Travel Office Announcements

Avis Car Rentals (012723A)

Avis is no longer in the State of Texas rental vehicle program. The Avis tile has been removed from SAP Portal and all Avis information removed from the Travel Rental Vehicles webpage. In addition, no discount codes are available for Avis rentals whether for business or personal travel.

To rent a vehicle from Avis, please review the Renting a Vehicle from a Non-contract Vendor information.

Enterprise & National State of TX Program and Rate Changes (121322A)

The State of Texas has signed a new contract with Enterprise/National including program changes, specifically daily rental rates. The rates are higher for most rentals and the drop fees for one-way rentals. It is expected that the other rental agency rates may change as well.

The new state contract rates for agencies will soon be updated on the Comptroller’s Vehicle Rental Agency Rates page.

The new Enterprise & National rates are already available in SAP Portal. The links to the other rental agencies will have new rates once those agencies make any modifications.

The Comptroller’s rental agency contracts will also be updated, available at TX Vehicle Rental Agency Contracts.

CTP Agent Fees (090222A)

When making a reservation/booking in Concur, the university is charged a booking fee by CTP. You will notice these fees are less than the prior travel agency reservation fees.

Effective 9/04/2022, CTP will begin billing the fees at the time of booking. These fees will route through Concur and attach directly to the traveler’s profile in Concur like an airfare booking transaction. The fees are identified on the profile as “Agent Fee.” When completing the Expense Report, you will be able to “move or import” the corresponding agent fee to the Expense Report under the TMC Booking Fee expense category, which will charge the expense to GL 710099.

The receipt for the CTP agent fee is on the itinerary provided from CTP and must be attached to the Expense Report to support the expense. 

Reservations made after normal business hours are handled by CTP’s after-hours service. Those fees will be processed by the Travel Office until CTP brings the after-hours service in-house, targeted to occur by calendar year end. Once brought in-house, those fees will be handled the same.

For pricing details, see the CTP Agent Fees document.

Concur Hotel Bookings (072122A)

Once a Travel Request has been fully approved and you are ready to book lodging through Concur (CTP), download the ConfermaPay app on your smartphone. This will provide access to the hotel virtual credit card assigned to your booking after completing your hotel reservation through Concur (Travel Assistant/Proxy will have access for non-employees). Please review the Hotel Virtual Credit Card FAQs prior to booking for answers to common questions.

Please obtain a hotel receipt (folio) when checking out of the hotel and ensure the correct credit card was charged for lodging expenses (e.g. Conferma credit card) as opposed to the personal credit card provided for incidentals. If incorrect, ask the hotel to make the appropriate corrections and obtain new folios for each credit card.

For hotel stays in Texas, review the receipt (folio) to ensure the Texas Hotel Occupancy Tax was not charged. If it was, have the hotel make the correction and obtain a new folio. Validating the taxes charged will avoid the university paying the taxes and a delay in the reimbursement process.

When completing the Expense Report, use the “University Paid” payment type. For hotel charges, follow the template to itemize the various expenses on the folio (e.g. room rate, taxes, parking, resort fee, etc.).

The requirement for lodging receipts to support claimed expenses is the same in the Concur travel system as it was for TRAVELTracks and Travel e-NPO reimbursements. Lodging receipts must be attached to the Concur Expense Report whether the charge was paid by the university or personally. The CTP hotel reservation confirmation is not a finalized folio and should not be attached to the Expense Report.

Travel Advance Repayment Option (041922A)

The TouchNET System has been updated for the 4-digit Concur trip numbers and should be used to repay unused travel advance funds. The Travel Advance Returned Funds website is accessible from anywhere. It is no longer necessary to trek to JCK to deposit the funds at the Cashier’s Office!

With this process, there is also no need to enter the General Ledger Number or Fund Number as these are programmed into the TouchNET System. Enter your bank routing number, bank account number, and the Trip Number for which the advance was issued. Then, enter the remaining required information and ensure the return amount and Trip Number are correct.

Upon receipt of your confirmation email, please retain a copy for your records and attach a copy to your Expense Report to clear the advance. 

Note that insufficient fund fees apply, and you are responsible for such fees if your bank account does not have available funds when you process the return. To avoid insufficient fund fees, remember to check your bank account balance before starting this process.

Tollsmart Process for Toll Road Expenses (021422A)

A new option is available for estimating and documenting toll road charges. The process uses the Tollsmart Calculator to find tolls associated with your destination. The procedures for using Tollsmart are located under Basic Information on the Mileage webpage. 

