Travel Request

The Concur Request module is used to plan, organize and request approvals for UA business travel. A Travel Request provides a general estimate or plan for your trip including anticipated costs to UA.

An approved Request is required for all UA business travel including trips partially or wholly paid by a third party (even when self-funded). A business justification documented in the Header is required if the Request is submitted after trip commencement.


Before starting a Request, gather and work out basic itinerary details:

  • To where and when is business travel needed?
  • Will the trip include personal travel days? If so, what dates?
  • How are you getting there? Where are you staying? How will you get around once there?
  • Are you taking the per diem allowance? Are you taking meal support at actual cost (“Actual Meal”) and need to keep meal receipts?
  • Are there any other travel expenses to think about such as registration fees, a visa for international travel, etc.?
  • Use the booking tool to develop estimates for trip costs (“Look but Don’t Book”) and obtain a business-only cost comparison if the trip includes personal time.
  • Confirm funding sources for UA paid expenses.

Use the "Trip Search" tool available on the Concur homepage and in the Travel module to build cost estimates for the trip by viewing available flights, hotel rooms and car rentals. This function is also used to capture the business-only cost comparison to attach to the Travel Request when taking personal time in conjunction with UA business travel.

  • Search for available round trip, one way and multi-city flights
    • If a flight includes a layover longer than 4 hours, use the multi-city search option
    • Select “Pick-up/Drop-off car at airport” to add rental car to search
    • Select “Find a Hotel” to add hotel to search
  • Enter dates, destinations and times in the booking tool
  • Search for only car rental, hotel or train by selecting the associated icon

Navigate an Airfare Search

  • Use the top matrix to filter by airline or number of stops
  • Use the left-hand fields to filter by flight times, prices and airports
    • Open “Change Search” to adjust dates, times and locations
    • Change departure times to “Anytime” to search for all available flights (highly recommended for all airfare searches)
  • Select the "Shop by Fares" tab to list flight results by price (outbound and inbound combined if round trip)
  • Select the "Shop by Schedule" tab to choose outbound and inbound flights independently
  • Use the "Flight Number Search" box to find a specific flight (especially helpful when trying to find the same flight listed on an airline’s website)
  • Click the “More fares/details” drop-down to view full itinerary details
  • Click “Select” next to the desired flight to access a print-friendly version of the chosen itinerary

Similar filter and search methods are available for car rentals and lodging.

  1. Select “Start a Request” from New on the homepage or “Create New Request” in the Request module
  2. Enter the required Request Header information including dates and location of travel, business purpose, and funding source then click “Create Request”
    1. Click the quick help icon for additional information and guidance on how to answer the field
      1. Trip Name – Use naming convention “Last name, first initial, dates of travel (mm/dd-mm/dd) and airport or city location (e.g. SEA or Seattle);” condense or abbreviate where appropriate
      2. Trip Description – A clear, concise descriptive summary of the work that will be completed and why it needs to be completed; please avoid acronyms and initialisms
      3. Traveler Type – Student employees should change this to “Staff” if travel involves your work assignment (e.g. research assistants conducting fieldwork)
      4. Funding Source – Search by code or name to select the primary funding for the trip (allocations are created in the Expenses tab)
    2. Provide any additional required or pertinent information in the Comments field
    3. Attach required or supplemental documentation such as a business-only cost comparison or meeting agenda
  3. Click “Add” under Expected Expenses to enter airfare, lodging, and/or car rental expense information
    1. Select the expense type from the “Add Expected Expense” list
    2. Enter information in the required fields and “Save”
    3. Type of airfare routing during booking is restricted to the information entered in Expected Expenses (i.e. round trip, one way, or multi-segment)
      1. If flight will include a layover longer than 4 hours, must choose multi-segment
      2. If trip includes a personal deviation, enter routing type based on the business-only
    4. Dates, times, and location for each segment are adjustable during booking with some restrictions
      1. Cannot change airfare to a multi-city search
      2. For a car rental at the airport location, make sure the city location includes an airport code (e.g. “Dallas, TX” returns rental locations in the city of Dallas while “Dallas, TX- DFW Dallas Fort Worth International” returns rental locations at the airport)
    5. Amount entered is the total estimated cost
  4. Add additional estimated expenses other than airfare, lodging, and car rental
    1. Click “Add” and then select the Expense Type from the pop-up menu
    2. “Daily Per Diem” calculates based on the final destination and business travel dates in the Request Header
    3. Use “Other Expenses” to capture expenses without an assigned Expense Type (e.g. supplies or parking); more specific designations are available on the [expense] Report
  5. If needed, allocate expenses to additional funding sources
    1. Select expense(s) from Expected Expenses and click “Allocate”
      1. Airfare, lodging, and car rental (segments) are always allocated together on the Request
      2. The option to separately allocate segments is available on the Report
    2. Select “Percent” or “Amount” to allocate based on percentage or amount and click “Add”
    3. Either enter the funding information under New Allocation or select saved funding from Favorite Allocations and Save
    4. If assigning the cost of selected expense(s) to multiple funding sources, add each additional funding source (including Header funding if applicable) and Save
    5. Adjust the “Percent %” or “Amount USD” distribution accordingly
    6. Allocated expenses are noted under the “Requested” amount
  6. If needed, formally request a travel advance by selecting Add Cash Advance from the Request Details drop-down
    1. Comments help the Cash Advance Admin determine allowability of the requested advance
    2. Contact your department travel coordinator or campus travel office if you need a travel advance and the Cash Advance portion is not available on the Request
  7. Resolve any Exceptions under Alerts
  8. Select “Submit Request” followed by “Accept & Continue” on the Final Review pop-up window
  9. Once submitted, the Cancel Request and Recall options are available, and the Status changes to “Submitted” with notes of “Submitted & Pending Approval [by <approval step>]”
    1. If the Request is not yet approved, you can Recall it to make changes
    2. Do not Recall a Request no longer in “Pending on-line Booking” status as doing so may cancel existing bookings for the trip
  10. Depending on your email notification settings, you receive an email notification of Request submission, return, and/or approval(s)
  11. Once approved by everyone in the Approval Flow, the Request status will change to “Ready to Book” or “Approved” and Book Travel or Create Expense Report are available actions on the Request

