Before you book a trip, there are a few things you need to do:

  1. Complete your Profile in the Concur Travel & Expense System (Concur)
  2. Download Travel Apps
  3. Review the Procurement Service Center (PSC) Procedural Statement Travel

How you book travel depends on your role at the University:

Booking Travel - Employee

All domestic and international travel must be approved prior to booking a trip. International travel must be approved using  Concur Request.   You will need to enter your Request ID to finalize your international reservation and the approved Request is required for submission of your travel expense report.  

It is recommended that domestic travel be approved using  Concur Request, however, the department can elect to use an internal travel pre-approval process. Please defer to your department to determine what domestic pre-approval process is appropriate for you.  

As an employee, you can book your domestic and international  trips through the Concur Travel & Expense System (Concur) or through a  Christopherson Business Travel (CBT)  travel agent. Note: When booking with a CBT agent, you will need your Employee ID number to complete your booking.  

Airfare is charged to a centrally managed card (airfare card) and reconciled by the employee traveler/travel arranger. The airfare charges will appear in the Concur profile of employee traveler, or the individual who booked the trip for non-employee travel, within a few days of the reservation being made.  

If you have not already done so, you may want to obtain a  Travel Card to facilitate payment of your other travel-related expenses, as any out-of-pocket expenses will not be reimbursed until after the trip concludes.

If you are new to the University or travel infrequently, please visit the Infrequent Traveler pages: Planning a Trip, Just Before you Go, and Welcome Back!

Domestic Travel International Travel

Booking Travel - Non-Employee

For domestic and international travel by non-employees, the sponsoring department should review and process travel pre-approvals outside the Concur system. See  Booking Non-Employee Travel.  

Approval should be obtained in writing and then provided to CBT (if booking through an agent) or attached to the Concur expense report (for non-employee travel reimbursements). When using University funds to pay for a non-employee’s trip, the sponsoring unit has three options for booking travel. 

  • Book travel on behalf of the non-employee using Concur: If you’re a travel arranger, you can use the Concur Travel & Expense System (Concur) to book travel for a non-employee. In Concur, this is known as guest booking. There is no service fee when booking airfare in Concur. If you need to be given access to book for a guest in Concur, email psctravel@cu.edu 
  • Authorize the non-employee to book their travel through Christopherson Business Travel: You can authorize the non-employee to work directly with a Christopherson Business Travel (CBT) agent by submitting CBT's  Non-Employee Travel Request form. There is a $20 service fee when booking airfare through CBT.
  • Authorize the non-employee to make their own travel arrangements and request reimbursement. You can allow the non-employee to make their own travel arrangements and submit for reimbursement after the trip is complete. Please note that the reimbursement will still be reviewed against CU Travel policy. Note: If the trip is cancelled, for any reason, CU cannot reimburse the non-employee for the cost of airfare.  

For detailed procedures on each of these options, see Concur How-to: Booking Non-Employee Trips.

Important! When working with an Independent Contractor according to the Scope of Work (SOW) process, the non-employee's travel expenses must be identified on the SOW form and covered using the same procurement method as the service payment.

Booking Travel - Student

Student employees traveling on University business follow the guidelines set forth for employees in the PSC Procedural Statement Travel.

Students who are not employees, and who will be traveling on official University business, follow the guidelines for non-employee travel.

Group Travel

The University defines group travel as three (3) or more employees/non-employees traveling to the same location for the same official University business.

Christopherson Business Travel (CBT) defines group travel for booking airline tickets as ten (10) or more employees/non-employees traveling together.

Learn more about group travel →  

When your trip is over

Use the Concur Travel & Expense System (Concur) to reconcile your Travel Card charges and/or get reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses.

Go to Reconciling Expenses