The following travel vouchers are intended for use by AOA bureau, council and committee members traveling on AOA business after Jan. 1, 2025. (Please use 2024 forms for travel completed in 2024.)
The following travel vouchers are intended for use by AOA bureau, council and committee members traveling on AOA business after Jan. 1, 2024.
The AOA will provide prompt reimbursement to individuals who travel on its behalf for the actual amount of their reasonable and necessary expenses incurred while traveling on AOA business. The AOA expects that travelers will use good business judgment and exercise discretion with respect to expenses and use the AOA’s funds as carefully and judiciously as when they travel at their own expense.
Expenses in excess of $25 will not be reimbursed unless the individual requesting reimbursement submits the appropriate Expense Report form and documentation. Expense Reports shall be submitted within two weeks of completing travel and must include the traveler’s name and affiliation with AOA (e.g., trustee, committee member) and the dates, origin, destination and purpose of the trip, including a brief description of the AOA-related events or activities during the trip.
Travelers are expected to keep receipts from their travel expenses and submit the receipts with the Expense Reports. The receipts should indicate the vendor’s name, identify what was purchased or provided (if not otherwise obvious), the date of the purchase, and the total expenses. Tips or other gratuities paid that are not included on the receipt should be listed separately. When possible, the original receipt should be submitted rather than a credit card receipt or statement to document the purchase.
Advance Approval: All trips involving air travel or at least one overnight stay must be approved in advance. Committee travel should be authorized by the Chair in consultation with the AOA President, President-elect or CEO. The reasonableness and necessity of travel will be assessed based on the benefit and costs to AOA from the travel.
Personal Travel Expenses: Individuals traveling on behalf of AOA may incorporate personal travel with their AOA-related trips; however, travel should not be structured so that the needs of personal travel place AOA at a disadvantage or cause AOA to incur a greater expense. Where personal travel is combined with travel on AOA business, the AOA will not reimburse for additional expenses incurred as a result of personal travel, such as additional hotel nights, stopovers, meals or transportation unless the expense results in aggregate travel costs savings (e.g., additional hotel nights to obtain advantage of lower air fares for staying over Saturday night). Otherwise, the additional costs shall be the sole responsibility of the individual and will not be reimbursed by AOA.
Reservations must be made online using the AOA’s official travel provider, AmTrav. The travel provider will directly bill AOA for your travel (with the exception of spouse/significant other expenses). In the event of flight cancellations, AmTrav will work on your behalf to re-book flights at no cost.
Member names and email addresses have been loaded as approved travelers. Detailed below are the steps you should follow to set up your account:
Flight Booking: All air travel reservations must be booked online via AmTrav. Once the Member is logged in, the member can select flights and enter in the flight dates.
Selecting Budget Number: Select the budget number from the dropdown menu that correlates with the appropriate trip when making flight arrangements. The AOA staff liaison will provide the budget number to be utilized.
Payment: The AOA corporate credit card will be utilized. If the member would like to upgrade their seats, the member may do so and enter in their own personal credit card or loyalty program miles to cover the cost for the upgrade.
Airline Booking Policy: Flights must be made at least 21 days in advance of travel online via the official travel provider, AmTrav. Flights may not exceed $500 round trip for standard, economy coach service.
Baggage Fees: The AOA will provide reimbursement for up to two pieces of luggage.
AmTrav Support: AmTrav offers 24 hour support via-
Flight Cancellations: Cancellations must be cancelled through the agency. Many airline tickets are non-refundable and cancelled reservations will result in an airfare credit, less the change fee, to be used within one calendar year.
Flight Changes: If needed, changes must be made through the agency. Most airlines charge fees of approximately $200 for each change made to a ticket, in addition to any additional airfare fees. Changes should be avoided to minimize expenses.
