Travel Resources

Prior approval for all business travel and personal travel (whether or not it is funded through UT), is required for a faculty/staff absence from campus for periods of half a day (4 hours) or more during normal working periods.

*Faculty: An RTA must be done whenever you will miss a class you are teaching, regardless of the purpose of travel (personal travel, medical leave, etc.). The reason is to document the “disposition of duties” plan. IF you will be missing 2+ classes, prior approval from the Department Chair is required.

All Travelers should submit an RTA at least 10 business days prior to departure for Domestic Travel and non-restricted Foreign, or 35 calendar days before for Foreign Restricted-Regions.

• Request for Travel Authorization (RTA)

• Request for Travel Reimbursement

• Foreign Restricted Regions

• Faculty Travel Grants

• Travel Need-to-Knows

Request for Travel Authorization (RTA)

You must obtain a fully-approved RTA before your departure date. You will receive an email from Faith.Moore@austin.utexas.edu once your RTA is final approved. RTA Submission Form

Request for Travel Reimbursement

You must submit your travel expense receipts within 45 days of returning from your trip. Please send the following information to Faith.Moore@austin.utexas.edu:

• All itemized travel expense receipts in PDF format

• Breakdown of your expenses for reimbursement

• Any additional information that will be needed for processing reimbursement

Foreign Restricted Regions

• Must complete all steps below at least 5 weeks before departure. Texas Global must approve your travel in advance and needs time to review.

  •  Overview of Restricted Regions Travel

  • Please check the Current Restricted Regions List before submitting your RTA for any foreign travel.

  • Complete the Request Restricted Region Travel Approval form.

  • Submit an RTA and send the approval from TX Global to Faith.Moore@austin.utexas.edu.

Faculty Travel Grants

Eligible faculty may receive up to $1400 per academic year for travel expenses to present original papers at scholarly and professional meetings. Read more about this policy here.

1. Apply for the Faculty Travel Grant here: https://provost.utexas.edu/the-office/faculty-affairs/faculty-travel-grants/

2. Once you receive your confirmation for funding approval, submit your RTA, noting “Faculty Travel Grant (FTG)” as the funding source.

3. Send your approval confirmation from Faculty Affairs to Faith.Moore@austin.utexas.edu.

   1. Postdocs are not eligible to apply for FTG funds.

Travel Need-to-Knows

Handbook of Business Procedures/Travel contains information regarding allowable expenses, limits and required documentation: https://afm.utexas.edu/hbp/part-11-travel It is the responsibility of the traveler to comply with UT rules, guidelines, or restrictions governing business travel. 

Per Diem:  The daily per diem rate is $51 ($10 breakfast, $15 lunch, $26 dinner). A full day per diem can be claimed if the traveler departure/arrival times encompass all three meals. The per diem will be adjusted if the traveler departure/arrival time does not. 

Transportation-General:  Travel must originate from UT/Austin, Tx. If traveler will be temporarily based at another location for business purposes at the start of the trip this information should be documented in the RTA, including a justification as to why traveler will be based in Austin.

If the traveler will be temporarily based at another location for personal reasons the traveler should obtain cost comparison quotes for the transportation expense originating from Austin, Tx from Concur. You must include this cost comparison quote with your Travel Reimbursement Request email to Faith.Moore@austin.utexas.edu.

Airfare:  Flights may be booked via the Travel Management Services site with contracted Travel Agencies or directly by the traveler via an online reservation tool or airline.

• First, business, any other premium class, or seating upgrade will not be approved without a pre-approved exception request. See the TMS website for instructions to submit.

  • Preferred seat selection is considered a seating upgrade and fees are not reimbursable, unless it is the only seat available on the flight, and the traveler must be on that flight. https://afm.utexas.edu/hbp/part-11/5-1-transportation

• EarlyBird Check-in and airline club fees are not reimbursable.

• Airfare tickets purchased as a ticket exchange will require proof of purchase for the original flight.

• Airfare cancellation or change charges are reimbursable only if incurred due to a business-related reason or a reason listed on the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Textravel page. https://fmx.cpa.state.tx.us/fmx/travel/textravel/except/unrelated/index.php

Lodging: Reimbursement for meals and lodging expenses is subject to UT policies and procedures. The amounts that may be claimed depend on the sources of funding.  

• If a room is shared the traveler/payment information must be listed on the final folio. The traveler will only be reimbursed their portion of bill. 

• Room upgrades and lodging access fees (gym, laundry, entertainment, concierge) are not reimbursable.

Ground Transportation: 

Personal Car: Using a personal car for in state business travel is allowable. The traveler must submit a location to location MapQuest to calculate mileage. See Current UT Mileage Reimbursement Rate. Please include this location to location screenshot in your Travel Reimbursement Request email to Faith.Moore@austin.utexas.edu.

Rental Car:  Rental reservations must be made using one of the five contracted car vendors (Avis, Budget, Enterprise, National or Hertz). Reservations must be secured using the vendor’s specific rate identifier code to apply the contracted rates and insurance coverage.

• Rentals with vendors outside of these five may not be reimbursable without an exception. If you must rent with a non-contract vendor, you are required to purchase the offered collision and liability insurance. You must also obtain an exception from TMS prior to submitting for reimbursement. Please contact Faith.Moore@austin.utexas.edu if you need to request an exception. https://travel.utexas.edu/travelplanning/rentalcars

*Combing Business and Personal Travel 

• If a traveler plans on including personal travel during a business trip, the submitted RTA must include the total length of time that the traveler will be away from UT headquarters. You must clearly state the dates of business versus the dates of personal travel. Traveler may only submit a Reimbursement Request for travel expenses incurred during UT business.

  • Transportation to and from the business destination are allowed. If a traveler is leaving the business destination and traveling to another destination for personal travel the transportation from the business to personal destination is allowed. Transportation from personal destination to UT/Austin is not eligible.

    Airfare: A trip with business and personal travel dates cannot be direct billed. The traveler will have to purchase and submit for reimbursement. The traveler must obtain an official round trip airfare cost comparison quote for the business dates of travel from Concur. You must include this cost comparison quote with your Travel Reimbursement Request email to Faith.Moore@austin.utexas.edu. UT will reimburse the traveler up to the quoted airline ticket.

  • Example: Traveler will be attending a UT business related conference from 1/1/26 to 1/3/26 in San Francisco, CA. Traveler will then have personal travel dates from 1/4/26 to 1/6/26 in Anaheim, CA. Traveler must obtain airfare cost comparison quote for a roundtrip flight from Austin to San Francisco for business dates. UT will only reimburse traveler up to the amount paid for business related dates of travel.

*Faculty on Leave 

• Faculty members on leave are not eligible for reimbursement of per diem related to routine day‑to‑day living expenses incurred during the leave period. Per diem reimbursements may be claimed only for UT-business related travel segments documented within an approved RTA (i.e. workshops, lectures, conferences, etc.) and is limited to a maximum of 30 days per leave period. Per diem expenses incurred outside the dates of such UT-business related travel segments, including meals and incidental expenses associated with residing at a temporary or alternate location during leave, are not reimbursable.