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DOI Travel Newsletter
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TABLE 1 |
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Checked Baggage |
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Weight Limitations |
Size Limitations |
Items weighing between 70 and 100 lbs. will be charged an excess baggage fee. |
Items over size limits will be charged an excess baggage fee. |
Items over 100 lbs. will be not be accepted. |
Items over 80” will not be accepted. |
Carry-On Items |
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Weight Limitations |
Size Limitations |
Must weigh less than 40 lbs. |
Approximate dimensions 22” x 14” x 9”. |
2003 Privately Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement
On December 24, 2002, the Administrator of General
Services signed Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) amendment, Privately Owned
Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement. The mileage reimbursement rates for use of
privately owned vehicles (POV) on official Government travel decreased. The
mileage allowance for advantageous use of an automobile decreased from 36.5 to
36.0 cents per mile; airplane from 97.5 to 95.5 cents per mile; and motorcycle
from 28.0 to 27.5 cents per mile.
FTR Amendment 112, Privately Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement rates was
published in the Federal Register on January 6, 2003. The amendment was
effective January 1, 2003.
DOI Quality Assurance Survey
In order to assess the quality of travel service the
Department was receiving from Omega World Travel (OWT), a Quality Assurance
Survey was conducted nationwide. This survey included 1,375 randomly selected
participants from the universe of DOI employees who performed official travel
during the June through September 2002 time frame. The survey began on Monday,
November 25, 2002. Travelers who participated were extremely informative on
those issues that were successful, needed work, and/or required change.
Travelers were asked to rate their overall experience with OWT, and the results
showed 85% very good or good. A summary of the QA survey findings are presented
below.
The survey revealed that the majority of travelers are using OWT to arrange
airline reservations only. Please remember to benefit from OWT for hotel
reservations, car rentals, and rail trips, also. It was additionally discovered
that the majority of travelers (87%) make reservations via telephone, the
remainder walk in, e-mail, or fax reservations. Calls are answered in less than
seven rings, and hold times are under ten minutes. Most e-mails and faxes were
responded to within 24 hours. The results were less favorable for the 24-hour
number, with complaints that the 24-hour line was not readily available 24 hours
per day, but rather only when the other call centers were closed. OWT has been
made aware of the importance of 24-hour assistance for DOI travelers.
P A G E 3
D O I T R A V E L N E W S L E T T E R
DOI TRAVELER INFORMATION
Reminder: Guidance for Telephone Calls While on TDY
The Federal Travel Regulation directs travelers to
exercise the same care in incurring expenses that a prudent person would
exercise if traveling on personal business. This is an extremely important point
to remember when you are making telephone calls while on temporary duty.
Telephone calls made while on temporary duty could become costly to the
Department. The cost of telephone calls placed from hotel rooms has been on the
rise, and continues to increase.
Employees on official overnight travel status should make calls using
least-cost-to-the-Government methods. Supervisors are expected to provide
employees with a Federal Calling Card or a pre-paid calling card for
long-distance calls for use while on official travel. Employees are allowed to
make official business calls, a brief daily personal call, and other necessary
long-distance calls that would have been made from home or office phones if the
employee were not in travel status.
Reminder: Mandatory Use of Omega World Travel
The Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) governs the Department’s travel program. The FTR required mandatory usage of Travel Management Centers (TMC) effective January 1, 2001. The Department's mandatory use TMC is Omega World Travel (OWT). The Travel Management Center (OWT) must be used for booking all official travel reservations, in order to comply with the Federal Travel Regulation (301-50.1 and 301-73.102). Due to the countless remote areas where the Department conducts business, four exemptions from the mandatory use concerning lodging were established in FAM 2001-005 (II.G.1.) http://www.doi.gov/pfm/fam01-05.html.
Trip Manager's Corner
During the month of January, 3,874 air segments, 588 hotel rooms, and 468 rental cars were reserved on Trip Manager.
