• Allowable Expense: ❌ No
• In-room movie, pay per view, and additional cable charges not included in the room rate will not be reimbursed. These are considered personal charges.

In-State lodging or Local Lodging for UMBC Faculty, Staff and Students

• Allowable Expense: ⚠️ Conditional 
• All travel, including In-State travel with an overnight stay, requires pre-approval and is at the discretion of your department. Staying at a local hotel (within 50 miles of travelers home or UMBC) during a conference is permitted if it supports business objectives such as networking. However, lodging beyond the conference end date will not be approved without a documented business purpose.

No Show charges

• Allowable Expense: ❌ No
• UMBC will not reimburse “no show” charges.

Porter and Maid tipping

• Allowable Expense: ❌ No
• Travel Allowance includes incidentals built into the cost.

Meal expenses and incidentals during overnight business travel may be reimbursed based on the applicable per diem rates. Receipts are not required for per diem reimbursement.

Incidentals are automatically included in each day added to your travel allowance based on the rates determined by the U.S. General Services Administration and the Federal Travel Regulations (FTR) Appendix B (Meals & Incidentals breakdown). Incidental expenses include things such as tips, porter fees, room cleaning, etc.

For all domestic travel, refer to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) per diem rates

For Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories (OCONUS), refer to the Department of Defense per diem rates.

For foreign travel, refer to the U.S. Department of State per diem rates.

The traveler must exclude in their travel allowance any meals provided by the hotel, included in the registration fee, or otherwise paid for by a third party. When attending a conference, a copy of the agenda must be submitted with the request and expense report.

• First and Last Day of Trip: For the first and last day of an overnight trip, 75% of the destination meal Per Diem amount is calculated and applied.
• Partial Day Travel
  • Trips less than 12 hours are not eligible for per diem.
  • Trips between 12-24 hours are calculated at 75% of the destination per diem rate.
  • Trips longer than 24 hours are calculated at first and last day of 75% of the destination per diem rate.
• Travel for Sponsored Project: Meals: For sponsored project travel reimbursement, UMBC follows Uniform Guidance, which states that costs must be reasonable, as detailed in §200.404 reasonable cost. Therefore, sponsored project meal reimbursement will follow UMBC guidance. Any reimbursement that deviates from standard UMBC policy must be supported by specific and official authorization from the project sponsor and must be pre-approved.

Travel with Spouse or Other Companions

• Allowable Expense:  ⚠️ Conditional
• Companion travel costs are not reimbursable when the companion is not traveling on official UMBC business. Travelers should ensure that any expenses billed to the university exclude companion-related costs. Any additional charges—such as higher lodging or transportation rates—are the responsibility of the traveler. If reimbursement is requested for more than a standard single-occupancy room, a comparison quote showing the cost difference will be required.

Combining Business and Personal Travel

• Allowable Expense:  ⚠️ Conditional
• If personal travel is added to a business itinerary, the primary purpose of the trip must be business for travel expenses to be reimbursable. Only expenses directly related to the business portion of the trip, and incurred at the destination, may be reimbursed. Travelers must provide documentation—including a comparison quote—showing the cost of a business-only itinerary versus the business itinerary with personal travel. Reimbursement will be based on the lesser of the two amounts.

Splitting the Costs with Another Traveler.

• Allowable ❌ No

• Splitting the cost of any travel expense with another UMBC traveler creates an audit concern because it can result in duplicate reimbursements. When a shared payment occurs—for example, if one traveler pays for a hotel room, rideshare, or meal and another reimburses them—both individuals could inadvertently claim the same expense on their travel reports. This makes it difficult to verify the true ownership of charges and creates risk of overpayment or audit findings against the university.

  For this reason, UMBC does not permit travelers to split the cost of any expense with another UMBC traveler. Each traveler must pay only for their own costs.

  If you need assistance covering travel expenses, please contact Business Services or your department to make alternative arrangements before your trip.

Foreign Currency

• Status:❓Informational
• When completing an expense report for charges that were in a foreign currency, the traveler is to calculate the daily exchange rate using the calculator in Concur. Please see International Travel for more information on Currency Exchange.

No receipt available

• Status:❓Informational
• Original, itemized receipts are required for all expenses over $10.00. If all attempts to receive a missing receipt have failed, a Missing Receipt Affadavit may be accepted for expenses less than $75.00 and never for lodging.

Submittal and Process

• Status:❓Informational
• Travel reports are to be processed within thirty days return from the trip. Travel reports processed after 60 days may be subject to taxation.