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EMPLOYEE PAYMENTS - FSSA TRAVEL

Employee Travel
FSSA Travel Department

The FSSA Travel department assists FSSA employees with business travel arrangements and ensures that state travel rules and regulations are followed. FSSA Travel may be contacted at FSSAtravel@fssa.in.gov with any questions.

Please note the following:

  • FSSA Travel must receive submitted travel authorization requests 60 days prior to the requested travel date.
  • Expense reports requesting reimbursements for expenses must be submitted no later than 30 days using the date of the oldest expense being claimed on the expense report.
  • Travel payments paid by COMP Travel Department are direct deposited instead of being mailed via paper checks. Travel reimbursement deposits are deposited into the same account that you currently have designated for your payroll direct deposit. Currently, we do not offer the option to have the travel check sent to a separate account from the payroll deposit.

Meal Per Diem

The state’s meal per diem reimbursement rates for in and out-of-state travel is available by clicking here.

Mileage reimbursement

The State Budget Agency and Indiana Department of Administration have announced that the mileage reimbursement rate will be 49 cents for each business mile driven.

Mileage from the workstation or from home

Any commute to or from the employee’s home to the employee’s workstation (office) is non-reimbursable. This includes an employee that has been scheduled to work from home and makes a trip into their workstation (office). On days that an employee works from their workstation (office), the shortest distance mileage from either their home or workstation (office) is to be claimed as outlined in Financial Management Circular 2017-2, Section 19 B. On days that an employee is scheduled to work from home, mileage can be claimed from the home location without the need for the shortest distance from the workstation (office).

Information on booking hotels

To book an in-state hotel, an employee should call the desired hotel and book their own room.

  • Do not use non-state of Indiana related 3rd party websites like Trivago or Expedia etc. to book hotel rooms. Contact the hotel directly to book rooms instead.
    Also, we do not reimburse Airbnb or Vrbo stays.

If the in-state overnight stay is for one night, the traveler should pay for the room out-of-pocket and then request reimbursement by submitting an expense report in PeopleSoft Travel & Expense.

If the in-state overnight stay is for more than one night and only if it would cause a financial hardship for the traveler to cover multiple nights out-of-pocket, then the traveler must first book the room on their own personal credit card and then email:

  1. the hotel's credit card authorization form (or live link),
  2. confirmation number,
  3. check-in & check-out dates,
  4. agreed-upon rate per night,
  5. and fax number

to FSSA Travel (or your business unit’s designated agency cardholder) in order to have the room paid for on an agency credit card.

Please be advised that this is an exception and not the norm.

Out of State Hotels:

Hotels for out-of-state conferences/events should be secured through the event planner for that event or follow the procedures designated by that event. Usually, out-of-state conferences/events have a block of rooms already blocked off for their travelers coming to that event. In order to have the agency pay for the out-of-state room, once the travel authorization has received final IDOA approval in PeopleSoft Financials (with IDOA Travel showing as the final approver), the same 5 numbered items noted above should be forwarded to FSSA Travel so the charges can be moved from the traveler's personal credit card to the agency credit card.

Any part of the traveler's stay that encompasses personal time at the beginning OR the end of their trip, must be paid out-of-pocket by the traveler and will not be reimbursed.

Effective Dec. 1, 2023, the in-state base lodging rates per night will increase to $107 with an additional increase for the below-defined areas:

LocationRate
Standard Rate:
(All locations without specific rates)		 $107.00
Indianapolis/Carmel $127.00
Bloomington $108.00
Ft. Wayne $108.00
Hammond/Munster/Merrillville $100.00
Lafayette/ West Lafayette $111.00

If an employee is unable to locate a room, then as a last resort the employee should try to make lodging reservations through Corporate Travel Management.

If you would like to book a room at a hotel, other than the ones previously listed, inside the CTM module and you do not have a login and password, please contact FSSA Travel for your login and password.

Shortlist of hotel chains in Indiana that typically honor the Indiana state rates:

  • Cambria
  • Candlewood Suites
  • Courtyard Marriott
  • Crowne Plaza
  • Drury Inn
  • Fairfield Inn
  • Holiday Inn Express
  • LaQuinta Inn
  • Quality Inn
  • Residence Inn
  • Spring Hill Suites
  • Staybridge

Click here for the general sales tax certificate.

Out-of-state travel

All out-of-state business travel by FSSA employees, board and commission members, persons under contract with the state, and all others seeking to travel or seeking travel reimbursements must be reviewed and approved by the FSSA Travel department.

FSSA employees wishing to attend an out-of-state conference, training or official annual meeting must submit their own individual Travel Authorization for approval in PeopleSoft. The Travel Authorization must be fully approved by all PeopleSoft approvers before attending the event or making preparations to attend that event.

Travel check reimbursements are deposited into the same account as the employee's payroll deposit.

  • Hard copies of expense receipts are no longer required to be submitted to FSSA Travel
  • However, all supporting documents and receipts must be uploaded/attached to the PeopleSoft Expense Report
  • Do not scan all receipts and supporting documents and attach them as one file
  • Attachments will need to be clearly labeled (Ex. Lodging Receipt, Uber Receipt, etc.)
  • Receipts should be in the order of expenses listed

Flight cancelled

If the travelers receive a notification of delay or cancellation from the airlines, we suggest the following:

When calling be prepared to provide the answers to the following questions:

  • Name of traveler and what time traveler's flight will be returning?
  • What airports will the traveler be flying out of and into?
  • Email copies of traveler's itinerary to IDOATravel@idoa.in.gov when time permits
    • (IDOA will use for reference if they need to make an adjustment)
  • Will the traveler have a lengthy commute after arriving at the airport?
  • Are there any other special circumstances that need to be considered by IDOA?

Combining out-of-state business travel with personal travel  

When adding personal time to the beginning OR the end of an out-of-state trip for state business (adding personal time to both is prohibited), the flight for the trip must be booked and purchased by the traveler after the travel authorization has received final IDOA Travel approval in PeopleSoft Financials. The flight will be reimbursed at a capped rate by IDOA Travel based on the two quotes that should be attached to the TA:

  1. One quote that includes flights for the business portion of the trip only
  2. And a second flight quote that encompasses both the business portion and the personal time together.

Travel Policy

Vehicle Rental

Rental cars and gas for them are an agency paid expense.

If a traveler's in-state trip is more than 150 miles (round trip), then the traveler should be renting an Enterprise Rental car. Feel free to use the 'Mileage vs. Rental' calculator below to determine which option is more economical. Whichever option is more economical is the option the traveler should take.

Chase Travel Cards

The Chase travel card is intended to prevent state employees from personally paying for higher dollar travel expenses when traveling for state business on a regular basis. The card is created in the traveler's name and can be used to cover lodging, registration fees, bus trips, and train rides while traveling on official state business.

Travelers that possess assigned Chase travel cards should book and pay for their own in- and out-of-state hotel stays using their assigned Chase travel cards.

Individual Chase Travel card holders should not pay for hotel stays for other state staff (coworkers) with their assigned TCard unless FSSA Travel has designated that cardholder to pay for TCard expenses for the entire business unit.

Fluid Training Guides

Helpful Expense Report Guides

Helpful Travel Authorization Guides

Travel Related Links