Glossary of Terms


Term	Definition
Allocate	Assign the expense to UA funding different from the primary funding in the Travel Request/Expense Report Header or distribute the expense to more than one UA funding source
Audit Flag	A notification that something in the document requires attention and possible correction.
Audit Flag - Yellow Alert / Warning	A soft stop alert or warning that may indicate a possible compliance issue, but still allows submission of the Travel Request or Expense Report. For example, notification of Fly America regulations on international travel.
Audit Flag - Red Exception	A hard stop exception indicating an issue that requires resolution before submitting the Travel Request or Expense Report. For example, entering personal time in the Request Header without attaching a business-only cost comparison.
Audit Rule	The programming in Concur that triggers an audit flag on the Travel Request or Expense Report.
Booking Fees	The travel agency fees charged by CTM.
Cash Advance	A travel advance issued through Concur from an approved Travel Request or a cash withdrawal on the UA travel card.
Corporate Travel Management (CTM)	The travel agency hired by UA to manage the booking portion of Concur and provide full travel booking services (GDS and non-GDS).
Cost Object Approver (COA)	The primary PI/Researcher approver for restricted funding as assigned in Banner form FTMFUND.
CTE Login Name	The unique login ID for a Concur user.
Default Approver	The primary approver for unrestricted funding and/or international travel. For employees, the approver is their supervisor as assigned in Banner form NEA2SPE.
Department Approver (Default Approver 2)	A second, optional approver assigned to Travel Request and/or Expense Report for an individual user. Some departments use this as an additional travel review step.
Expense Report (Report or ER)	The official document used by the traveler and the department to approve actual travel costs and travel dates associated with an authorized trip.
Global Distribution System (GDS)	A computerized network system that enables transactions between airlines, hotels and car rental companies and travel agencies. The GDS uses real-time inventory (e.g. number of hotel rooms available, number of flight seats available or number of cars available) reported by the vendor. Information in the booking tool is generated from the GDS. Most commercial airlines are GDS carriers. Non-GDS carriers include rural carriers such as Wrights Air.
Group Travel	Generally, when all travel is organized, managed and expensed by a group leader instead of the individual group members.
Itemize	Break down an expense into its constituent parts.
Lowest Logical Cost (or Least Cost Logical)	A business expense that meets the criteria of necessary, prudent and as economical as possible. Economical meaning the lowest-price fare/cost within the bounds of the most efficient mode. An efficient mode is normally the most direct route that takes into consideration the business need, the traveler’s time away from their workstation and safety.
Meal & Incidental Expenses Rate (M&IE)	The daily rate allocated to the traveler to cover the cost of meals and incidental expenses, commonly referred to as "Daily Per Diem."
Non-Standard Lodging	Non-commercial subsistence facilities such as field camping, state camps, university facilities, staying with friends or relatives and other similar accommodations. Does not include home rental vendors such as Airbnb or VRBO.
Quick Help (or Tool Tip)	Helpful information for a field or entry. Clicking on the grey question mark icon pulls up the information.
Receipt	A document on which the things that you buy or the services for which you pay are listed with the total amount paid and the prices for each. An itemized receipt includes a name for/description of the good or service.
Reconcile	Procedure to match transactions in Concur (or other UA finance system) with the associated accounting in Banner.
Reimbursable Expense	Allowable UA business expense either prepaid by UA via the agency or travel cards or paid out-of-pocket by the traveler.
Report Key	The unique identifier for each UA Expense Report. This is a four or more-character ID comprised of numbers.
Request (Travel Request)	The official trip authorization document used to capture required information and approvals for UA business travel. This replaced the paper Travel Authorization (TA) form and the AT report in TEM.
Request ID	The unique identifier for each UA Travel Request. This is a four-character ID comprised of letters and/or numbers.
Sabre	The GDS system used by CTM to make bookings for UA.
SAP Concur	An American SaaS (software as a service) company providing travel and expense management services to businesses. They developed the Concur travel and expense tool used by UA.
Sponsorship / Trade	Payment type used by Development and Athletics to account for the Alaska Airlines vouchers they use.
Travel Allowance	The itinerary entered on the Expense Report to define travel status dates, times and locations as well as determine the business location M&IE and lodging rates.
Travel Status	Period of time from when the traveler leaves their workstation/residence to when they return to their workstation (during work hours) or residence (outside of work hours).
Trip Description	A required field in the Travel Request and Expense Report Header used to document the specific purpose of a trip. It should provide a clear, concise and detailed description that supports a reasonable understanding of the business conducted. Descriptions that are too broad include "Research for project," "Field work" and "Conference." Good descriptions that provide a short summary of the work include "Collecting methane samples from thermokarst lakes," "Interviewing school district for nutritional survey data" and "Attending annual ICCC Conference".
Trip Purpose	A required field in the Travel Request and Expense Report Header used document the overall purpose of the trip. It is one determinant for the account code assigned to employee travel expenses. See the Travel Account Codes section of the FAQ page to learn more about travel account codes.