§ 101-41.203-2 - Use of cash.

(a) A GTR or Government excess baggage authorization ticket (GEBAT) shall not be used to procure passenger transportation services costing $10 or less, exclusive of Federal transportation tax, and to pay air excess baggage charges of $15 or less for each leg of a trip (see § 101-41.203-6), unless special circumstances justify their use. The contractor-issued charge card or centrally billed account shall be used for these purchases when practical. When not practical, use of cash may be authorized or approved. To procure passenger transportation services costing more than $10 but not more than $100, exclusive of Federal transportation tax, the GTR, Government contractor-issued charge card, or centrally billed account shall be used. Cash may be used for these purchases only when none of the other procurement methods is practical. For passenger transportation services costing more than $100, excluding Federal transportation tax, only a GTR, Government contractor-issued charge card, or centrally billed account may be used unless otherwise exempted in this subpart.

(1) When the use of cash is authorized to purchase the services set forth in paragraph (a) of this section, cash payment may be made with a travel advance in accordance with provisions of the FTR (41 CFR 301-10.3).

(2) Any credit card, other than the Government contractor-issued charge card, and all travelers checks shall be considered the equivalent of cash and subject to the $100 limitation provided in paragraph (a) of this section.

(3) Procurement of passenger transportation services under the group or charter provisions of the FTR (41 CFR 301-3.4(b)(2)) is not subject to the provisions of this subpart.

(4) Authorization under paragraph (b) of this section to use cash in excess of $100 should be obtained prior to travel. In the absence of advance written authorization or approval, passenger transportation services exceeding $100 shall be purchased in accordance with policies and procedures prescribed in applicable Government travel regulations. It is a traveler's responsibility to know that use of a GTR, Government contractor-issued charge card, or centrally billed account may be required to obtain certain discount fares and to comply with the mandatory provisions of the FTR governing the use of contract airline service. Cash shall not be used to circumvent the regulations governing airline contracts.

(b) Cash purchases of transportation services in excess of $100 shall be discouraged and each agency shall establish procedures to encourage Federal travelers to use a Government contractor-issued charge card, centrally billed account, or GTR instead of cash to purchase passenger transportation services. Agencies shall monitor and control cash purchases of transportation services in a manner that will ensure such purchases are kept to a minimum.

(1) When a Federal traveler does not use a GTR, Government contractor-issued charge card, or centrally billed account, heads of agencies, or their designated representatives, may in limited instances authorize travelers to exceed the $100 limitation when procuring passenger transportation services.

(i) Each agency shall establish guidelines for approval of cash purchases in excess of $100 and determine if the use of cash is due to:

(A) Emergency circumstances (where use of a GTR, Government contractor-issued charge card, or centrally billed account was not possible); or

(B) Agency failure to advise a new employee and/or invited or infrequent traveler of proper procedures for purchasing transportation services.

(ii) If a cash purchase is determined to have been made under a nonemergency circumstance, reimbursement shall not exceed the cost which would have been properly chargeable to the Government if the transportation services had been procured using one of the Government-provided methods of procurement. Should a Federal employee make cash purchases without just cause or deliberately attempt to circumvent use of GSA air or rail service programs for personal convenience or some other reason not consistent with sound travel management practices, the agency may, as provided in 31 U.S.C. 3702, send all documents related to the travel to the Comptroller General, General Accounting Office, Claims Section, Washington, DC 20548, for a decision on the traveler's right to reimbursement.

(2) Delegation of authority for authorizing and approving the use of cash in excess of $100 for the procurement of transportation services shall be held to as high an administrative level as practicable to ensure adequate consideration and review of the circumstances. Any such delegation shall be made in writing and copies shall be retained to permit monitoring of the system. The agency shall make delegation of authority records available for examination by GSA auditors.

(3) To justify the use of cash in excess of $100 when procuring passenger transportation services, both the agency head, or the designated representative, and the traveler shall certify on the travel voucher the necessity for such use.

(4) After a traveler has been reimbursed for a cash purchase, copies of travel authorizations, ticket coupons, and any ticket refund applications, or SF's 1170, Redemption of Unused Tickets, shall be forwarded for audit to the General Services Administration, Transportation Audit Division (FWA), Attention: Code E, Washington, DC 20405.

(5) The agency shall maintain travel vouchers and make them available for site audit by GSA auditors. General Records Schedule 9, Travel and Transportation Records (see 36 CFR 1228.22), provides instructions for the disposal of travel vouchers.

(c) GSA (FWA) will report to the appropriate military or civilian agency travel manager for appropriate action suspected travel management errors and/or misroutings which result in higher travel costs to the Government.

(d) A traveler who uses cash to purchase individual passenger transportation services shall procure such services directly from the carrier or from a travel agent under GSA or DOD contract (see § 101-41.203-1), and shall account for those expenses on their travel vouchers, furnishing passenger coupons or other evidence as appropriate in support thereof. Moreover, travelers shall assign to the Government the right to recover any excess payments involving carriers’ use of improper rates. That assignment must be preprinted or otherwise annotated on the travel voucher and shall be initialed by the traveler.

(e) Travelers using cash to procure passenger transportation services shall be made aware by their employing agencies of the provisions of § 101-41.209-4 concerning a carrier's liability for liquidated damages because of failure to provide confirmed reserved space. Also, travelers using cash shall adhere to the regulations of the General Accounting Office (4 CFR 52.2) regarding the use of U.S.-flag vessels and air carriers (see § 101-41.203-1(b)).