Travelers may coordinate personal travel arrangements in conjunction with their UA business travel. This includes personal extended stays at the business location and personal deviations to a non-business location. You have the option of booking some or all portions in the booking tool depending on the type of personal travel.

You must identify on the Travel Request personal days taken in conjunction with UA business travel. For this reason, the Request Header includes a section for documenting your personal days.


Extended Stay

When a traveler extends their stay at the UA business destination(s) for personal reasons, it is a personal deviation with an extended stay.

Your business-only dates of travel are entered in the Request Expected Expenses. You can change the dates of travel to accommodate the extended stay during booking.


Personal Deviation

When a traveler goes to an additional destination outside of the UA business routing or destination(s), it is considered a personal deviation with a routing change.

If you are using the booking tool for your business-only portion, that portion is entered in Expected Expenses. Otherwise, “Outside Concur/CTM” is selected as your booking method, and the full business-only itinerary is entered in Expected Expenses. Airfare costs in Expected Expenses reflect the total cost of the business-only itinerary.


Business-Only Cost Comparison

The business-only cost comparison provides the lowest logical cost for the business purpose and is used to determine the allowable reimbursable expenses on your Expense Report including per diem. The cost comparison must come from the Concur booking tool as it applies UA’s discounted rates.

The itinerary must reflect the business trip as though no personal travel is included. For example, your business travel dates are Aug 31 – Sep 5 in Dallas and personal days are Aug 20 – 30 in Seattle. The business-only itinerary is traveling from your home/duty station to Dallas on Aug 31 and returning on Sep 5. The time is Seattle is excluded entirely.

Use the “Look but Don’t Book” information as a guide for securing a cost comparison.

  1. Use the "Trip Search" tool available on the Concur homepage and in the Travel module to search for flights based on the business-only itinerary
  2. Find and select the most appropriate business-only flight
    1. The chosen flight must represent the lowest logical cost for the most efficient route
    2. The cost comparison must include the full flight and cost details on the "Review and Reserve Flight" screen
  3. The flight is not booked so long as "Reserve Flight and Continue" is not selected
  4. Ctrl+P or right-click on the screen and select "Print"
  5. Choose “Save as PDF” as the destination and click "Save"
  6. Attach the saved PDF to the Travel Request

Past Fare Quote

If a cost comparison is not obtained from the booking tool prior to your trip, you must work with CTM to obtain a "past fare quote." A delegate may obtain this documentation on your behalf, but the cost of this service is your responsibility. 

Send an email to ua@travelctm.com or call CTM at 907-786-0107 to request a past fare quote for the authorized Travel Request. Include the following information in the email:

  • Subject: PAST DATE FARE REQUEST
  • Body:
    • Profile name (UOFA)
    • Name of traveler
    • Dates, times and destinations of authorized business travel (NOT the personal itinerary)
    • Date trip was authorized (this provides the agent with any advance purchase information)
    • Originally approved Request ID

CTM will either charge the agency card the full touch fee of $19.00 or your personal credit card if provided over the phone. If CTM charges the agency card, then your Expense Report must include the expense documented as expense type “Personal/Non Reimbursable.”


Additional Resources

The training library contains videos, downloadable guides and additional information including how to navigate the Request module dashboard, close/inactivate a Request and submit a Request for "zero" cost travel.