How to Report Meals for Same-Day Overlapping Trips
When an employee completes a trip and begins a second trip on the same day, calculating and submitting travel allowances (meal per diem reimbursements) can present system reporting issues.
There are two ways to complete travel reimbursements with this scenario and its the agency's decision on the best way forward, grant money or other funding may drive the decisions. State Finance’s
recommendation is using the OPTION 1. See the quick help guide attached. Note: the time frame entered on the travel allowance is more important in this type of travel than originally thought.
OPTION 1:
Using a Detailed Itinerary on a Travel Allowance (State Finances Recommendation) Completing one reimbursement that encompasses both trips will give the employee full per diem
the day double travel happens.
OPTION 2:
Complete two different travel reimbursement requests and exclude the LAST day of the FIRST trip. Please note per GSA guidelines, the employee receives meal rates for the city they are sleeping in
that night. Completing two separate reports gives the employee meal per diem for that day at 75% for the day of travel regardless of the traveler's full day schedule.
If the two same-day trips involve a combination of in-state and out-of-state travel, Finance recommends the following pathway.
Include the in-state travel portion directly in your main Travel Request using the detailed itinerary section.
Follow OPTION 1 to combine the expense details into a single Expense Report for reimbursement.