Reimbursement of Government Employees for Transportation Purchased Through Travel Agents

An Army employee requested reconsideration of the denial of his claim for reimbursement of additional air fare in connection with official travel he performed. The employee purchased a round-trip airline fare from a travel agent to be used on a temporary duty assignment. Upon receipt of the travel voucher, the agency reimbursed the employee for only a portion of his total expenditure because the airline used by the employee offered a discount rate for round-trip fare when a Government transportation request was used. As a result, his reimbursement was limited to the cost of air fare purchased directly from the airline. The employee contended that GAO was in violation of the regulation it used as a basis for denial of his claim. The regulation allows reimbursement for transportation an employee inadvertently purchased with personal funds from a travel agent in an amount not to exceed the cost of transportation purchased directly from the airline. GAO believes that, to be reimbursed, a traveler must demonstrate that: (1) he is unaware of the general prohibition against the use of travel agents, (2) his action was inadvertent, and (3) his exception to the general prohibition must be reasonable. The employee stated that he had used travel agents for over a year in his extensive travels. GAO concluded that it is not reasonable for the experienced and frequent traveler to consistently fail to take notice of his agency's travel policy. Where a traveler's consistent actions amount to a violation of the prohibition against the use of travel agents, the exception is not available because the contentions of ignorance and inadvertence are unreasonable. Although the claim was properly subject to total denial by the agency, the analysis of the regulations set forth postdated the employee's travel. Thus, GAO did not object to the employee's retention of the amount already reimbursed. However, the Claims Group disallowance of the claim for additional reimbursement was sustained.