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Policies and Guidelines
Travel Policies
There are a lot of considerations students need to keep in
mind when beginning to plan travel arrangements for group members
or guests the group is hosting.
Making local travel arrangements for
a guest
Many groups invite speakers, lecturers or guests to come to
MIT on behalf of the group. Some guests may prefer to make their
own travel arrangements themselves while others could ask the
student group to make the arrangements for them. The guest should
understand at the onset what expenses the group will pay for
or is willing to reimburse.
If the group is making the travel arrangements we recommend
they use an approved MIT travel agent and bill the airfare directly
to their account. After the reservation is made, the group must
give SAFO the following:
- Invoice itinerary or passenger receipt/ticket
- Traveler’s name
- Destination and date
- Purpose of the trip
- Account number where expense was charged
The charge will initially appear on the group’s account
as a “Travel Advance”. SAFO has to process a Travel
Voucher to close the trip log and have the MIT Travel Office classify the charge as a “Travel Expense”.
Hotel accommodations
Many of the local hotels (Marriott in Kendall Square, Hotel@MIT
in University Park, or the Hyatt, to name a few) can reserve
a block of rooms for discounted rates. If the student group
will be paying the guest’s hotel bill, the room and hotel
tax bill can be sent directly to SAFO for payment (see instructions below.)
The guest
should know that they must pay all other charges (room service,
mini-bar, restaurant or parking.) Contact the hotel’s reservations manager, make the reservation
and tell them it is a “MIT direct bill” with the
following billing address, after doing so SAFO needs to send a confirming fax that we will indeed pay the bill directly.
MIT Student Activities c/o group name
77 Massachusetts Ave., W20-549
Cambridge, MA 02139
Students interested in this option need to contact
funds@mit.edu after making the room reservation with the
following information
• Guest’s name
• Hotel reservation number
• Arrival and departure dates
• Purpose of the trip
• Indicate if group purchased airline tickets with MIT
approved travel agent
• Account number for final charges
Travel arrangements for group members
traveling out of Cambridge
MIT has negotiated several discounted rates for airfares, hotels,
rental cars and rail fares. For more information look at the
MIT Travel web page.
When making arrangements student groups may use an approved
MIT travel agent to book reservations and charge certain expenses
like airfare to your MIT student group account. After the reservation
is made the group must give SAFO the following:
1. Invoice itinerary or passenger receipt/ticket
2. Travelers name, social security number and permanent mailing
address
3. Destination and date
4. Purpose of the trip
5. Account number where expense was charged
The charge will initially appear on the group’s account
as a “Travel Advance”. SAFO has to process a Travel
Voucher to close the trip log and have the MIT Travel Office
classify the charge as a “Travel Expense”.
Some groups prefer to use non-MIT approved travel agents or
purchase tickets online. In these instances the group needs
a letter from the agent verifying that the price was the lowest
available fare or show the discrepancy. All reimbursement requests
for airfare from online services must include the invoiced itinerary
that lists all travelers and the total paid. Hand written receipts
or notes regarding multiple individuals will not be accepted
as valid documentation.
Certain expenses are not allowed for reimbursement when traveling
on MIT business:
Personal telephone calls (one call home per week is permitted)
Medicine
Earphones on the plane for movies
Parking tickets
Car insurance on rented automobiles
Travel accident insurance premiums
Hotel movies
Child care
Costs incurred by unreasonable failures to cancel transportation
or hotel reservations
Lost or stolen tickets, cash, or property
Airline ticket upgrades
Expenses not directly related to the performance of the travel
assignment
Alcoholic beverages
In room movies
Towing expense for rental car, unless resulting from a motor
vehicle accident
High Risk travel waivers
Please note, if you are traveling to a ‘High Risk”
area, you will need to complete a special release of liability
waiver. The travel release of liability waivers and information
about current “high risk areas” can be found at:
http://informit.mit.edu/epr/index.html
International Travel
In addition to checking to see if you are traveling to a high-risk
area and completing the appropriate forms, student groups should
check the following well in advance:
1. Prior to making arrangements make sure to read MIT’s
Foreign Travel Policy
2. Check with the MIT Medical Department to ensure that travelers
have the correct shots and vaccinations
3. Remind travelers to make sure they have current passports
and visas for your destination
4. International students need to be aware of implications of
foreign travel on their visa status.
5. Furthermore, groups should make sure an advisor or other
responsible party at MIT (i.e. Housemaster, SLP staff member,
etc.)
has a copy of:
- Roster of students who are on the trip
- Travel itinerary with dates, destinations and contact information
for hotels, hostels, etc.
- Expected return to campus
- Copies of passports and visas in case of an emergency
- Copies of medical waivers or emergency contact information
Attending a Conference
Some student groups plan for conference expenses when they
develop their budgets. Some groups pay a portion or all of the
expenses for members to attend conferences or competitions.
SAO recommends that groups fundraising for these endeavors require
the members traveling to pay at least a portion of the expenses
to help defray the cost. This shows potential donors the group
is being responsible in their request.
As with all event planning, it is important to plan ahead.
SAFO can issue the check directly to the conference organizers
for the registration fee prior to the deadline. Groups only
need to submit a copy of the completed registration form that
will list the cost per person and the details of the conference
as your supporting documentation for the check.
If the conference or competition is informal and there is no
official registration form, contact funds@mit.edu to identify other documents that could be used for the direct
payment.
Furthermore, groups may want to work with SAFO to have airline
tickets, rental cars or other travel payments paid directly
through your group’s account reducing the expenses members
will have to pay out of pocket. For more details look at the
SAO travel recommendations
Hosting a Conference on Campus
Some student groups host conferences or large events here at
MIT where they invite other colleges to attend. SAO can help
with the planning of these events whether it is offering advice
on large event planning, funding resources or even
assisting with creation of the purchase order for the hotel
conference contract. If making overnight room reservations for
the guest right by campus, several of the local hotels will
bill MIT directly for the room and room tax.
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