January 1, 2021

Contact List

Travel & Travel Card Questions (e.g., card use, travel policies)

PSC Service Desk 303.837.2161
Email: PSC@cu.edu

Card Application Questions (e.g., status of application)
Commercial Card Program 303.764.3420
Email: Procurement.Card@cu.edu

US Bank (card-issuing bank)
Customer Service: 1.800.344.5696
Outside U.S., call collect 1.701.461.2010
Cardholder must provide Employee ID or POI #

Online Resources

University of Colorado Fiscal Administrative Policy Statements:

  • Travel Authorization
  • Propriety of Expenses

Procurement Service Center (PSC) and Finance Procedural Statements (PPS and FPS):

Travel, Cash Advances, Sensitive Expenses, Official Functions, etc.

Training (in the campus portals)

Travel & Travel Card online course
Note: The above course is required in order to obtain the Travel Card. For additional training requirements, see the specific card application form.

Types of Travel Cards

The Travel Card is designed to facilitate payment of University travel-related expenses. All Travel Card purchases must be related to official university business and must be made in accordance with all applicable University and other policies, procedures, rules, and regulations.

The contract for the Travel Card is currently with US Bank.

There are several types of Travel Card:

  • Travel Card (University liability card)
  • Ghost Card/Airfare Card (used for in-program airline tickets, i.e., tickets purchased through Concur/Christopherson Business Travel)

The Travel Card covers most travel-related expenses.

The Individual Travel Card is used by the cardholder to pay for most of his or her University travel-related expenses. The Travel Card is a tax-exempt, corporate liability card. The University is liable for charges incurred on it and pays the bill directly to US Bank.

Obtaining a Travel Card

Go to Concur Request to complete the Travel Card application. Complete the online Travel & Travel Card Training course and pass the course quiz in order to obtain the card. Additional training is required as noted on the application form.

A Travel Card cardholder may be either an employee or affiliate fiscal staff.

Upon issuance, the card is sent to the cardholder’s work address.

Reporting a Lost or Stolen Travel Card

The cardholder reports a lost or stolen card by contacting US Bank immediately at 1.800.344.5696 (outside U.S., call collect 1.701.461.2010).

Cancelling a Travel Card

The CU Travel Card is cancelled with a Cardholder Update form.

Using the Travel Card

Employees who travel out-of-state or abroad on official University business should apply for the Travel Card. The card should be used to cover the individual cardholder’s lodging, vehicle rentals, and ground transportation while the cardholder is in travel status. The card can also be used to cover the traveler’s conference registrations and incidental costs of eligible goods during the course of a University business trip. It can also be used to cover the costs of small, local official functions.

Cardholders who will be traveling overseas should notify US Bank to ensure that the card will not be declined. Foreign currency transactions will incur a conversion fee.

The Travel Card provides limited, secondary insurance coverage for rental cars when certain terms and conditions are met. (For questions on this coverage, contact 1.800.VISA.911.) Furthermore, the card facilitates reconciliation of University business trips by consolidating trip expenses on a single expense report for review, approval, and import into the University’s Finance System.

Reconciling Travel Card Transactions and Other Trip Expenses

Card transactions are imported into the Concur Travel & Expense System and are reconciled in that system along with any out-of-pocket reimbursable expenses. Any personal expenses incurred on the Travel Card must be processed as Personal transactions in the Concur Travel & Expense System.

The individual cardholder (or his or her delegate) prepares expense reports and the cardholder submits each report for approval. If the cardholder is owed money due to eligible reimbursable expenses, the University processes a payment to the individual. If the cardholder owes the University money (e.g., because meals purchased on the Travel Card cost more than the amount allowed by the destination’s per diem rate), then the individual reimburses the University and attaches the validated Cash Receipt form to the expense report prior to submitting it.

The cardholder is responsible for prompt reconciliation of charges and submission of payment authorization materials (receipts, etc., which are attached to the expense report).

Improper or unauthorized use of the Travel Card may result in card suspension or cancelation and possibly in cardholder disciplinary action up to and including employee suspension or termination.

Organizational Unit Special Uses

Some organizational units regularly sponsor group travel. In such cases, a designated Travel Card cardholder may use the card to pay for group meals in travel status (individual per diem limits still apply) and/or to cover the costs of group ground transportation including car rentals. The cardholder may also use the card to reserve hotel room blocks for groups.

The cardholder who is responsible for this type of group travel arrangements typically identifies a higher-dollar limit on the Travel Card application than would otherwise be requested. He or she then explains the organizational unit’s special needs in the comment field on the application form.

Restrictions: Contracts

If there is a contract or vendor agreement associated with a Travel Card purchase, the cardholder cannot proceed with the purchase until the appropriate PSC purchasing agent has reviewed and signed the contract/agreement.

Non-Employee Travel

The Travel Card can be used to cover individual non-employee travel expenses unless those expenses are related to a Scope of Work (SOW) agreement with an independent contractor. In such cases, the independent contractor is responsible for covering any travel expenses, and the SOW amount should be calculated accordingly.

The Ghost Card/Airfare Card covers the costs of airline and other common carrier tickets.

Using the Ghost Card/Airfare Card

This card is used exclusively by the University’s travel management program to charge airline and other common carrier tickets for University travelers.

When an employee (or his or her travel arranger) books an airline ticket through the online Concur Travel & Expense System, Concur charges the Ghost Card/Airfare Card and references the SpeedType identified for the booking. Airfare transactions -- as wel as Travel Card expenses -- are subsequently imported into the appropriate employee or non-employee expense reports for reconciliation along with any out-of-pocket (personally paid) expenses. 


When a ticket is booked through the University’s preferred travel management company, Christopherson Business Travel, the process is similar but includes a service charge to CBT.