Browse Ideas with tag 'travel':

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  Medical Tourism in US

  Suggest selecting few locations at great vacation areas for non-emergency surgeries like knee replacement, back surgeries and others. Send patient to those sites for selected procedures with travel expenses and their spouses can tag along. It would be easier to hire qualified professionals at these vacation areas and patients would be happy to go for small vacation also. This would significantly decrease Fee Basis money ...more »

  Suggest selecting few locations at great vacation areas for non-emergency surgeries like knee replacement, back surgeries and others. Send patient to those sites for selected procedures with travel expenses and their spouses can tag along. It would be easier to hire qualified professionals at these vacation areas and patients would be happy to go for small vacation also. This would significantly decrease Fee Basis money and improve patient satisfaction.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Mandate Increase Use of Video Teleconferencing

  Most agencies have the ability to video teleconference (VTC). Mandate increase agency use of VTC rather than using travel. This should be especially enforced is the meeting is for less than a day. For any trip the first question asked should be - can the purpose of this trip be handled via VTC. Track VTC usage by agency in comparison to travel budgets. If there is a concern about agencies complying, reduce travel ...more »

  Most agencies have the ability to video teleconference (VTC). Mandate increase agency use of VTC rather than using travel. This should be especially enforced is the meeting is for less than a day. For any trip the first question asked should be - can the purpose of this trip be handled via VTC. Track VTC usage by agency in comparison to travel budgets. If there is a concern about agencies complying, reduce travel budgets.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Return TSA to private control

  Set standards and hold airlines to the standards through inspections and fines.

  Establish clear level of liability for airlines should a 9/11 like event occur if, and only if, their security is found to have been compliant with government directives/standards for security.

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  TDY savings

  When on TDY there are all sorts of ways to reduce costs. 1. Create incentives for employees to stay at hotels that cost under the per diem amount. If a TDY employee spends less than the allowed amount for lodging let them keep half the difference. The government would be able to keep the remaining savings. I went TDY for 4 months with another person. The lodging per diem was over $100 per day. Under my proposed plan ...more »

  When on TDY there are all sorts of ways to reduce costs.

  1. Create incentives for employees to stay at hotels that cost under the per diem amount. If a TDY employee spends less than the allowed amount for lodging let them keep half the difference. The government would be able to keep the remaining savings. I went TDY for 4 months with another person. The lodging per diem was over $100 per day. Under my proposed plan we could have shared a lodging location, saving the government over $6000.

  2. Reduce the personal per diem amount for government officials. I love going on TDY because I always come back with a lot of extra money. There are many places that people go that their personal per diem is $60 or $70 a day. The majority of working class Americans spend a lot less than that each day for personal expences. We should not be encouraging our officials to live like Kings when they go out of town.

  3. There are a lot of bases that have on post housing for people visiting TDY. These government run hotels are being paid for by the government, but officials on TDY are not required to stay in the provided lodging. Either force the officials to stay in these "hotels" or get rid of the hotels.

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  Revamp DTS Re:overpriced flights & emilinate travel agents

  The last time I traveled it was from Maryland to Nevada. Because DTS is difficult to use, I initially started finding flights through commercial airline websites. When I found a few flights that would work, I located them in DTS. A roundabout way, sure, but much easier and quicker in the long run than dealing with the ever-crashing DTS system, inconsistent information, confusing layout design, etc. When I found my flight ...more »

  The last time I traveled it was from Maryland to Nevada. Because DTS is difficult to use, I initially started finding flights through commercial airline websites. When I found a few flights that would work, I located them in DTS. A roundabout way, sure, but much easier and quicker in the long run than dealing with the ever-crashing DTS system, inconsistent information, confusing layout design, etc.

  When I found my flight onlined I noticed the price jumped from $190 as offered by the commericial airline's website to $950 on DTS.

  SAME exact flight number, date, time, airline, seat, everything...but almost $800 more. Why? I'm not getting special treatment, just a normal trip.

