Claim for Mileage and Per Diem

A former employee of the Department of State appealed the denial of his claim for mileage and per diem allowances incurred incident to separation travel from Helsinki, Finland, to San Marino, California. The employee traveled by privately owned vehicle from Copenhagen, Denmark, to Southampton, United Kingdom, and claimed 902 miles for the trip. The GAO Claims Division assumed that the figure claimed was in kilometers and allowed payment for 559 miles. Since the mileage guide in the "Official Table of Distances, Foreign Table" computed the mileage distance from Copenhagen to Southampton by the shortest and most traveled route as 724 miles, GAO held that the employee was entitled to mileage for an additional 165 miles. The employee also appealed the denial of his claim for per diem for a day at the port of arrival, New York, New York, on his return from overseas. He contended that this was not a rest stop, but a delay caused because he did not clear customs until the afternoon, with the result that he could not arrange for car rental and the shipment of baggage in the time remaining that day. Therefore, he stayed overnight in New York. In view of this explanation, the payment of per diem was allowed.