The Latest on Trip Manager
Good News!! The next generation of Trip Manager user
interface is greatly enhanced by simplifying steps to book a trip, as well as
adding additional functionality to the system. Booking your travel with Trip
Manager could not be easier. DOI travelers can log on to the system, and in less
than 10 minutes for a simple trip, have their airline, hotel and car
reservations made. The new system adds more flight selection capabilities,
adopting real-time web automation technology, and has the ability to access and
book online (non-refundable) fares from individual airline sites later this
year. Real-time web automation technology will provide DOI travelers with access
to and full booking functionality for all online fares. Additionally, travelers
will have access to travel inventory from more than 150 travel web sites,
including such airlines as jetBlue. This real-time search capability will enable
travelers to book with complete confidence, knowing they have found the best
fare available without spending extra time searching additional sites on the
Internet.
In addition the system interface from the Omega profile system to the trip
manager system will be upgraded and the credit card information will be passed
from Omega to Worldspan without any bureau administrator assistance. Make sure
your profile is current and has the current credit information.
Changing Flight Reservations in Trip Manager
If you book a flight on Trip Manager that has not yet been ticketed, and need to make changes, please proceed as follows. To change one portion of the round trip, in either direction, use “cancel flight” and “add flight.” To change all segments of a trip, cancel the entire flight itinerary and re-book under a new itinerary with a new trip locator. DO NOT use “add flights” on the same itinerary if all segments need to be changed. It is against the airline rules to delete the entire flight reservation from a trip and then add back different flights to the same (original) itinerary. When this occurs the airlines charge Omega penalties and fines. This is referred to as “churning.”
P A G E 4
D O I T R A V E L N E W S L E T T E R
DOI TRAVELER INFORMATION
OWT Airline Ticket Data
The following table shows updated OWT airline ticket data.
Traveler's "Tip Bits"
New Security Screening Baggage Tips
The screening of all checked baggage for
explosives began on December 31, 2002, at airports across the nation. The latest
change in baggage screening for explosives will add to longer wait times at the
airport. United Airlines, for instance, is recommending that fliers arrive 90
minutes before their flights, 30 minutes more than the previous recommendation.
United recommends obtaining a boarding pass before going through security
checkpoints.
The explosive-detection machines are about the size of a minivan. Travelers are
advised to leave their bags unlocked. Baggage-screening procedures may vary
among airports. But Transportation Security Administration officials say they
are working toward standardizing procedures wherever possible around the
country.
As a general rule, and for your own freedom from hassle, checked bags should be
unlocked. That said, travelers were showing up on the first day of baggage
screening with sealed cardboard boxes and getting through just fine. If the
airport you are going to has its screening machines in the lobby where
passengers stand by as they are screened, there is a good chance that the bag
will pass through just fine and will not have to be opened. But if the buzzer
goes off, you are going to have to open it. If you are in an airport where
baggage screening goes on behind the counter, screeners are going to forcibly
open the bag if they get a positive reading on it. If you feel you can't leave
your luggage unlocked, run plastic bands around it or buy cheap plastic locks
that you won't feel bad losing. Plastic slip ties can be cut off, are cheap, and
easy to replace.
Anything with a large density like a fruitcake or a liquid could show up in the
new bag screening machines as something that flags screeners to open a bag. If
you need to carry a liquid or food, consider placing it in your carry-on
luggage.
The Transportation Security Administration officials are working toward
standardizing baggage procedures. In the interim, Airports will differ on bag
checking. Most bags will be given either a swab around the edge (trace
detection), directed to the baggage screening machine, or searched by a sniffing
dog. Generally, only those bags that are flagged as suspicious by any of those
methods may be hand searched. Of course, there may be some airports where
systems are not yet in place or are very small and hand searching becomes the
norm.
Curbside check-in is still allowed. It may take a few more minutes, though,
because the skycap or a porter will need to walk you and your bags into the
terminal for the baggage screening check (in those airports where screening is
in the lobby).
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