Policy Reminder — Reporting a Refund for a Cancelled Fare for Airline or Rail in eTravel

This is an update to a previous article posted in the December 27, 2012 edition of the Postal Bulletin. The article provided instructions for reporting refunds in eTravel for airfare. The same instructions also apply to reporting train refunds.

Travelers should only claim the used portion of their air or train fare when a credit or refund has been issued. Under Section 8-3.5.1.3 of Handbook F-15, Travel and Relocation, travelers should process this claim by itemizing the refunded part as a personal expense within eTravel. This is also true for any hotel credits. The example below details the steps required to complete the claim in eTravel.

Your original air or train fare totals $400 roundtrip and you receive a $250 credit for the cancelled return flight. The used portion of your trip is $150. To claim the used portion in eTravel, follow the steps below:

1. Pull the original transaction for $400 from the Company Card page into your eTravel report and open the expense.

2. Select “Itemize” in order to claim the $150 that was actually used. Use “Airfare” or “Train” as the Expense Type for the itemization entry.

3. When you have entered the $150 used portion of the airfare, select “Save” and go to “Itemization List”. This shows the total expense, itemized amount, and remaining balance.

4. Select “Add” to create another itemization for the $250 credit. “Airfare” or “Train” is the Expense type.

5. After you have completed all the entries, you must check the box next to Personal Expense (do not reimburse me). Under the Comments, enter a remark stating that this portion of the airfare was refunded. Your itemized balance should be zero.

Travelers must also contact Citibank, the travel charge card company, to dispute the charge for the refund portion. This ensures that the card does not go delinquent while waiting for the account to be credited. Outlined below are instructions for handling airline or train credits:

1. Contact Citibank’s customer service at 800-790-7206 to advise Citibank that an airline or train credit is forthcoming. The cardholder must advise Citibank that he or she is disputing the amount to be credited. Please note that this will not stop the account from aging.

2. To dispute the amount to be credited, the cardholder must file a formal dispute. Contact your local travel charge card coordinator to obtain the dispute form. File the dispute form via fax or mail. Note: The cardholder has 60 days from the statement date to dispute the transaction.

3. Citibank will email a letter to the cardholder advising that they have 21 days to sign and return it. Once the signed letter is received by Citibank, the charge is suspended until it is resolved.

4. If the letter is not received by Citibank within 21 days, the charge will be reapplied to the account. As long as the cardholder complies by returning the letter within 21 days, the charge will be suspended and the account will remain in good standing.

For more information on refund/expense entries, refer to the links below:

n For eTravel Travelhelp FAQs: http://blue.usps.gov/travelhelp/faq_expense.htm.

n For Handbook F-15: http://blue.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/hand/f15.pdf.

— Corporate Accounting,
Controller, 5-16-13