In general, I'd prefer to pay for it and put it on a credit card for points. But I would only do that if you have the funds to cover the trip in full in case it takes a while for reimbursement.
As someone who processses paperwork, please for the love of god pay for it and get reimbursed. It’s way easier.
There's a huge amount of privilege required to do that. I have talked to colleagues who have had to pay interest on their credit cards bills for work travel that will be reimbursed, because they do not receive reimbursement prior to the bill being due, and the attitude of staff who would process the fronting of funds before travel occurs is like yours - employees are treated like they are unnecessarily creating a ton of work and inconvenience for the finance staff, so they are pressured to go through the post-travel reimbursement process, even when it literally costs them (personal) money.
Institutions need to change their policies, or at least attitudes, to recognize this reality.
As someone who processses paperwork, please for the love of god pay for it and get reimbursed. It’s way easier.
There's a huge amount of privilege required to do that. I have talked to colleagues who have had to pay interest on their credit cards bills for work travel that will be reimbursed, because they do not receive reimbursement prior to the bill being due, and the attitude of staff who would process the fronting of funds before travel occurs is like yours - employees are treated like they are unnecessarily creating a ton of work and inconvenience for the finance staff, so they are pressured to go through the post-travel reimbursement process, even when it literally costs them (personal) money.
Institutions need to change their policies, or at least attitudes, to recognize this reality.
Exactly! I had a patient recently who was so stressed out cause she had to go on a work trip and they wouldn’t pay up front and she didn’t have the money to cover it. She came to the appointment crying. It was so sad. You never know what people are going through and their financial situation.
If there is an option to have work pay for it upfront it’s really shitty that employers would have the attitude that that option shouldn’t be utilized because it causes more work.
I've had the option to book everything myself & submit for reimbursement or have someone (my boss or other staff) use company cc to book big things (flights, hotels) & then I just had to save receipts for meals out or my taxi to airport which was manageable.
Or, I was upfront given a per diem & no receipts required. If I went over, it was on me (no flights involved or flight was already covered & I just had to do hotel & food & such? I forget). If I went under, I could keep it.
If you can, I've found it easier to submit for reimbursement b/c I hate other people booking my flights. If not, there's no shame seeing if some of the larger things can initially covered by his employer.
There's a huge amount of privilege required to do that. I have talked to colleagues who have had to pay interest on their credit cards bills for work travel that will be reimbursed, because they do not receive reimbursement prior to the bill being due, and the attitude of staff who would process the fronting of funds before travel occurs is like yours - employees are treated like they are unnecessarily creating a ton of work and inconvenience for the finance staff, so they are pressured to go through the post-travel reimbursement process, even when it literally costs them (personal) money.
Institutions need to change their policies, or at least attitudes, to recognize this reality.
Exactly! I had a patient recently who was so stressed out cause she had to go on a work trip and they wouldn’t pay up front and she didn’t have the money to cover it. She came to the appointment crying. It was so sad. You never know what people are going through and their financial situation.
If there is an option to have work pay for it upfront it’s really shitty that employers would have the attitude that that option shouldn’t be utilized because it causes more work.
Plus things come up where you have to cancel and you've held the balance for something you didn't even go to! Take 2020 cancellations out of it, conferences sometimes open registration 6 months in advance and fill up fast. That's a loooong time to carry a balance. I'm sure there are people who miss opportunities because they can't afford to pay up front and may find it embarrassing to disclose that to their boss.
Now do the math of how long you're holding a balance and paying interest on your credit card (at what high rate?) I've never been paid interest earned on the balance while waiting for a refund. I use one CC exclusively as I don't want to open new ones even if I can get 0% for a while. Should I open a new card? Probably, but I don't want the credit hit, and one more thing to manage. I can't imagine how much interest OP's H will get on a trip that costs over $3K! Plus we're forgetting if the traveler even has enough space in their credit limit to hold that balance on top of their debt, and what they have left to put on that card outside of this trip.
I really don't mean to be snarky, but if the school, business whomever offers the option to pay for everything up front (which they should) it's not the travelers problem if it's a PITA to process. There are literal departments of people who process the bills. IME payroll is often one of the most staffed offices, so it's not even a workload issue. Does it suck for payroll to process to it one way? Yes, but that's still their job. The college or business needs to change their processes, not put all of this stress and extra cost on their employees.
Post by rupertpenny on Apr 4, 2024 10:47:59 GMT -5
Jalapeñomel, at my university, you can pay yourself and then submit for an advance on the reimbursement, so essentially, a quick refund. I didn't know about this option until recently, it isn't really advertised. Maybe his school has something similar?
