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Omega World Travel Fee-for-Service Fact Sheet
A requirement of the NIH Travel Management Center contract
is that non-refundable service fees will be charged for
each transaction which involves an airline ticket being
issued. This includes all travel booked through Omega
World Travel (patient, official government, and travel
for authorized non-government travelers). These fees are
a necessary part of the contract due to the continually
decreasing commissions paid to the travel agencies by
the airlines. Also, please remember to send your travel
orders to Omega at least 2 weeks in advance.
If a hotel and/or car rental reservations is added to
the air/train reservations or a reservation is made with
just hotel and/or car rental, it is not considered a transaction
and no additional service fee will be charged. In addition,
a fee does not apply for changing a air/train reservation
prior to the issuance of the ticket.
Listed below, please find the applicable fees and examples.
Patient Travel
Reservation Method |
Applicable Fee |
Phone/In-Person |
$30.50 per ticket issued |
Email/Fax |
$23.50 per ticket issued |
Electronic Booking |
$0.00 per ticket issued |
A non-refundable service fee for each ticket transaction,
based on the reservation method used, will be applied
for all travel that is for NIH Patients or authorized
Official Government travel. The fee is applied for each
airline or Amtrak ticket issued, but not for making or
changing train or air reservations prior to the ticket
being cut by Omega. Any hotel or car rental reservations
may be added to air or train reservations with no additional
charge.
Please remember to have sufficient funds obligated to
cover all applicable fees so that Omega can issue the
tickets in a timely manner.
Examples:
- A Clinical Center patient has been requested by her doctor
to return to the NIH for a follow-up treatment in six
weeks. The reservations were prepared in person at the
Omega Patient Travel Office located in Building 10. A
non-refundable service fee of $30.50 would be applied
for this transaction.
- Your supervisor has requested that you attend a five
day conference in Utah. The Travel Assistant in your office
faxed the reservation request to Omega. Upon reservation
confirmation and pricing information from Omega, she can
then prepare your Official Government Travel Order which
should include the service fee of $23.50 for this transaction.
- Dr. Li made Official Government Travel reservations
by phone with Omega to fly to Boston to attend a medical
conference. Omega issued the ticket and a service fee
of $30.50 was applied. However, two days prior to leaving,
he discovered that work demands necessitate departing
on a later flight. Dr. Li may call Omega, and they will
book him on a later flight. Dr. Li can go ahead and use
the same ticket that was issued previously. However, if
Dr. Li wants a new ticket to be issued, a second service
fee of $30.50 will be charged to reissue the amended ticket.
- Dr. Brown made Official Government Travel reservations
a month in advance by phone with Omega to fly to Minneapolis.
Omega issued the ticket and a service fee of $30.50 was
applied. A week later, Dr. Brown found out she could not
go on the trip and had to cancel. Omega cancels the reservations
but will not refund the service fee. However, a week before
she was originally supposed to go, Dr. Brown found out
she can go again, and she emails Omega and reserves the
exact same seat as before. A second service fee of $23.50
will be charged.
- Dr. Green makes a reservation for an Official Government
trip, DC-San Diego-DC. She also wants to add a personal leg
B from San Diego to Seattle. Two service fees apply here.
One service fee (which the Government pays for ) is to cover
the ticket issued for the official travel portion of the
trip. The second service fee (which the traveler is responsible
for) applies when Omega issues the ticket which includes
the personal travel.
- In June, Dr. Adams makes a reservation from DC-Boston
on United and from Boston-DC on US AIRWAYS. Two service fees
apply since the airlines will not allow this to be entered
onto one ticket order, and Omega has to create two separate
transactions.
Meeting Travel
(travel reservations made via PO/BPA)
Reservation Method |
Applicable Fee |
Phone/In-Person |
$43.50 per ticket issued |
Email/Fax |
$33.50 per ticket issued |
Electronic Booking |
$0.00 per ticket issued |
The reservation method dictates the dollar amount of
the non-refundable service fee which will be applied to
all travel paid for through a purchase order or blanket
purchase agreement (BPA). For purposes of the service
fee, a "Transaction" is each issuance of any
airline or Amtrak ticket. The fee will be added as a line
item on the invoice, and therefore should be included
as an appropriate separate line item on the corresponding
purchase order.
Examples:
- In December, Dr. Smith makes a reservation for a February
meeting, round trip LA-DC-LA. She makes changes to her
air schedule twice in mid-January. Omega issues her ticket
in late January. One service fee applies.
- In December, Dr. Jones makes a reservation for a February
meeting, San Diego-DC-San Diego. Omega issues his ticket
in late January. One service fee applies. He then cancels
the trip. One week before the meeting, he calls to re-arrange
for the trip since he can now attend the meeting. Omega
issues a second ticket for the same trip. A second service
fee applies.
Ticket Delivery Fees
Method of Delivery |
Applicable Fee |
E-Ticket |
No Charge |
NIH Accountable Mail |
No Charge |
Pick-up at Onsite Office |
No Charge |
USPS |
No Charge |
Overnight |
$5.51 per ticket delivered |
The ticket delivery fees are also non-refundable and
are determined by the requester's choice of delivery mode.
The delivery fees are based on a per ticket delivery rate,
and should be included as a separate line item on the
travel and purchase orders. However, if a ticket has to
be reissued (an additional transaction due to schedule
change etc.), Omega may charge an additional ticket delivery
fee.
Examples:
- Dr. Doolittle has just learned that she needs to fly
to Seattle in two days. She requests that the ticket be
mailed to her via overnight delivery. Therefore, a ticket
delivery service fee of $5.51 would apply.
- Mr. Barrymore will be taking an official government
trip to London in three weeks. Because he has ample time
to obtain the tickets, he has requested that he pick up
the tickets at the Building 10 travel office. No service
delivery fee would be applied.
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