UPCOMING TRAINING
The PantherExpress Travel & Expense Management team is committed to ensuring that the community feels comfortable and confident with the travel and expense management tools, the Travel Card, and Concur system. Join us for one of our summer brown bag lunch and learns!:
- Wed., July 17, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the William Pitt Union, University Ballroom
- Thu., Aug. 1, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the William Pitt Union, University Ballroom
Both sessions will cover the same topics and provide time for questions and answers. The dates linked above go to the University Calendar where you can download files to add to your personal calendar. Attendees are encouraged to bring their lunch; food will not be provided.
Have a topic you’d like to see covered? Submit your request to Emily Duchene, Travel Program Manager, by emailing educhene@cfo.pitt.edu.
FAST FACTS!
Honorarium Payments
Honorarium payments should be submitted through Concur and require the following information in order to be processed for payment. If all required information is not included the report will be returned requesting this additional information.
- Payee name
- Date or dates
- Payment amount
Travel Vendor Updates
American Airlines
University of Pittsburgh travelers can now receive Priority 4 Boarding when booking online through Concur or with Anthony Travel, up from the previous priority 5 boarding. If you do not have an AAdvantage membership number please go to aa.com/enroll. The AAdvantage membership number must then be entered into Concur in the user’s "Profile Settings” in their profile.
Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines is a preferred carrier of the University of Pittsburgh. With this partnership our faculty and staff are eligible to take advantage of their A-List Status Match. If you have status with another airline Southwest will match it! To take advantage of the A-List Status Match:
- Provide proof of elite status with another U.S. carrier at southwest.com/corpmatch
- Receive promotional Rapid Rewards A-List status for 90 days
To extend promotional A-List status for an additional 12 months, simply fly six one-way qualifying flights or three round trips within the 90 day period. This benefit is effective July 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019. A-List Benefits include:
- Priority Boarding
- Rapid Rewards Points – 25% Earning Bonus
- Fly By Priority Lane
- Free Same-day Standby
- Dedicated phone line
Visa and Passport News
Before traveling abroad please be sure to work with one of the University’s visa and passport providers (Travel Document Services (TDS) and CBIT visas) to ensure you have all required documents for the country to which you are traveling. As the United States has increased requirements on foreign visitors other countries are reciprocating and stepping up security measures for U.S. citizens. Some countries in addition to a passport are requiring raised-seal birth certificates for minors, immunization records, information about prescription drugs you carry, and documentation on when you’ll depart.
An article published in the Wall Street Journal on March 27, 2019, Think you Need Only Your Passport to Travel? You’d Better Check by Scott McCartney, advises that you may often need more than just a passport or visa to travel.
Travel Document Services (TDS)
TDS is a newly added visa and passport provider. They offer full support for all of the University of Pittsburgh visa and passport needs. More information about visa and passport services, including access to the TDS Visa Portal, is available on the Global Operations website.
Notice About Legitimate Email from Uber
Uber will be updating an older connection method to Concur Expense, called SMTP or Receipt Images via Email, on July 24. Uber will begin emailing certain SAP Concur users asking them to reconnect their Concur Expense account to their Uber account.
This is a result of Uber updating their integration to the more robust SAP Concur Receipts v4 API.
You should only expect this email if you set up a business profile within the Uber app, selected Concur as your expense provider, and verified an email address associated with your Concur Expense account before March 2019.
NOTE: Users who receive e-receipts via the SAP Concur Receipts v4 API, including Uber for Business users, will not receive this email. SAP Concur users who, when prompted by this email, reconnect their Concur Expense and Uber accounts will continue to receive e-receipts from Uber displayed in Concur Expense.
Expense Processing Reminders
Please keep the following in mind when submitting Expense Reports to avoid returns and rejections:
- Expenses must be grouped by trip, event or month on a single expense report. When submitting by month please wait until end of the month to submit. If the report is for a specific trip or event, include the name of the event in the Report Name field. For example, the trip name might be: Fall ACME Conference.
- Airfare receipts must show the method of payment and detailed itemization including class of service.
- Lodging receipts must show the method of payment and detailed itemized receipts showing nightly lodging costs, taxes and any incidentals broken down.
- Refrain from using the Miscellaneous expense type and consult the Travel Expense Subcodes Table or for verification, contact PantherExpress Customer Service 4-3578 and select option 1.
- Employee travel reimbursement are direct deposited, into the account on file in Payroll, for employees and student employees.
- Services, donations, sponsorships, gift card, and study participant payments, are not permitted on a Travel Card or through Concur. These payments should only be processed in PantherExpress or Vincent.
- Use Anthony Travel, the University of Pittsburgh’s preferred travel vendor, for making all online bookings. Expedia and other companies provide fewer protections and may not honor disputes.
COMING SOON!
University Travel Card and Purchasing Card Email
In the near future an email address dedicated to the University Travel Card and Purchasing Card (P-Card) will be announced. The email address can be used for any University Travel Card and P-Card questions. Our customer service team will continue to respond to all web inquiries submitted through our online web forms.
Stay tuned for an announcement once the email is available.
FAST FACTS!
University Travel Cards
Please wait until your University Travel Card charges are available in Concur before putting them on an Expense Report. It can take merchants 7-10 business days to post your purchase to the credit card company.
Travel card purchases must be placed on an Expense Report in the card holder's Concur account; they cannot be placed on another person’s expense report. Placing the charges on another user's Expense Report would result in a cash reimbursement to that individual and the credit card charge not being paid and reconciled properly. All such errors require the cash recipient to return money to the University by check. Payment Processing cannot process this type of payment with cash or credit card.
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