Travel Basics: Essential Information for all UCI Travelers

Every UCI department and organization has its own procedures for booking and reimbursing travel and entertainment expenses. For this reason, you should first ask about your unit’s specific travel procedures.

As a traveler at UCI, you will likely be working with a departmental travel arranger who will help submit your travel expenses for reimbursement. They may also be involved in booking your travel or you might simply do it yourself. In either case, UCI recommends that travel expenses—including plane tickets, hotel rooms, and rental cars—be booked using ConnexUC to take advantage of UC negotiated prices.

The following points apply to just about all UCI employees who wish to travel:

UCI Employees Must Create a TEM Profile in KFS to be Reimbursed

All travel and entertainment reimbursements are processed through UCI’s Kuali Financial System (KFS), and if you want to be reimbursed, you will need to create a TEM (Travel and Event Management) profile in KFS. It’s not difficult and only takes a few minutes.

View instructions on how to create a TEM profile.

You Must Follow UC and UCI Travel Policies

For a quick overview, check out these travel policy highlights. The full policy documents governing travel and entertainment expenses are listed in the resources section.

UCI travelers are to contact the campus Export Control Officer (m.copeland@uci.edu) before travel on university business to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan or Syria . More information: UCI Office of Research: International Travel.

For international travel and to view the sanctioned countries list and information, UCI Office of Research: International Travel to read the summary.

You Should Obtain and Keep Receipts

• Airline - Receipt or invoice/itinerary showing payment, traveler name, and ticket number
• Lodging - Itemized receipt showing daily expenses
• Rental Car - Receipt given when car is returned (mileage in/out)
• Anything over $75 - You will need a receipt for any expense over $75

Protect your traveler's personal information. Please redact Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number, financial account number, credit card number, debit card number, personal medical or health information. Visit the OIT website for Personal Identity Information (PII).

These are the basics. You can review the Supporting Documents Guide to see receipt requirements for all types of reimbursement. Your department might require more than listed here.

There is a Daily Cap for Meals for Domestic Trips

This Meals and Incidentals Expense (M&IE) cap is the maximum amount you can get reimbursed per day for meals and incidentals like tips. View the current M&IE cap.

The cap should not to be treated as a per diem by claiming the maximum every day. Keep track of your actual meal expenses and you will be reimbursed for the actual amount up to cap.

You will be Required to Certify and Approve Your Travel in KFS

While your travel reimbursement will probably be processed by a trained travel arranger, you will still need to personally certify your travel online in the Kuali Financial System. You should get an email from the system when the reimbursement is routed to you for certification (unless you have turned off email notification in which case, you will just need to check your KFS action list). Note: In order to access KFS, you'll need to ensure you use a UCI Internet Connection or VPN Software is activated. Access OIT VPN istructions.

View instructions on how to approve a Travel Reimbursement Document.

Other Things to Consider When Planning a Trip

• Renting: Guidelines and information about renting a car.
• Meals: Information about paying for meals and tipping on short-term trips inside the Continental U.S.
• Per Diem: You will need to calculate a per diem for long-term trips and when traveling outside the Continental U.S.
• ConnexUC: You should book travel with ConnexUC to get UC discounts.