Pre-Travel Guide

The following are some tips that will make your travel experience as efficient and convenient as possible.

OneCard

Do you have a OneCard? All University staff and faculty are eligible to apply for a OneCard, visit this page for more infomation about the card and to learn how to obtain one. The OneCard comes with many benefits and conveniences:

  • Minimizes up-front expenses for faculty, researchers and staff while awaiting reimbursement since the OneCard is University paid (regardless of funding source). This is especially beneficial to those just starting their careers.
  • Does not impact the cardholder’s personal credit report .
  • Works in conjunction with Concur and Anthony Travel to provide cardholders with convenient hassle-free travel and expense management.
  • Reduces the University's liability by providing travel accident, baggage delay, and car rental insurance. Review full details about insurance included with the OneCard.
  • Provides enhanced fraud protection for the University.
  • Improves internal controls and regulatory compliance via improved data quality (auditability) and automated receipt management.
  • Provides improved spend data quality and enhances the University's ability to negotiate further savings with hotels and travel service providers.
  • Retains the cardholder’s ability to earn points through airline and hotel reward programs.
  • Reduces the cardholder’s time to reconcile expenses and submit expense reports by automating receipt management through integration with the Concur expense system.
  • Eliminates foreign transaction fees.

Be sure to activate your OneCard if you haven’t done so, and place it in your wallet so you have it for your trip. This card has the new chip and pin technology. Know your 4 digit pin number as it is sometimes required to complete your purchase at the point of sale. Now you are ready to go.

Note: It is best practice to travel with backup forms of payment. If your OneCard gets lost, stolen, or compromised, you should have another form of payment to use for purchases. Keep your backup cards secure in the hotel safe so they will be there if you should need them.

Travel Documents

Review your travel documents to ensure that the name in your Concur profile and your airline ticket matches your government issued identification.

If travelling internationally, review the passport requirements for the country you are visiting and confirm that your documents are up to date.

Travel Advances/Cash Withdrawals

The OneCard is the preferred payment method while traveling for the University because they provide the most convenient and safest way to pay for travel expenses. However, travel advances/cash withdrawals are available by exception when the traveler is in an area of the world where the OneCard is not accepted or for extended global travel. To learn more, visit this page.

Booking a Hotel

Book your hotel stay in Concur or through Anthony Travel to take advantage of University discounted rates and various benefits. Visit this page to learn more.

University travelers may book hotels for a conference that are designated as the preferred location or room block by the conference organizer via the conference website. However, we encourage travelers to double-check rates via Anthony Travel or the Concur online booking tool, as conference rates are not always the best value.

Booking a Car

Book through one of our approved rental agencies, National and Enterprise, in Concur or through Anthony Travel. Our contract rates include discounts and insurance for domestic car rental purchases. Insurance should only be purchased if you are renting a vehicle abroad. Domestic purchases of additional insurance are not valid business purchases and are not reimbursable.

Preparing your Mobile Device

You will need to set a Mobile PIN by logging into the Concur Application. Mobile Registration can be found under Profile > Profile Settings. Additional instruction can be found in the Travel and Expense User Guide. Read more about the mobile apps available for Concur. 

International Travel

The following resources are available to assist you with international travel:

Anthony Travel provides assistance with booking international travel arrangements and obtaining appropriate documents (e.g. travel visas, etc.) for your international trip.

Changing your Itinerary

To change your itinerary, contact Anthony Travel by phone or email:

Call: 844-583-5963 or 412-246-9024

Email: PITT@anthonytravel.com

Receipts

Most all business expenses need substantiated with receipts.  Hotels, Airfare, Conference Registration and Car Rental all require receipts regardless of dollar amount and substitute receipts cannot be provided for these types as copies can be retrieved from the vendor.  Receipts for Booking Fees, Fuel for Rental Cars, Parking, Taxi/Car Service and Tolls under $75 are not required.  Per Diem Meals and Mileage do not require receipts.

The mobile applications provide fast and easy ways to capture receipt images.  Receipt images are acceptable when they are the detailed receipt and legible.  The original receipt needs to be retained until the expense is cleared on the department level reports.

Per Diem

The University policy supports Per Diems for meals in travel.  The travel should be more than an eight-hour span to be eligible for per diem.  Some departments may apply a stricter policy for actual meal receipts in travel, please check with your supervisor or business manager for any department specific per diem policies.  However, the University will not reimburse above the per diem rate. If you are following per diem, visit www.gsa.gov for per diem information.  These rates are also loaded in the Concur application and can be imported from your itinerary.

Airport Parking

Avoid hassles, time, and money on parking. If your departure is from the Pittsburgh Airport (PIT), the University has an agreement with the Parking Spot and Grant Oliver Onsite Airport Parking. Read more about parking options at the Pittsburgh Airport.

Information Security Training

Pitt IT offers free security training courses for business travel. Information about the available courses and a link to take them are available on the Pitt IT Information Security Training web page. It is recommended that you refresh your security knowledge before you travel.

Additional Resources