Paying for Travel

Travel Card

Your MIT Travel Card is the preferred method for both booking your trip — including airfare, train tickets, and hotel stays — and for purchases while traveling, such as meals, taxis, and more. 

The MIT Travel Card is provided to members of the MIT community to allow for convenient payment of travel expenses incurred on Institute business and reduces the burden of expending personal funds. In addition, MIT Travel Card charges conveniently feed automatically into your personal Concur profile. While traveling, you can build your travel expense report as you go so you can complete it as soon as you return, saving you time and stress. (Remember you must submit within 60 days of the completion of your trip.)

Responsibilities as a Travel Cardholder:

• All expenses on the Travel Card must be MIT business-related.
• Personal expenses are strictly prohibited. The only non-reimbursable expenses that may be put on the MIT Travel Card and later repaid to MIT are:
  • incidental expenses on hotel bills
  • car rental insurance
  • airline upgrades
  • exceptions granted in advance of purchase
• The cardholder is the only individual authorized to use the card and will be held responsible for all use of the card. 
• If you opt for a per diem arrangement, you may not use the MIT Travel Card or submit any receipts or charges for reimbursement. Please see the Per Diem section of this page for more information.

Consequence for Charging Personal/Non-Reimbursable Expenses to Travel Cards:

• First occurrence: The cardholder will receive a warning that MIT credit cards may not be used for non-reimbursable expenses and that repayment is required. If non-reimbursable expenses are not repaid within 30 days of the warning, the card will be canceled.
• Second occurrence: The card will be canceled.

Any and all fraudulent activity will result in card cancellation and additional consequences (which could include termination of employment and notification to law enforcement).

Credit Card Issues?

Out of Pocket

Remember that you can’t be reimbursed for your travel expenses until after your trip concludes. Keep that in mind when deciding whether to pay out of pocket or use your MIT Travel Card. After you return from your trip, you or your travel delegate in your DLCI must submit a travel expense report with the required documentation and receipts to the approver in your DLCI within 60 days.

How Do I Get Reimbursed After Paying for Travel Out of Pocket?

1. Make sure you save all of your required receipts for purchases made during booking and while traveling. Itemized receipts are required for:
   • all airfare, hotel costs, and car rentals
   • any business expense of $75 or more
   • any business meeting or meal with alcohol, regardless of amount (the purpose of the meeting and a list of attendees will also be required). 
   • Be aware of special rules such as properly documenting your airfare expenses if you upgrade from coach, documenting your mileage if you used your personal vehicle, and which items are reimbursable and which are not.
2. Start and submit your expense report through Concur.
3. Your report will go through the approval process; please note that your report may be sent back requesting more information or explanation about certain purchases.
4. Once approved, you will be reimbursed via direct deposit to the same bank account you have on record with HR/Payroll. If no bank account is on file or if the travel expense report was submitted in a guest profile you will be reimbursed by paper check. Paper checks may take up to three weeks for delivery.

Per Diem

A per diem may be the right choice when you and your DLCI decide that your trip is lengthy enough that keeping track of individual expenses will be unusually burdensome. Domestic per diems must be approved and set up before you travel.

When you travel on a per diem, you are reimbursed a flat sum per day to cover meals, lodging, and incidental expenses. Your per diem will be paid to you after you return and submit your expense report. When claiming per diem, you may not use the MIT Travel Card or submit other charges or receipts for reimbursement.

Responsibilities when using a per diem:

• To claim per diem for domestic travel, you must first complete the Domestic Per Diem request form and obtain approval from your department head, laboratory director, or project supervisor. Once you have approval, you must then submit your approved form to VPF Travel for final approval.
• For international travel, your DLCI can authorize per diem without additional approval from VPF Travel. 
• You may not claim the full per diem on your first and last days of travel. In most cases, you can claim 75% on travel days. If you have any questions, you can reach out to VPF Travel. 
• Per diem rates may not exceed the General Services Administration (GSA) ceiling rates for domestic travel or the U.S. Department of State, Office of Allowances ceiling rates for foreign travel. 
• All per diems are paid after completing the trip.