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University Travel Process & Booking Travel

Last Updated: March 26, 2025 12:22:05 PM PDT
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If you're new or planning to travel soon, use this checklist to navigate the travel pre-authorization, booking, and reconciliation process at UC San Diego.

New Travel Booking Experience

Get ready for a new way to book travel! Visit the New Concur Travel Booking Experience Blink page to learn more about the updates. 

For a simplified version of the Travel Process and for links to our resources, please review this Travel & Entertainment Resource Guide spreadsheet. The trip process infographic is under the Travel Process tab and the links that are relevant to travel policy/processes are under the Travel Resources tab.

Trip Planning & Request (Before the Trip)

Before the trip occurs, get acquainted with Travel Policy. Once you have become familiar with the do's and don'ts of travel reimbursements, follow the steps listed below:

Note: Once a Travel or Event Request is approved, it becomes active and can be attached to an Expense Report. The Request will stay active until one of two things happen:

  • The Request is manually closed by the Concur user or their delegate
  • The Expense Report that the Request is linked to is Approved and Sent for Payment

Per policy, all expenses must be submitted within 45 days of the trip or event. If you need assistance reopening a Request, please contact us via Services & Support.

Please note that expenses for travel between the traveler’s residence and headquarters (commuting expense) shall not be allowed. This applies to remote and hybrid workers. For more information on this, reference the "Reimbursement Guidelines for Remote Work" Blink page. 

Booking Business Travel

Learn how to book travel arrangements using Concur Travel. If you prefer video guidance, please watch the How to Book Travel in Concur YouTube video.

Familiarize yourself with the benefits of booking travel in our travel program. 

Note:

Due to the complexity of the airline industry, seat selection can be tricky. There are many factors that impact seat availability. For the best travel experience, we recommend making your seat selection directly on the airline’s website or in the airline’s mobile app.  Many of our partner airlines offer priority seat selection to our UC San Diego travelers. Best practices for accessing these benefits include:
  1. Save your airline loyalty program numbers in your Concur profile.
  2. After your ticket has been confirmed, take the Airline Record Locator (PNR) from the Balboa invoice to the airline website and select your seat there.
  3. Note that seat selection is based on availability and might not apply to code share flights.

During the Trip

The traveler should retain all applicable receipts for expenses related to UCSD business: For employee travel, receipt images can be uploaded through the Concur Mobile App. Using the Concur Mobile App will make the reconciliation process easier as the receipt images will already be available in the Traveler's Concur profile in the Expense tab under Available Expenses.

Expense Reconciliation (After the Trip)

Once the trip has concluded and you have collected all the necessary information, you can begin the reimbursement reconciliation process by creating a Concur Travel Expense Report and linking it to the approved Travel Request (not applicable for mileage-only trips). 

If you are going to create the Expense Report on behalf of the Concur user (i.e. employee traveler), make sure that the traveler/user has first added you in Concur as their delegate. Concur users and delegates have the ability to claim different expenses within a single Expense Report. Some examples of expenses claimed in Concur are: 

 Before traveling and reporting expenses, review the below documents to stay informed:

Once the Expense Report has been prepared by a delegate with all required documentation, the employee traveler must log in to Concur to certify the accuracy of expenses and select Submit Report to finalize submission. You can find a quick guide to this process here. 

NOTE: Travel expense reports must be submitted within 45 days of the trip end date in accordance with UC Travel Policy. 

REMINDERS:

  • IPPS reviews Travel & Entertainment Expense reports within an estimated 3 business days. Please note that processing times may be longer during peak periods, such as Fiscal Year-End Close and other high-volume periods
  • IPPS reviews out-of-pocket reimbursement expense reports, "Other Reimbursements (Non-Event)", within an estimated 5 to 10 business days, depending on volume and peak periods

Personal Travel

UC San Diego employees can use Concur to receive UC-negotiated rates for personal travel, however it is recommended that personal travel for more than one person be booked through Balboa Travel. Discounted rates and benefits are included for airfare, hotel, and rental car (see car-specific information below.)

All personal bookings require a personal form of payment. Reservations cannot be charged to the University or the Travel & Entertainment Card.

To book personal travel through UC San Diego, contact Balboa Travel directly:

Travel insurance is not included with personal bookings. For personal travel insurance options, see UC Personal Travel Program.

To rent a car for personal travel, please log in to Concur, Company Notes, and click on Connexxus Resources. Once logged in to the Connexxus portal navigate to About: Ground Travel at the top of your screen. Follow the instructions for personal car rentals.

Airfare and Hotel bookings: follow instructions as outlined above for Business Travel. A Concur Request will not be required for a personal booking.

 

Note: You will see your personal travel bookings in your Available Expenses in Concur. You can simply delete them from your profile.

Find answers, request services, or get help from our team at the UC San Diego Services & Support portal.