If your university travel plans are canceled due to circumstances such as a conference cancellation and/or travel ban, the following steps should be taken to secure refunds of travel expenditures or prevent unnecessary costs.
Lodging
Please cancel lodging accommodations within the time frame allowed by the lodging provider to avoid any unnecessary charges.
Airfare (when purchased directly through an airline)
Contact the airline and request a refund. If a refund is given and you have already been reimbursed for the cost of a flight, you must remit reimbursement to the university as soon as the refund from the airline is received. Reimbursements should be remitted via checks payable to IUP and submitted to the IUP Travel Office.
If the airline will not refund the flight, request a voucher to be used for a later flight. If a voucher is given, the voucher is used for IUP business, and a change fee is charged, you will be reimbursed for the additional fee via the usual travel reimbursement process. If the voucher is used for personal travel, you are required to reimburse the university for the cost of the voucher.
Airfare (when purchased through a travel company; e.g., Expedia, Travelocity, etc.)
Contact the travel company first to request a refund. If the company denies a refund, keep documentation of the denial and contact the airline directly. Follow the above steps for handling purchases directly from the airline.
If you purchased a "Cancel for Any Reason" travel insurance policy:
Please contact the airline or travel company first to request a refund. If a refund will not be issued, please submit a reimbursement claim with the policy provider. If a reimbursement claim is paid to you and you have already been reimbursed the travel costs by IUP, you must remit reimbursement to the university as soon as you receive the reimbursement claim from the policy provider. If you have not yet been reimbursed the travel costs by IUP, and the policy does not reimburse 100 percent of the claim, you should submit a Travel Voucher requesting reimbursement for the difference between your cost and the amount you were paid by the policy provider.
If expenditures cannot be refunded or canceled:
If the service provider refuses to issue a refund or cancel a charge, you should submit a Travel Voucher requesting reimbursement for the cost. Please keep all documentation when corresponding with hotels, airlines, etc. Documentation must be presented supporting denial by the vendor to issue a refund or cancel the charge in order to obtain your reimbursement or be excused from making restitution to the university. This documentation must be submitted to the Travel Office before any reimbursements will be made.
Notes
The cost of "Cancel for Any Reason" travel insurance purchased for university business travel will be reimbursed to university employees.
If an employee's IUP travel is canceled and the traveler chooses to go anyway as a personal trip, the traveler will be responsible for all costs associated with the trip (e.g., airfare, hotel, meals, etc.)
If an employee incurs expenses for an IUP trip and chooses not to attend, all previously reimbursed/prepaid expenses must be returned/reimbursed to the university.
When making travel arrangements for any future travel, please exercise caution to ensure refundability of expenses due to health concerns and/or travel bans.
If you need any additional information or need assistance, please contact Stephanie Ferraro at travel-office@iup.edu or 724-357-7999 for direction on securing appropriate expenditure refunds.