Travel
Services
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Procedures
for Combining
Government and Personal Travel
Policy
OMEGA is willing and prepared to help the government traveler
combine official and personal travel under the guidelines
established by both the government contract and the individual
government agency. There are also restrictions that are imposed
by the airlines. This pamphlet will describe and give examples
of how the two types of travel may be combined.
Reservation Procedures
TRANSPORTATION SERVICES
When you wish to add personal travel to your official travel,
please tell the OMEGA agent about your official trip first.
Per our contracts, we must issue a ticket charged to the Government
that reflects only the travel authorized on your orders. On
this official ticket, you must abide by all of the contract
carrier rules and must use government fares unless you work
for one of those agencies that allow the use of penalty fares.
Once the official itinerary is established, a ticket will
be issued and charged either to the government credit card
or a GTR.
At this point, the personal travel may be added. As is always
OMEGA's policy, we will minimize the additional fare that
you must pay but we still must abide by the rules that apply
to the official travel and that the airlines impose.
Penalties
Most of the government agencies do not allow the use of penalty
fares on official travel, but almost all of the lowest fares
for non-official travel involve penalties. This is a very
important factor and the OMEGA agent will always advise you
of the penalties and the risk involved to you as the traveler.
There are many alternatives available to the government traveler
when combining personal travel with official in the use of
penalty fares. Our agents will work with you to reach an optimum
combination with minimal outlay and risk.
Contract Carriers/Government fares
The airlines only allow the use of government fares on the
official
routing stated on the travel orders. OMEGA agents are never
allowed to use them on personal travel.
Travelers are advised that in a limited number of instances,
non-contract carriers may offer restricted or unrestricted
coach fares to the general public which are lower than government
contract fares. In such cases, the lower fare(s) may be used
based on an application of exception number 3 as stated in
the Federal Travel Directory.
There are many combinations of official and personal travel
that we experience. All of our agents are trained to work
with you in making these combinations. They understand your
need to minimize cash outlay but also must adhere to both
the rules of the Government and the airlines. They are working
with you to make sure that you are not putting yourself in
a position of unnecessary risk. Please work with them to make
sure you still abide by the rules at the lowest cost to you.
Car Rentals
Most of the rental car companies extend their government rates
to government employees on personal travel. However, the collision
damage waiver is only included on rentals covered on your
travel orders. Credit cards offer CDW protection when renting
a car. In all cases we will advise you of CDW charges. If
you have a rental car during your official travel as authorized
on your orders and decide to keep it for personal time as
well, this will be handled as two separate rentals by the
rental car company.
Hotels
There are some hotels which extend their government rates
to government employees on personal travel. Again, our agents
will work with you to advise you of these rates as well as
non-government rates which may be more cost beneficial. For
both hotels and car rentals reserved at government rates while
on personal travel, the hotel or rental car company may ask
you for your government ID.
Frequent Flier Awards/Upgrades
The Government allows federal travelers to use Frequent Flyer
award upgrades that they have earned on personal travel on
their official trips, as long as it doesn't affect the cost
to the Government. In most cases, however, the upgrades can
only be used from a full coach fare and not from a government
fare. There are a few airlines that allow you to upgrade from
a government fare, but it takes more miles and/or a different
level of award. Check with the airline if you have any questions
regarding use of Frequent Flyer awards/upgrades.
Contract Policy
Per our contracts with the various government agencies, we
are required to staff our offices servicing their accounts
with agents dedicated to handling the official travel of those
agencies. It is mandated that these agents service the official
travel first. Most of the time these agents can also handle
your personal travel needs, but it may have to be deferred
to a time when the agent has time to service you. We appreciate
your patience and understanding in these cases.
Travel Companions
If you would like to travel with a relative or friend on an
official trip, please advise the OMEGA agent at the time you
call to book your official travel. We will be glad to do this
reservation and will offer the lowest rates possible on the
same flights that your official trip dictates. This way we
can reserve seats together and handle your hotel and rental
car needs.
Vacation/Pleasure Travel
OMEGA is a full service travel agency; we hope you will use
us for all your travel needs. While official travel must receive
priority from our government dedicated-agents, we do offer
special rates and leisure packages for our government clients.
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