  (And this wasn't the first time I noticed the drastic difference in price.)

  Yes, I understand that these government airline tickets can be changed at a moment's notice without incurring addition fees, but is that benefit really work $800?

  But then again, as a normal passenger I could notify the airline (not the DTS travel agent) and also change my flight at a moment's notice..only the fee would be about a $150 or $200. So, even with that, my $190 ticket would go up to $390. It's still far less money than the $900 ticket I was forced to purchase through DTS.

  Furthermore, once I add trip information in DTS it is sent to another travel agent that must then do the purchasing for me. I can only imagine it must cost the government millions of dollars to pay these contractor travel agents to click "buy ticket" online.

  Perhaps this was a great system ten years ago, but with today's easy access to airline and trip planning websites, we no longer need travel agents to do the work for us.

  DTS is great for keeping track of government travel, finding per diem rates, and logging receipts for reimbursement, but it is absolutely ridiculous to pay more than double the commercial rate for flights. It is furthermore a waste of time and money to hire travel agent.

  If you want to save the government millions of dollars, or more, each year, then take a serious look at the DTS contracts, budget, ticket prices, and travel agent middle men.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Reduce travel costs by requiring use of certain hotels

  On any given weeknight, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of federal employees who are TDY in any major U.S. city or business center. Agencies now pay for hotel costs up to the per diem amount. The GSA should consider having hotels in a particular area (e.g., downtown Washington; O'Hare Airport) compete on who can provide the best services and lowest rate. The selected hotel would be required to keep a large block ...more »

  On any given weeknight, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of federal employees who are TDY in any major U.S. city or business center. Agencies now pay for hotel costs up to the per diem amount. The GSA should consider having hotels in a particular area (e.g., downtown Washington; O'Hare Airport) compete on who can provide the best services and lowest rate. The selected hotel would be required to keep a large block of rooms open at that rate, and federal employees would be required to use that hotel as long as it had rooms available. Because of the volume of guaranteed business, the rate should result in significant savings over the current per diem. The GSA could begin this as a pilot program, and consider feedback from federal employees and agencies. Hotels that believed that they could not compete probably would not like this change, but travel should be run for the benefit of the Government, not the travel industry.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Buy America GAS

  Are you aware that the Saudis are boycotting American products? In addition, they are gouging us on oil prices. Shouldn't we return the favor? Can't we take control of our own destiny and let these giant oil importers know who REALLY generates their profits, their livings? How about leaving American Dollars in America and reduce the import/export deficit? An appealing remedy might be to boycott ...more »

  Are you aware that the Saudis are boycotting American products? In

  addition, they are gouging us on oil prices.

  Shouldn't we return the favor? Can't we take control of our own destiny

  and let these giant oil importers know who REALLY generates their profits,

  their livings? How about leaving American Dollars in America and reduce

  the import/export deficit?

  An appealing remedy might be to boycott their GAS. Every time you fill

  up your car you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi

  Arabia . Just purchase gas from companies that don't import their oil from the

  Saudis.

  Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill up my

  tank, I'm sending my money to people who I get the impression want me, my

  family and my friends dead.

  The following gas companies import Middle Eastern oil:

  Shell...................................... 205,742,000 barrels

  Chevron/Texaco.................... 144,332,000 barrels

  Exxon /Mobil.......................... 130,082,000 barrels

  Marathon/Speedway............. 117,740,000 barrels

  Amoco................................... 62,231,000 barrels

  And CITGO oil is imported from Venezuela by Dictator Hugo Chavez who

  hates America and openly avows our economic destruction! (We pay Chavez's

  regime nearly $10 Billion per year in oil revenues!)

  The U.S. currently imports 5,517,000 barrels of crude oil per day from

  OPEC. If you do the math at $100 per barrel, that's over $550 million PER

  DAY ($200 BILLION per year!) handed over to OPEC, many of whose members are

  our confirmed enemies!!!!! It won't stop here - oil prices could go to $200

  a barrel or higher if we keep buying their product.

  Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:

  Sunoco.....................0 barrels

  Conoco.. .................0 barrels

  0ASinclair...................0 barrels

  BP / Phillips........... 0 barrels

  Hess........................0 barrels

  ARC0........................0 barrels

  Maverick...................0 barrels

  Flying J...................0 barrels

  Valero.......................0 barrels

  Murphy Oil USA*.....0 barrels

  *Sold at WalMART > , gas is from South Arkansas and fully USA owned and

  produced.

  *Not only that but they give scholarships to all children in their town

  who finish high school and are legal US citizens..

  All of this information is available from the U.S. Department of Energy

  and each company is required to state where they get their oil and how much

  they are importing.

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  Bike during May for National Bike Month and More

  Biking to work and elsewhere decreases the need for foreign oil among other things. When I bike I decrease the trade deficit; reduce need for parking spaces; produce endorphins that make me more productive moreover eliminating any need for caffeine or other damaging artificial stimulants; contribute less to traffic jams, bikes can be faster than cars in urban areas and be less apt to be involved in road rage; pollute ...more »

  Biking to work and elsewhere decreases the need for foreign oil among other things. When I bike I decrease the trade deficit; reduce need for parking spaces; produce endorphins that make me more productive moreover eliminating any need for caffeine or other damaging artificial stimulants; contribute less to traffic jams, bikes can be faster than cars in urban areas and be less apt to be involved in road rage; pollute less and do less damage to the roads; lead by example as a public servant to make use of biking infrastructure however minimal it may be; and need less days off and require less health care (except for the fact I might live longer and be a burden to the system longer – sorry about that:).

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Government shutdown

  I think if the largest employer in the nation (the federal government) is going to shut down, they should notify all employees exactly when it will start and end. That way, government employees can contribute to the suffering economy by spending money on travel and tourism. If I do not have to report to work next week, I want to book a vacation somewhere rather than staying home, waiting in limbo. Can't book a flight ...more »

  I think if the largest employer in the nation (the federal government) is going to shut down, they should notify all employees exactly when it will start and end. That way, government employees can contribute to the suffering economy by spending money on travel and tourism. If I do not have to report to work next week, I want to book a vacation somewhere rather than staying home, waiting in limbo. Can't book a flight or multi-night rate unless we know.

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  Reduce airline travel costs

  The airfares that Government agencies are required to use for federal travel, from the General Services Administration website, are extremely high. For example, to fly round-trip approximately 500 miles from Washington, D.C. to Columbia, S.C. costs the Government $1,394 on the designated "contract carrier." For that price, a private traveler can fly to Europe. The GSA should adjust its formula for designating an airline ...more »

  The airfares that Government agencies are required to use for federal travel, from the General Services Administration website, are extremely high. For example, to fly round-trip approximately 500 miles from Washington, D.C. to Columbia, S.C. costs the Government $1,394 on the designated "contract carrier." For that price, a private traveler can fly to Europe. The GSA should adjust its formula for designating an airline as a "contract carrier" to reduce fares. For example, if a city has two airports and flights to one airport are much less than flights to the other, it may need to require that most travel be to the cheaper one. Or it may need to consider airlines with slightly less convenient connecting flights. The present airfares are often little more than a subsidy/gift to the airlines.

