Personal Travel Combined with Business Travel

Airfare for a combined business/personal trip must be purchased through the Concur Travel & Expense System (Concur) or Christopherson Business Travel (CBT). The traveler will need to obtain a comparison quote obtained prior to or at the time of booking from Concur or CBT documenting the cost of the business-only fare. This allows comparison of the cost of the combined-trip airfare with the cost of the business-only airfare.

If the combined/extended trip results in a greater cost, the cost difference needs to be deducted from the subsequent travel expense report. If the amount is not completely covered by any out-of-pocket offsets (such as reimbursement for business travel per-diem), the traveler must reimburse the university prior to submitting the business travel expense report.

To reimburse the university, the Cash Receipt form should be used to deposit and document the payment with the campus bursar’s office. The employee should retain a copy of the validated cash receipt and attach it to the travel expense report. The Account ChartField to use on the cash receipt for the repayment is 013109 – Company Card Personal Charges.

The comparison airfare quote is required whether or not you need to reimburse the university for additional costs. The comparison quote must be attached to the trip expense report on all combined business/personal trips.

If traveling with a non-employee companion for the personal part of the trip, both airfare tickets can be purchased through CBT directly (not in Concur). The CBT agent can book seats together on the plane. Purchase the traveling employee’s ticket using University funds (provide your CU SpeedType to the agent) and purchase your companion’s ticket using personal funds (personal credit card provided to CBT at the time of the purchase). The agent can separate and process both charges at booking.

It is recommended that rental cars are booked through the Concur Travel & Expense System (Concur). The employee’s Travel Card can be used to secure the reservation and pay for the rental. It will then be necessary to reimburse the University for rental car use during the personal travel days prior to submitting the expense report. The Travel Card can be used to purchase rental car gas for the business days of your trip. A personal card should be used to pay for gas on personal travel days.

A Travel Card can be used to pay for the business portion of a hotel stay during a combined trip. Ensure the rates are for single occupancy. Additional charges for additional occupants must be paid by the employee. Additional occupancy charges as well as the personal portion of your stay should be paid separately and with personal funds. Hotels will work with you to split your bill or folio accordingly, even if you are using a single, personal card for payment of the entire stay Lodging can be itemized in Concur to separate out the personal portion of the charges as needed.

Per diem meal reimbursement is only allowed for the business portion of the trip. When airfare is purchased for a combined trip through Concur /CBT, the entire itinerary will be imported into your expense report for claiming per diem. Be sure to exclude the personal days of the trip on the itinerary to prevent overpayment.

For business-related mileage incurred on a combined trip, enter your mileage on your expense report in Concur. If the mileage occurs on a normal workday (generally Monday through Friday excluding paid holidays), travelers must deduct the normal round-trip commute from the reimbursement request, unless the mileage is incurred at the destination city using a personal vehicle (not a rental vehicle).

The Travel Card can be used to purchase airport parking while traveling. The expense will need to be itemized to exclude the personal days of travel. Use expense type "Parking" for the amount that is for the business portion of the trip; use expense type "Personal Travel Charge (not reimbursable)" for the amount that is for the personal travel days. The Travel Card can be used for hotel and other parking incurred at the destination location during the business portion of the trip. Use a personal card for any parking expenses during the personal portion of the trip.

When reconciling expenses, be sure to indicate the personal travel dates on the Travel Reconciliation expense report header. The full dates of travel should be listed in the Trip Start/End Date fields. There are additional fields to indicate personal travel was included in the trip, and to note which of the travel days were personal. 

On the expense report, use the expense type "Personal Travel Charge (not reimbursable)" to identify personal expenses paid with a Travel Card or to itemize those portions that were combined with business expenses (rental car, lodging, etc.). Concur will calculate the amount owed to the university and the amount due back to the traveler, if any. If the amount owed to the university exceeds the amount due to the traveling employee, it is necessary to reimburse the university before submitting your expense report in Concur.

To provide evidence of repayment, attach the validated Cash Receipt form from the payment to the expense report, and explain the reason for the payment in the comments on the report. The Account ChartField to use on the cash receipt form for repayment is 013109 – Company Card Personal Charges.