Travel Card
Your MIT Travel Card is the preferred method for both booking your trip — including airfare, train tickets, and hotel stays — and for purchases while traveling, such as meals, taxis, and more.
The MIT Travel Card is provided to members of the MIT community to allow for convenient payment of travel expenses incurred on Institute business and reduces the burden of expending personal funds. In addition, MIT Travel Card charges conveniently feed automatically into your personal Concur profile. While traveling, you can build your travel expense report as you go so you can complete it as soon as you return, saving you time and stress. (Remember you must submit within 60 days of the completion of your trip.)
First, determine if you need an Individual Travel card or a Departmental Travel card. If you will be booking travel for yourself and also for your group, you may need to fill out both forms and get two cards.
INDIVIDUAL CARD
- Use to book travel for yourself
- Your name will be listed by default as the traveler on every trip.
- Reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses will be made by direct deposit to the same account you receive your paycheck.
- are linked to the traveler's Concur account and expenses feed directly to the traveler's profile.
DEPARTMENTAL CARD
- Use to book travel for non-MIT persons, or for any person who doesn’t have an individual card (such as graduate students)
- You will need to specify the traveler’s name on each Trip Report.
- Reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses will be made by check to the traveler by default.
- If the traveler is international, or if wire payment is preferred, you will need to specify this in the Trip Report header, along with the transfer information. (See Submitting a wire for reimbursing travelers living internationally)
- It is linked to a Department's guest profile in Concur.
Responsibilities as a Travel Cardholder:
- All expenses on the Travel Card must be MIT business-related.
- Personal expenses are strictly prohibited. The only non-reimbursable expenses that may be put on the MIT Travel Card and later repaid to MIT are:
- incidental expenses on hotel bills
- car rental insurance
- airline upgrades
- exceptions granted in advance of purchase
- The cardholder is the only individual authorized to use the card and will be held responsible for all use of the card.
- If you opt for a per diem arrangement, you may not use the MIT Travel Card or submit any receipts or charges for reimbursement. Please see the Per Diem section of the procurement services website for more information.
Consequence for Charging Personal/Non-Reimbursable Expenses to Travel Cards:
- First occurrence: The cardholder will receive a warning that MIT credit cards may not be used for non-reimbursable expenses and that repayment is required. If non-reimbursable expenses are not repaid within 30 days of the warning, the card will be canceled.
- Second occurrence: The card will be canceled.
How Do I Get Reimbursed After Paying for Travel Out of Pocket?
- Make sure you save all of your required receipts for purchases made during booking and while traveling. Itemized receipts are required for:
- all airfare, hotel costs, and car rentals
- any business expense of $75 or more
- any business meeting or meal with alcohol, regardless of amount (the purpose of the meeting and a list of attendees will also be required).
- Be aware of special rules such as properly documenting your airfare expenses if you upgrade from coach, documenting your mileage if you used your personal vehicle, and which items are reimbursable and which are not.
- Start and submit your expense report through Concur Expense.
- Your report will go through the approval process; please note that your report may be sent back requesting more information or explanation about certain purchases.
- Once approved, you will be reimbursed via direct deposit to the same bank account you have on record with HR/Payroll. If no bank account is on file or if the travel expense report was submitted in a guest profile you will be reimbursed by paper check. Paper checks may take up to three weeks for delivery.
Any and all fraudulent activity will result in card cancellation and additional consequences (which could include termination of employment and notification to law enforcement).
Complete the appropriate travel card application(s) below and email them to phys-finance@mit.edu.
- If you will not be picking up your card on campus, please include on the form an address for it to be mailed to, or if you would like it held for pickup.
- Be sure to complete the travel card training listed in our Guide to Purchasing, as you will not be issued a card until the training has been completed.
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