Claim for Travel Expenses Incurred by Use of Indirect Route

The General Services Administration (GSA) requested a decision as to whether the Government should bear the cost of that portion of two employees' official business trip which was completed by other than the usually traveled route. The two employees traveled to Washington, D.C. from China via Paris, France, rather than via Tokyo, Japan, the usually traveled route. Based on erroneous advice that the travel through Paris would exact no extra cost, the Administrator of GSA authorized the routing. It was subsequently determined that the routing through Paris resulted in extra costs to the Government of nearly $900 per traveler. Regulations require employees on official business to travel by the usually traveled route. However, travel by other routes may be allowed when the official necessity is satisfactorily established. GAO has held that substantial deviations from a usually traveled route in which costs and traveltime are significantly increased would be unreasonable when no plausible justification for the travel can be offered. Thus, there was no basis for authorizing the deviation from the usually traveled route, and there was no basis upon which the Government could pay the extra costs to the travelers. Accordingly, there was no authority for GSA to authorize payment of the extra travel costs.