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  ------ POV -- vs. -- GOV ------

  Stop deterring the driver of a POV from trying to travel more inexpensively than can be accomplished with a GOV. A new AAA study shows the cost to own and operate a sedan rose nearly 2 cents a mile to 58.5 cents per mile. As a high-mileage driver the government has been reimbursing me (to use my POV for government business) 19 cents per mile, which is down from the 28.5 cents per mile that was reimbursed last year (while ...more »

  Stop deterring the driver of a POV from trying to travel more inexpensively than can be accomplished with a GOV. A new AAA study shows the cost to own and operate a sedan rose nearly 2 cents a mile to 58.5 cents per mile. As a high-mileage driver the government has been reimbursing me (to use my POV for government business) 19 cents per mile, which is down from the 28.5 cents per mile that was reimbursed last year (while actual costs have gone up). This creates an even greater discrepancy between what agencies (IRS vs. GSA) determine to be the cost of driving (and a greater tax deduction due at years end). I asked the GSA for the study the government used to determine this new and greater incongruity only to be told that the cost method used is confidential and proprietary info. This kind of lack of transparency can’t be good for government innovation or competitiveness. Nor the fact that the government has determined the costs of driving to go both up and down simultaneously -- reimbursing low-mileage drivers at 51 cents, up from 50 cents and the high-mileage drivers at 19 cents, down from 28.5 cents. It would be amazing to learn if GSA can staff and operate their agency; buy vehicles; park; administer; maintain and fix those vehicles; self insure; continuously fill them with $4 per gallon gas; recoup large enough amounts at auction, etc. etc. and in turn justify reimbursing a high-mileage driver just 19 cents to operate their POV instead. The employee required to drive as part of their assignment cannot pay for a private vehicle’s maintenance and repairs, tires, gasoline (including all taxes thereon) and oil for 19 cents per mile! My point is that rather than squeezing the high-mileage driver into requesting a GOV, reimburse them a prudent amount to create huge savings and efficiencies for the US government/taxpayer.

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  Travel arrangement "systems"

  The use of travel arrangement systems in the government is absolutely ridiculous! DTS in DOD, FedTraveler in Homeland Security- even if you can't book your travel through them (Fedtraveler doesn't even include all hotels under contract with the govt) the govt is charged for FedTraveler to "prepare" a travel authorization- which is actually prepared by the employee, and approved by his/her supervisor!! WASTE!!!

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  A Trillion Dollar waste - WELFARE,section8 ,low income housing

  http://www.hud.gov/complaints/fraud_waste.cfm -section 8 and low income housing encourages dependency and complacent behavior. Why work when you can get a house for practically free and keep collecting entitlements. ILLLEGAL squatting and unauthrized people live with a legal tenet often and this is a criminal offense since changes in family size and income are required to be reported. the section 8 system and low income ...more »

  http://www.hud.gov/complaints/fraud_waste.cfm -section 8 and low income housing encourages dependency and complacent behavior. Why work when you can get a house for practically free and keep collecting entitlements. ILLLEGAL squatting and unauthrized people live with a legal tenet often and this is a criminal offense since changes in family size and income are required to be reported. the section 8 system and low income housing system is a complete failure which has drained the US economy of trillions of dollars and maintained tenets in social and financial bondage. there is no incentive to leave section 8 or low income housing. why work or attend college when you can get housing for free or low cost. This encouranges drug abuse and out of wedlock births and tenet abuse by housing squatters and unauthorized people living in the units. section 8 and low income housing also reduce local taxpayers home values and create blighted neighborhoods with loud music and cars with dark windows and dirty messy yards often with dirt as a yard.. SECTION 8 and LOW INCOME HOUSING TENETS NEED TIME LIMITS of 1 to 3 years then they must be evicted from the units since they are living on free enititlements and have no incentive to Raise themselves out of the free benefits. WAKE UP AMERICA! WE ARE TRILLIONS IN DEBT and giving away FREE BENEFITS . remember that all secion 8 and low income housing authoritys are TAX FREE and you pay the costs of educating the people and their rents are susidized and food and insurance are subsidized and paid for. its like the midlle and upper class is paying triple to live, we all have to pay for everyone else.. its not fair..http://www.hud.gov/complaints/fraud_waste.cfm

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  Purchase orders for travel

  If an Agency is doing training at a particular hotel, always have the Agency complete a purchase order for the hotel rooms. This would save the government a lot of money in hotel taxes.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Airline Travel: Eliminate High Cost Tickets! Save Millions

  Most of us know that for government travel, we pay very high airline ticket prices, where most times you could go to Expedia/Priceline and get it at 1/2 the cost...

  I think this is due in part because of requiremment for Reimbursable tickets..BUT>>>

  If you do the calculations, Federal Governemnt would save huge if we all just went out and purchased the best rate we could find....

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  Best Ideas

  Although there are a lot of great ideas on here, many are Agency-specific or apply to only a particular office. I think the best money saving ideas for all Federal agencies would be reforming the way we purchase goods and services. The idea to change the way we buy plane tickets and not requiring us to use "mandatory sources" for goods such as GSA are the best ways to save money for ALL agencies. These are the biggest ...more »

  Although there are a lot of great ideas on here, many are Agency-specific or apply to only a particular office. I think the best money saving ideas for all Federal agencies would be reforming the way we purchase goods and services.

  The idea to change the way we buy plane tickets and not requiring us to use "mandatory sources" for goods such as GSA are the best ways to save money for ALL agencies. These are the biggest costs for most offices: travel and supplies. We spend sometimes three times as much as a regular citizen when we buy a plane ticket thru our travel agency. Being able to buy these at or below the cost that the average comsumers pay would save millions. If you agree, please vote for the ideas on the places where they were first posted, not here. Thanks!

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  Court of Appeals Arguments by Video Conference

  Government attorneys, the federal public defender, and CJA counsel should be able to appear for Court of Appeals arguments by video at the closest federal district court. Appellate arguments often are limited to 15 minutes per side at the most, yet are costly to attend. For example, a CJA attorney traveling four hours each way for a Court of Appeals argument will receive $1,000 ($125 per hour) for time spent in travel ...more »

  Government attorneys, the federal public defender, and CJA counsel should be able to appear for Court of Appeals arguments by video at the closest federal district court. Appellate arguments often are limited to 15 minutes per side at the most, yet are costly to attend. For example, a CJA attorney traveling four hours each way for a Court of Appeals argument will receive $1,000 ($125 per hour) for time spent in travel alone, not to mention mileage, hotel and per diem. Allowing video appearances for appellate arguments would greatly reduce the amount spent on travel and would increase productivity during periods normally spent commuting to oral arguments.

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  Send the Training to the Trainees -- Not Vice Versa

  I will be part of a large group from the Midwest – many from the same physical location -- that will soon be traveling to CA for training. I am hoping that the idea to send training to the trainees is implemented pronto. Send the trainer, or the training manual on e-reader or DVD, or the video streaming, BUT don't send the masses of employees, please. From a safety standpoint, from a national debt standpoint, from removing ...more »

  I will be part of a large group from the Midwest – many from the same physical location -- that will soon be traveling to CA for training. I am hoping that the idea to send training to the trainees is implemented pronto. Send the trainer, or the training manual on e-reader or DVD, or the video streaming, BUT don't send the masses of employees, please. From a safety standpoint, from a national debt standpoint, from removing essential employees from their jobs for weeks at a time standpoint, from an environmental standpoint, to the public perception standpoint – do it now.

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  Reduce Per Diem Rates

  Currently, the per diem tables are completely out of control. The meal portion of per diem in DC, for example, is $71/day. $71? really? for 3 meals for one person, PER DAY? This needs to be reduced to $34/day, what it was when I started in the Government. Travel is supposed to be to accomplish a mission, not make money. The hotel portion needs to be curbed as well. I was glad to see a message recently that requires ...more »

  Currently, the per diem tables are completely out of control. The meal portion of per diem in DC, for example, is $71/day. $71? really? for 3 meals for one person, PER DAY? This needs to be reduced to $34/day, what it was when I started in the Government. Travel is supposed to be to accomplish a mission, not make money. The hotel portion needs to be curbed as well. I was glad to see a message recently that requires use of Government lodging if available. Too bad this ins't being enforced. If hotel rates are checked, in areas where the rate declines during off season, hotels accommodate the change. The rate should be permanently left at the lower rate, and not increased. Hotels will bend to the lower rates, as it wants the business. Those who do not will simply not be utilized. With the amount of travel that occurs, this would be a huge cost savings to the Government.

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  Consolidation of U.S. Army Travel Payment Procedures

  All incoming and outgoing soldiers in Europe are processed through multiple agencies. This creates mutiple levels that the solidier must jump through in-order to receive pay for travel entitlements. Previously payments were made locally. This allowed the paying agency to work directly with the member in order to resolve problems created by unique circumstances, which resulted in quick payment and increased morale. However, ...more »

  All incoming and outgoing soldiers in Europe are processed through multiple agencies. This creates mutiple levels that the solidier must jump through in-order to receive pay for travel entitlements. Previously payments were made locally. This allowed the paying agency to work directly with the member in order to resolve problems created by unique circumstances, which resulted in quick payment and increased morale. However, this ability was taken away from the local level and moved to DFAS-Rome. This created multiple levels required in order to process a payment. The process has gone from 3-5 days for payment to 30-45 days average. It also requires more personnel and more work hours wasted.The systems for processing payments at the local level are in place and can be activated with minimal issues. This will reduce incorrect payments, decrease proccessing time and increase morale. In this instance, consolidation has created a more complex system and should be reversed.

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  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  Negotiate from position of strength

  The government pays tremendous amounts for flights, supplies, leases, etc. I can get cheaper supplies at local office supply store and that shouldn't happen. Hire a team real negotiators at GSA who know how to optimize government buying power so it benefits the government.

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  Air travel

  1.) Remove preffered airlines. In my agency we are limited to a specific carrier most of the time when others are more direct and cheaper. 2.) Remove the domestic carrier requirement. If a foreign carrier has a cheaper rate, or more direct route (if the price is similar) we should be able to take it. 3.) Remove economy restrictions. Sometimes there is a ceaper fare for buinsess class with restrictions. If we know ...more »

  1.) Remove preffered airlines. In my agency we are limited to a specific carrier most of the time when others are more direct and cheaper.

  2.) Remove the domestic carrier requirement. If a foreign carrier has a cheaper rate, or more direct route (if the price is similar) we should be able to take it.

  3.) Remove economy restrictions. Sometimes there is a ceaper fare for buinsess class with restrictions. If we know we have to attend the meeting we should be able to obtain the cheaper fare.

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  Travel - Lodging Tax Free

  Make it mandatory to submit a tax free form to those states that allow federal government employees to use temporay lodging tax free. Revise travel programs (such as GovTrip) to provide the appropriate tax free form when an authorization is created. Create an alert in the travel program for locations identified as tax free lodging available when an expenses for lodging taxes in included.

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  Airfare - Require Purchase of Nonrefundable Tickets

  Federal employees should be required to purchase "nonrefundable" tickets whenever they know a destination far enough ahead of time, and the purpose/event is unlikely to change (ie. conferences, internal agency meetings). The amount that most federal travelers pay for airline tickets is disgraceful, when they could have paid half or sometimes a third using a nonrefundable ticket. Even if you have to change your itinerary, ...more »

  Federal employees should be required to purchase "nonrefundable" tickets whenever they know a destination far enough ahead of time, and the purpose/event is unlikely to change (ie. conferences, internal agency meetings). The amount that most federal travelers pay for airline tickets is disgraceful, when they could have paid half or sometimes a third using a nonrefundable ticket. Even if you have to change your itinerary, the fee is far less than you would have paid for the standard government fare. Worst part of all -- most federal employees don't even know about nonrefundable tickets (I didn't know for nine years!) and our travel contractors actively discourage you from purchasing them, which has to change. This is easy, low-hanging fruit that will immediately save tens of millions, but agencies/travelers must be informed and then required to do it.

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  1 comment for Idea: Airfare - Require Purchase of Nonrefundable Tickets

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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