Travel Booking Best Practices

How is Client travel handled?

• Most of the travel we do is for our Clients and is reimbursable. Before you book anything, please reference any specific travel guidelines a Client has provided. Many require require pre-approvals from them after you have a sense of total travel costs. Some have spending limits for flights, hotels, meals, car ride sharing/rentals, etc. And some need very detailed receipts based on their corporate policies.
• Please note the job number the expenses should be billed against on the expense report which will help us more efficiently reconcile everything.
• Please submit one expense report per Client – don’t combine them together as there are times we need to include that with our documentation and they don’t need to see what we are doing for other Clients.
• Of note for OTD: they have a per diem rate structure that changes every year – please see Mei or Samantha for the current not-to-exceed reimburseable allowances are for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Any tips for booking flights?

• Please book directly through the airline and use Marriner’s corporate credit card (see Dawn) as it makes it easier should there be changes as well as for accounting purposes.
• Southwest is the preferred airline based on its direct flights, no hidden fees and renowned customer service.
• Always get refundable tickets as plans change and we can ensure that any credits can be applied against the correct customer. On Southwest that is the Business Select/Anytime category.

What’s the deal with parking?

• It gets listed under the “Ground” column on the expense report.
• Our policy is that we will reimburse up to the rate being charged by FastPark which is our recommended method of parking as the most cost and time efficient.
• Extenuating circumstances will be considered if you need to park elsewhere due to business obligations (Ex: stuck in a meeting until 3:00 and have a 4:00 flight).

How are meals handled?

• Please tip 15% (or no more than 20%) of the total meal cost including taxes.
• Always list everyone that is eating/drinking on a restaurant receipt as Clients tend to monitor this closely given how much it can vary based on the nature of the meal.

Can I include mileage?

• Our policy states that the mileage calculation will be the actual miles traveled from the Company office to the destination and back to the office. When traveling to the destination from home or on the way home from the office, the calculation will be actual miles traveled, less the normal one-way daily commuting mileage, which is not a reimbursable expense.  When traveling to a destination and not coming to the office, the calculation will be actual miles traveled, less the normal two-way daily commuting mileage, which is not a reimbursable expense.

My credit card is maxed out right now, can I pay for hotels or rental cars another way?

• If you need to charge to a corporate card (vs. personal card), please let us know and we will work with you to either pre-pay or provide the hotel or rental car company with Marriner’s card information. Please just get a final receipt for accounting purposes.
• Speaking of rental cars – don’t take the insurance! You are covered under your personal insurance policy and our workers insurance policy.

Anything else?

Seek out Anne T, Susan G or Dawn as sage travel guides if you have questions or need additional tips.