There are a ton of steps: Request approval for travel book travel submit receipts for advance reimbursement do the travel submit any additional receipts (taxi from airport, etc) and prove that you traveled (upload boarding passes, etc)
Jalapeñomel , at my university, you can pay yourself and then submit for an advance on the reimbursement, so essentially, a quick refund. I didn't know about this option until recently, it isn't really advertised. Maybe his school has something similar?
There are a ton of steps: Request approval for travel book travel submit receipts for advance reimbursement do the travel submit any additional receipts (taxi from airport, etc) and prove that you traveled (upload boarding passes, etc)
This is what he has to do...except I'm not sure how the booking works. (Maybe you work for the same university)
So my DH has to travel to a conference, and he receives $$ as the department chair. No one has really used it for travel for many years, so he doesn't really know what the norm is, and I told him I'd crowdsource just for information.
Anyway, he can either pay for his travel up front and then submit for reimbursement when he returns. Or he can apply for a voucher to get the funds before he leaves. What would would you do?
I'm in higher ed. When I travel for work, things like hotel, rental cars, flights, etc. have to be booked directly through the university's travel platform and then gets direct billed to the appropriate account. I put meals and stuff like that on my personal credit card and then get reimbursed once I'm back. I just claim per diem on the meals because it's a pain to keep receipts.
Jalapeñomel , at my university, you can pay yourself and then submit for an advance on the reimbursement, so essentially, a quick refund. I didn't know about this option until recently, it isn't really advertised. Maybe his school has something similar?
There are a ton of steps: Request approval for travel book travel submit receipts for advance reimbursement do the travel submit any additional receipts (taxi from airport, etc) and prove that you traveled (upload boarding passes, etc)
This is what he has to do...except I'm not sure how the booking works. (Maybe you work for the same university)
I don't think we're at the same school, I'm at a private school downtown. In any case, my process happens quickly enough that I never have to carry the balance on my credit card long enough for it to accrue interest.
Jalapeñomel , at my university, you can pay yourself and then submit for an advance on the reimbursement, so essentially, a quick refund. I didn't know about this option until recently, it isn't really advertised. Maybe his school has something similar?
There are a ton of steps: Request approval for travel book travel submit receipts for advance reimbursement do the travel submit any additional receipts (taxi from airport, etc) and prove that you traveled (upload boarding passes, etc)
The option to submit receipts for advance reimbursement prior to travel is great - I may suggest this to my institution! Our actual reimbursement process is relatively quick once you submit the receipts, but the problem is that you can't submit anything until after the travel. I often end up carrying the balance of things that have to be booked in advance for a month or two (which we can afford, and is worth the points for us), but I really think there should be an option to not have to do this.
When I traveled for work, the university paid our airfare up front. Hotels were charged to a department card or a personal card (2 different universities) where the department card was paid by the university, we got reimbursed for using our personal card. Meals were a per diem and were paid out regardless of how much we ate (but it never…..ever covered 3 meals, unless you went to McDonalds). At best, it covered an ok dinner. We could also collect taxi receipts for ground transport and those were reimbursed with our meal per diem.
The few people who did not have personal cards were able to get a check in advance for the hotel, but the admins hated doing this as it wound up being much more work for them.
Post by litskispeciality on Apr 5, 2024 8:34:00 GMT -5
I forgot that I had to go through all of the steps above. Usually an admin would help pay for the conference and book the hotel rooms on the p-card, but then you the traveler had to submit all the receipts, and all that. I also traveled through grant money through my union, so I had to submit a proposal to the union (cc my boss) as to how it helps my job, estimated expenses, then if approved go through the normal approval process. State school also required an out of state liability something or other form.
Jalapeñomel , at my university, you can pay yourself and then submit for an advance on the reimbursement, so essentially, a quick refund. I didn't know about this option until recently, it isn't really advertised. Maybe his school has something similar?
There are a ton of steps: Request approval for travel book travel submit receipts for advance reimbursement do the travel submit any additional receipts (taxi from airport, etc) and prove that you traveled (upload boarding passes, etc)
The option to submit receipts for advance reimbursement prior to travel is great - I may suggest this to my institution! Our actual reimbursement process is relatively quick once you submit the receipts, but the problem is that you can't submit anything until after the travel. I often end up carrying the balance of things that have to be booked in advance for a month or two (which we can afford, and is worth the points for us), but I really think there should be an option to not have to do this.
Yeah, it is a HUGE equity issue. Carrying the balance wasn't a huge deal when I was married, but I wouldn't be able to do work travel on the salary said job pays me without very quick reimbursement.