In general, for larger meetings, AOA has a contract at a hotel and housing should be booked by the group coordinator. When traveling individually where no hotel group block is available, members should book their housing through AmTrav, AOA’s official travel partner. The member will have to provide a credit card for payment upon check-in to the hotel and submit for reimbursement. Members should reserve comfortable, convenient and modest hotel accommodations with standard rooms (i.e., no suites). The AOA will only reimburse for the cost of the overnight stay, any applicable taxes, parking as needed and meals covered by the policy. Other hotel incidentals like movies, toiletries, spa, etc. will not be covered.
Hotel Cancellations: Cancellation of hotel reservations should be done through the AmTrav site or the method through which the reservation was originally booked. This applies to outside meetings and conferences that may require you to book directly through them.
Tips: Tips are a reimbursable expense and should be appropriate to the location and service. Tips must be itemized when reconciling expenses.
The AOA will reimburse travelers for costs incurred for ground transportation to and from the airport in the home and destination city, including charges for taxis, car services, trains, or buses used for local transportation. If a traveler chooses to drive to the airport and park at the airport in their home city, the AOA will reimburse for costs of parking and mileage at the IRS-approved rate to and from an airport. The cost of limousine services will not be reimbursed.
Car Rental: Should use of a rental car be necessary to attend a meeting or function on behalf of the AOA the car rental must be booked through the official travel partner, AmTrav. The AOA will reimburse reasonable costs related to the car rental. The class of the rental car should be either economy, mid-size, standard or full size dependent upon the number of AOA travelers and road conditions on which it will be used. Members can log in to their AmTrav profile and select car rental and choose the appropriate dates and car type.
To maximize cost savings, the rental car should be refueled prior to returning. If an accident should occur, this should be reported to AOA as soon as possible.
Ride Share/Cabs: If a car rental is used, receipts for ride share/cabs will not be considered as a reimbursable expense.
Mileage: Mileage will be reimbursed at the standard federal rate. A copy of the mileage map must be submitted.
Should a traveler elect to drive versus fly, the mileage that will be reimbursed will be equal to a non-refundable coach airfare purchased within 21 days in advance of the meeting.
The AOA will provide reimbursement for travelers for the costs of meals expenses (including tax and gratuity) while traveling on AOA business. Meal expenses are limited to $110 per day. Where practical, travelers should report only their own meal expenses. The amount paid for meals should be documented with a cash register or credit card receipt. Meal costs should be as reasonable as possible for the occasion and locale. The guidelines concerning reasonable costs per person for trustees, officers, and members are:
Internet: The AOA will reimburse travelers for the cost of a temporary internet connection while the individual is traveling on AOA business, provided that the connection is needed to conduct business.
Telephone: The AOA provides cellular phone service to some of its board members, officers and employees. Travelers who have been assigned telecommunications equipment are expected to use it for telephone calls when traveling. Where that is not possible, the AOA will reimburse for telephone and telecommunications expenses needed to conduct business and reasonable personal calls while traveling on AOA business. Travelers should avoid using hotel lines to avoid surcharges by the hotel. Receipts are required for all telephone charges for which reimbursement is requested. Incremental service charges and airtime charges incurred for reasonable business calls on personal cell phones may be reimbursed. A detailed statement is required for all cellular telephone reimbursement.
The new honorarium policy will provide trustee members with $150 for each day the BOT meets. Bureau/Council/Committee Chairs and members will receive $150 and $100, respectively, for each meeting day. The honorarium is provided in gratitude for services provided on behalf of the osteopathic medical profession. It can be used for whatever purpose the recipient desires, such as payment of spousal travel expenses or travel upgrades. Honoraria are taxable and the AOA will issue a 1099 for payments totaling over $600 each year.
On occasion, it may be necessary to change travel plans. Where schedule changes are known in advance, travelers should cancel their reservations as soon as possible to minimize charges and costs of re-booking. The AOA will NOT reimburse for cancellation fees incurred without good cause.
Reimbursable Travel Expenses:
The AOA will reimburse for the following travel expenses:
NON-REIMBURSABLE TRAVEL EXPENSES
Unless otherwise provided, other travel-related expenses are not reimbursable. The following are examples of other business travel expenses that the AOA will not reimburse: