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Permitted and Prohibited Purchases on Corporate Travel & Entertainment (CTE) Cards

You may also want to review Team Travel for details on policies for many items.

Allowed purchases:

  • Airfare
  • Airline baggage fees
  • Conference registration fees
  • Meals
    • Food for people not traveling (when you buy food for activities occurring in Santa Cruz) this is considered Entertainment and an ERA (Entertainment Reporting Form) will be required during the reconciliation process
    • Food when you host someone for a meal while you are on travel status is considered Entertainment and an ERA (Entertainment Reporting Form) will be required during the reconciliation process
    • Food at a UCSC Dining Hall - this is a great alternative to using an ERF as a recharge - it is considered Entertainment and an ERA will be required during the reconciliation process
    • Meals for travelers (Meals & Incidentals = $62 max per person per day - no exceptions allowed) - this is travel
  • Ground Transportation -
    • Rental cars and vans - use UC contracted vendors when possible - Insurance is not reimbursable no matter how paid and won’t be included if using a UC-contracted vendor
    • Fuel for rental vehicles (considered Other Transportation)
    • Uber, Lyft or taxi services
    • Train fares
    • See below for restrictions on charters
  • Incidentals while traveling - Incidentals is defined as tips for porters and hotel maids (Meals & Incidentals = $62 max per person per day - no exceptions allowed).  Pay in cash and request reimbursement through the card reconciliation process.
  • Lodging - use UC contracted vendors if possible to receive UC contracted rates.  UC-contracted vendor hotels- (can book any number of rooms regardless of cost). Non-UC-contracted vendors can book book any number of rooms as long as the cost is less than $5,000.
  • Memberships - (e.g.: memberships to professional organizations or scoring services annual memberships).
  • Parking and Tolls- local off-campus parking for business  purposes (eg: staffing events, downtown for example) is allowed and is considered in-state travel, so no receipt is required under $75
  • Registration fees for contests, greens fees, or similar
  • Supply-type items when it is not possible to use CruzBuy and purchase in advance of a trip-supply items purchased while on travel status (under $75) are considered miscellaneous travel expenses and therefore no receipt is required. If supply items are purchased while not on travel status, receipts are required no matter the amount.

Prohibited purchases:

  • Airlines upgrades and early check-in
  • Airline club fees
  • Gas purchased for a personal vehicle
  • Movies, optional resort fees and other lodging expenses of a personal nature
  • Personal meals (not on University travel status)
  • Alcohol purchased with Federal or State funds (19xxx)
  • Car/Van rental vehicle insurance fees
  • Ground Transportation (charters) - Coordinate with Procurement for charters and TAPS and Fleet Services are direct billed
  • Lodging through non-UC-contracted vendors exceeding a cost of $5,000-use Cruz Buy.
  • Ongoing expenses - use ProCard for expenses such as cell phone contracts
  • Services - use CruzBuy when purchasing services such as for team building experiences, especially when you are required to sign a waiver or release for the activity
  • Separate travel insurance - Travel insurance is available to all UC employees on business travel and to students on travel status free of charge. 
    • The easiest way to obtain it is to use Connexxus. If the UC traveler uses the preferred Connexxus suppliers/booking agents (including BCD, UC Travel Center, Shorts, Airbnb, STA and Anthony), the trip is automatically registered/insured.
    • However, if the UC traveler, uses a non-preferred supplier (including Southwest) they then have to take the manual step of insuring themselves by registering their trip through this UCOP link, which is free but an added step to the process. 
    • More detailed information is available on the Risk Services website. Specifically check out the travel benefit summaries. The benefits are extensive.

Contact Cristen Babik with questions (cbabik@ucsc.edu) - We are keeping this document up to date with information that is verified through the Financial Affairs Accounting Office until such time as they post a version centrally.