• Travel expenses to locations within 50 miles of campus are not allowable.
o This policy applies to all faculty, including commuters, regardless of their residence location.
o This policy applies to all invited guests and visitors, once they are on campus.
Yale provides a free shuttle between campus locations.
• Airfare.
o The policy is economy class only. Your receipt must show the airfare class. If not, the “class code” can be an acceptable proof of airfare class.
o If the airline only has one seating class (economy), please indicate this.
o Please see the very confusing exceptions to this rule here.
o If you have a medical condition that requires special accommodations on flights, please reach out to the business office and we can assist you in getting the necessary approvals needed in advance of your air travel.
In this case, you will need to submit paperwork from your doctor so that we can request an exception to policy.
• Use of personal vehicles for business travel.
o Mileage Reimbursement.
Please provide a map showing destination points, and total distance traveled.
Fuel expenses are allowable for rented vehicles, however, if you request mileage reimbursement for use of a personal vehicle, you may not also expense fuel, as this is included in the mileage reimbursement.
Toll expenses can be submitted for reimbursement for personal vehicle use.
• Ride Share Services.
o Use of ride share services for transportation is allowable on business travel.
o The business office must include a description for every charge, and for this reason, you may be asked to provide destination points on some transportation charges if it is not obvious to the expense report preparer.
Combining university business travel with personal business or leisure travel.
• It is highly recommended to separate Yale university business from personal business or leisure travel. It is not uncommon, however, for faculty to travel for personal reasons, but also conduct some Yale university research or business during the personal travel.
o In this case, an appropriate portion of the travel expenses may be covered by university funds, although you must provide an explanation that details the dates and specific purpose of the business/research portion conducted on the trip, in order to substantiate the use of university funds.
• When it comes to travel expenses for conferences, seminars, and other events, please know that you may only use your university funds to cover the exact dates of these events, and any travel expenses prior to or after the event must have a substantiated business purpose and justification.
o This includes extended dates of travel. If you arrive early or stay late to a conference or event, you must provide a business justification for each extended day.
Otherwise, a portion of your travel expenses may be considered “personal,” and will not be covered by your university funds.
• See policy 3301.7 for further detail about unallowable travel expenses.
• About research trips:
o The lines can get blurry here, when it comes to university policy. If you are planning a research trip that combines both Yale-related research and personal business or leisure travel, please consult the business office if you have questions about how much of the travel expenses can be covered by your university funds.
o If you are expensing travel costs for research trips, such as airfare, lodging, meals, and transportation to your university funds, please know that you must provide a business explanation that supports your overall research purpose.
o Know that if you wish to cover 100% of your travel expenses with university funds, you are expected to provide a business justification for each day of travel.