Individuals to contact and telephone numbers listed by travel agency are included in the listing of authorized travel agencies. When changes are made to the itinerary after travel has begun, new tickets will be electronically prepaid to the appropriate airport. Departments may expect hand-delivery of tickets. In the event that timely delivery cannot be made by any other method, the contracted travel agency shall prepay the tickets to the airport where your trip originates. It will be the departments responsibility to control the return and cancellation of charges for unused airline tickets.
Airline tickets represent cash and, as such, require the appropriate controls.
Exceptions to the use of authorized travel agencies is allowed under those situations where it is not in the best interest to use one of the contracted travel agencies. A State Contracted Travel Agency does not have to be utilized if it can be shown the air travel services were secured at a lesser cost from another source. Documentation must be submitted with the reimbursement request documenting the cost savings via quotes supplied by one or more State Contracted Travel Agencies. The quotes must be based on the best travel arrangements that were available to the traveler. A State Contacted Travel Agency does not have to be utilized if the air travel is originated from a location outside the State and it would be impractical to arrange for the travel through a State Contracted Travel Agency.