What to do with unused airline tickets from GSA.

Holding on to a totally or partially used airline ticket costs your agency money. Unused tickets have monetary value; therefore, any adjustments in connection with official passenger transportation that results in an unused segment must be promptly processed to prevent monetary losses to the government.

UNUSED TICKETS DEFINED

* Tickets purchased for Government travel, but never used

* Travel is terminated short of the authorized destination

* Return portion of a round-trip ticket is not used

* Services actually furnished are different or of a lesser value than those authorized

RESPONSIBILITY-AS A GOVERNMENT TRAVELER

Government travelers having downgraded, exchanged, unused, or partially unused tickets that were purchased with their individually billed account (IBA) should exchange those coupons for a Credit Card Refund Notice (CCRN) receipt from the Transportation Service Provider (TSP)/ Travel Management Center (TMC)/ Commercial Travel Office (CTO). The traveler should retain this CCRN receipt as evidence that a credit is due and confirm that the credit was received on his/ her IBA statement. (NOTE: The TSP is the airline used. TMC is the federal civilian travel agency. CTO is the Department of Defense's travel agency.) Most of the time, airline tickets are purchased by the TMC/CTO using the agency's centrally billed account (CBA), so the amount will never appear on the traveler's IBA. When tickets are purchased via a CBA, the traveler should immediately:

* Notify TMC/CTO when trip or portion of trip will not be/was not made. Make written documentation that TMC/CTO was notified and notify appropriate office/agency of unused portions(s) in accordance with your agency's internal travel policies

RESPONSIBILITY--AS AN AGENCY

Each agency's policy office should establish administrative procedures to promptly identify unused tickets, coupons, ot other evidence of refunds due the Government.

The travel office that handles travel vouchers should be able to identify any unused tickets attached to travel vouchers. The travel office should also he able to determine any possible unused portions when examining travel vouchers (eg, if a traveler used another mode of travel [car] in lieu of return portions of ticket).

The agency's finance office receives centrally billed account (CBA) statements and should be aware of unused tickets to ensure that credits are received.

To ensure that unused tickets are tracked and refunded, and agency should:

* Ask for a management information report from its TMC/CTO broken down by CBA/IBA and/or US Government Transportation Requests (GTR, SF 1169) to keep a better track of unused portions

* Ask its TMC/CTO to add a statement on itineraries that provide instructions regarding unused tickets or ticket segments

* Add a line for status of unused tickets if the agency has a travel worksheet/ checklist

EXPIRED TICKETS

An expired ticket is one that is more than a year old from date of purchase. Only GSA's Transportation Audits Division can recover refunds for expired tickets, and any expired tickets must be submitted to GSA's Transportation Audits Division for processing. GSA's Transportation Audits Division may recover refunds for up to 10 years after date of purchase. Expired tickets must be sent to the following address:

General Services Administration Transportation Audits Division 2200 Crystal Drive, Suite 300 Arlington, VA 22202

For more information regarding unused tickets, please contact your GSA representative, Annie Scott, at 703-605-9425, 703-605-9903 (fax), or [e-mail].