[Claim for Reimbursement for Official Travel]

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) requested a decision concerning the propriety of reimbursing an employee for various items claimed on a travel voucher. The disputed expenses included: (1) taxicab fares to and from airports; (2) local telephone calls charged to the claimant's hotel room; (3) tips paid to airport porters; (4) the cost of a car rental; (5) the cost of certain meals; and (6) the costs of the claimant's lunch on 2 days when lunch was served on airplanes on which he was a passenger. GAO held that the claimant was not entitled to reimbursement of the taxicab fares because he did not adequately support his claim. GAO also held that the telephone calls were made before and after the conference that the claimant was attending and that he did not prove that they were incident to his official travel. GAO found that the reduction by BPA of the expenses allowed for tips to airport porters was reasonable. Further, the claimant did not support his contention that his hotel was inaccessible to more advantageous modes of travel and was not entitled to rent a car at Government expense. GAO concurred with the reduction of meal expenses to an amount BPA considered reasonable for the area to which the claimant traveled and found that BPA did not act arbitrarily or capriciously in disallowing the cost of lunches on days when the claimant was served lunch on airplanes. Accordingly, GAO disallowed the claim.