Overview:

• Normally business and first class travel are out of policy. However, business class air travel may be permitted for journeys outside Europe with the prior written approval of the Head of School.
• The timeline of Flight Approvals is dictated by the airline and is apparent on the booking tool. (Remember to give your approver sufficient time to review your request).
• Low budget airlines such as Ryanair or EasyJet usually require same day approval. Key Travel cannot hold the seat or price on these flights as the operators do not allow this. If a low cost/budget flight booking is not approved on the same day it is highly likely that the availability and price will change causing this to expire. The entire booking will need to be resubmitted in such cases.
• Baggage/Seats - if there is no option to either add a bag or reserve a seat and this is a requirement for the traveller, please contact Key Travel Offline (Reservations) directly to book this over the telephone instead. This is due to airlines changing their booking models and limiting the online availability. Key Travel are always working with the airlines to secure full access to content but on occasions there may be gaps.
• Key Travel will invoice UoM within a week of the booking being confirmed.

General Information applicable to all travel bookings:

• Ensure a clear reason for travel (as well as justification for out of policy bookings when prompted) is included on all travel. This is required for audit purposes.
• Do book at least 14 days in advance to obtain access to more favourable rates.
• Do check the cancellation policies on bookings (displayed in the booking tool).
• Best prices are obtained on restricted rather than open tickets.
• Always take into account approval timelines especially when the deadline for approval is outside of core working hours. The online booking tool is available 24/7 however approvers are restricted by their normal working hours.
• Avoid booking travel on Friday afternoons.
• If you know that your approver is away, check that they have delegated their approval responsibilities to someone else.
• If approval is required urgently do alert your approver before making the booking!
• If you receive a message indicating booking has failed due to a technical reason this is usually as a result of issues with the feeder website e.g. Booking.com or Expedia. It is recommended you contact the Key Travel Offline (Reservations) team if this occurs.
• Types of Billing (applicable to rail/flights/hotels): 
  • Prepaid/Instant: Rail, low cost airlines and ‘prepaid’ hotel rates are invoiced at time of booking.
  • Bill-back:-the majority of hotels bill after completion of stay. Usually within a week, but not controlled by Key Travel.
  • Booking confirmed: for non-low cost airlines booking is completed at a point before the flight. The airline do invoice speedily and reliably on this date.