Cancelled Travel – What to Do

Have your UND travel plans recently been affected during the COVID-19 outbreak?  Here are a few guidelines to help you navigate what to do now:

• Tickets, hotels, etc. that were paid for by UND (P Card or Travel & Expense Reimbursement) remain a UND item.  While the traveler may have a voucher issued in their name for a cancelled flight, that flight is to be used for a UND business purpose.  It is up to the Department that paid for that ticket to monitor the usage of those vouchers.
• Any refund would be returned to the original form of payment.  If a traveler has been refunded to their personal card, and been reimbursed by UND through Travel & Expense, the traveler is required to return those funds to UND.
• Travel Insurance is an allowable expense during this outbreak period.  Be sure you are reviewing what is covered by the Travel Insurance policy as many policies would not cover a pandemic such as COVID-19.
• Vouchers are likely non-transferable and most times are required to be used within one year.  Be sure to review the fine print to understand the rules of the voucher.

Here are a few best practices regarding travel:

• Review UND’s current travel restrictions to ensure you are not traveling anywhere that is currently not allowed as these purchases will not be reimbursed.
• Do not prepay for hotel rooms, rather reserve a hotel room that has a 24 hour cancellation policy.  If the department allows someone to prepay for their hotel room that will not refund the money, that is a risk the department takes and would be out of the money for that travel.
• Use the UND Purchasing Card (P-Card) to pay for travel related expenses.  The only expense not allowable on the P-Card is food/beverages, which can be reimbursed to the traveler.  The P-Card is the preferred way to pay for travel related expenses.  If you do not have a P-Card, talk to your supervisor about getting set up with one.  More information on the P-Card program can be found here:  https://campus.und.edu/finance/procurement-and-payment-services/p-card.html.