[Reimbursement of BLM Employee for Airline Penalty Fee]

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) requested a decision concerning an employee's claim for reimbursement for a penalty fee that an airline assessed incident to her cancellation of a discount ticket that she purchased for personal reasons. GAO held that the claimant was entitled to reimbursement, since BLM: (1) authorized purchase of the ticket, so that the claimant could complete personal business en route to a required training course; and (2) caused the cancellation and subsequent penalty when it rescheduled the training course. Accordingly, BLM should reimburse the claimant.