If you have a TxTag account, you may sign into your account at TxTag Login to obtain toll expenses and documentation.

Attach the supporting documentation to your Concur Expense Report.

Shuttle Service & Executive Car Matrix (021022A)

When your department needs to contract for a shuttle, bus, or executive (black) car service, please refer to the matrix on the Rental Vehicles webpage. The matrix is a good resource when determining contracted vehicle, bus, and shuttle service vendors that could be used for your travel needs. Please note that the executive car service should be rarely used, primarily for dignitaries/special guests visiting the university. Remember, this type of car may have a higher rental rate than the state contracted rental agencies (e.g. Enterprise, Avis, etc.).

To access the matrix on the Rental Vehicles page, enter your Texas State credentials and scroll to the Shuttle Service section.

Concur Company Billed Airfare Charges (011122A)

Airfare reservations made through CTP (Corporate Travel Planners) are billed to the university’s company billed credit card. A recent enhancement to the process for these credit card transactions now routes them through Concur and directly posts them to the traveler’s Concur profile. The airfare amount brought into Concur should equal the amount obtained when the ticket was purchased. 

When an airfare charge is brought into a traveler’s profile, the following notice will be emailed from Concur to the traveler and delegate (if one is assigned and opted to receive email notifications). The traveler’s name will show in the box with the arrow.

When completing the travel expense report that includes these credit card charges, you will be able to “drag and drop” the airfare charge to the appropriate expense category. As with any items claimed on the Expense Report (except meal per diems), receipt documentation should be attached.

Expense Reports for Travel between Campuses (112921A)

Travel is authorized without prior approval between the San Marcos, Austin, and Round Rock campuses, the Austin TSUS Office, or university departments located in Austin. Currently, this is the only travel allowed without prior approval.

To create the expense report for this type of travel, please refer to the Concur Expense Training Guide. The campus location selections are as follows:

• San Marcos to Round Rock – Travel from San Marcos to Round Rock, including travel back to San Marcos or the employee’s home, depending on where the employee goes after campus business is completed.
• Round Rock to San Marcos – Travel from Round Rock to San Marcos, including travel back to Round Rock or the employee’s home, depending on where the employee goes after campus business is completed.
• San Marcos to the Austin TSUS Office – Travel from San Marcos to the Austin TSUS Office, including travel back to San Marcos or the employee’s home, depending on where the employee goes after campus business is completed.
• Round Rock to the Austin TSUS Office – Travel from Round Rock to the Austin TSUS Office, including travel back to Round Rock or the employee’s home, depending on where the employee goes after campus business is completed.
• Small Business Development Center (SBDC) – Travel from the Small Business Development Center, including travel to the San Marcos or Round Rock campuses or the employee’s home, depending on where the employee goes after campus business is completed.
• Texas Justice Court Training Center (TJCTC) – Travel from the Texas Justice Court Training Center, including travel to the San Marcos or Round Rock campuses or the employee’s home, depending on where the employee goes after campus business is completed.

Concur Traveler Default Account (110321A)

The default account displayed in Concur is determined by the SAP Human Resources import file data and cannot be changed for individual employees or departments. To use an account other than the Concur default, select the correct funding from the drop-down list. This process is similar to how the default account in TRAVELTracks always had to be changed as well.

For detailed instructions, please review the Change Funding guide under Procedures for SAP Concur Expense on the Concur Forms & Resources page.

New Form T-14 to Replace T-10 with Concur Travel System Transition (100621A)

The T-14 Traveler Contract Verification form is designed for use with Concur. A completed T-14 is required to be attached to Concur Travel Requests for non-employees (excluding students), such as contractors, visiting guests, and speakers/lecturers. The form is available on the Travel Office Forms page under Non-Texas State Employees.

The T-14 is only required when Texas State will pay for the traveler’s expenses whether billed directly to the university or personally paid and submitted for reimbursement. Supporting documentation from the signed contract or email agreement between the non-employee and university department must be attached to the Travel Request.

Remember, the preferred method of handling non-employee travel expenses is to include them in the contract or agreement fee, stating the employee will secure their own travel, which will eliminate the need for a T-14 and additional payments for the traveler’s expenses.

With the move to Concur, the T-10 Travel Authorization form will be phased out as it was required when non-employee travel requests were submitted via the Travel Funds Commitment process. The T-10 will be removed from the Travel website when the transition to Concur is complete.