1. Transportation Reimbursement Incentive Plan (TRIP)
Young & Rubicam Group

2. What is the TRIP Program?
The program is a pretax benefit that allows for pretax payroll deductions for parking and transit expenses.
The IRS dictates the maximum allowable dollar amounts that may be deducted on a pretax basis. In 2014 the pretax maximum for parking is $250 and for transit expenses is $130.
All benefit eligible employees are eligible to enroll in the TRIP benefit for either Transit or Parking plans, or both if the employee will incur applicable expenses for the commute to the workplace.
Benefit Strategies manages the TRIP accounts for Young & Rubicam Group. Enrollment is completed online using the Benefit Strategies website
A Benefit Strategies FlexExpress Debit Card will be issued to all enrollees and mailed to the address on file.
This is a rolling benefit. Balances will roll from year to year as long as you are an active, benefits eligible Employee with Young & Rubicam Group.

3. Enrollment and Changes
Enrollment & changes to current elections are completed online on the Benefit Strategies website,
In the lower right corner of the home page click on the Young & Rubicam Group icon. Once you have clicked on the icon the TRIP page will open.
On the TRIP page you will find yellow tabs to click on for the election & change forms for parking and transit. After clicking on the yellow tab, the enrollment form will appear on your screen. Complete all fields of the form. If electing or changing both Parking and Transit deductions, BOTH forms must be completed and submitted.
The TRIP Election Change Deadline Calendar is located on the TRIP page on the Benefit Strategies website. This is a resource for viewing when the completed changes and election forms must be submitted to have the deductions taken from payroll and usable for expenses.
Once Benefit Strategies receives your completed TRIP enrollment & change form, the enrollment is processed. An account will be created for you and a Flex Express Debit Card will be mailed to your address. The use of the debit card is mandatory when making transit purchases. Parking expenses can be paid for with the debit card or the participant may pay out of pocket and file a claim for reimbursement.

4. FlexExpress Visa Debit Card
Benefit Strategies will mail the FlexExpress Visa Debit Cards to your home address. Per IRS guidelines, it is mandatory that the debit card be used for all qualifying transit purchases. When making parking purchases, however you will have the option to use the debit card or pay out of pocket and file a claim.

5. TRIP page at www.benstrat.com
Once you have clicked on the Young & Rubicam Group Icon in the lower right hand corner of the Home page of the Benefit Strategies website the TRIP page will be on your screen. Notice the Three Yellow Tabs for The Login Page and Election and Change Forms.

6. The Timeline of Funding TRIP Accounts
Understanding how the TRIP accounts are funded is key to knowing when your account will have funds available to make a purchase.
Enrollment & change forms must be completed by the last day of the month for the following months payroll deductions.
Funds are deducted and deposited into the Benefit Strategies account on the 15th and 28th of any given month. By the 28th of any given month the funds will be available for use to purchase the next month’s expense.
Example – A form is submitted on May 6, Deductions would not begin until June 2014 payroll. The funds would be deposited in the Benefit Strategies account on June 15th and 28th. All funds would be available on June 28, 2014 to use to purchase July transit or parking expenses.

7. Using your Transit Account
Per the IRS definition, Qualified Transit expenses include:
The cost of any pass
Token
Fare card
Voucher
Or other items that entitles the employee to use mass transit for the purpose of traveling to or from his/her place of work
Transit may be via a mass transportation system or a private mass transit enterprise in the business of transporting people in a commuter highway vehicle. A commuter highway vehicle is defined as a vehicle that has a capacity of six or more adults and at least 80% of the vehicle’s mileage must be from transporting employees to and from their place of work.
Buses, Commuter Rail Service, Subway, Water Ferry are a few examples of qualified transportation provider’s.
Taxi Service and Zip Cars are not qualifying expenses.
Per the IRS guidelines, the debit card must be used to purchase transit expenses.
The 2014 IRS maximum pretax allowance is $130 per month. Young & Rubicam Group also allows for post tax deductions to supplement this cost. The total cost of the fare greater than $130 will be available on the debit card, post tax, for the qualifying purchase.

8. Using your Parking Account
Qualified Parking expenses include parking a vehicle in a facility that is near the employee’s workplace or parking at a location from where the employee commutes to work like a train station or carpool lot.
Per the IRS guidelines, parking expenses can be purchased using the debit card or by paying out of pocket and submitting a reimbursement request to Benefit Strategies. This is different from the guidelines for Transit use of funds.
The 2014 IRS maximum is $250 pre tax per month. Young & Rubicam Group also allows for post tax deductions to supplement this cost of the monthly parking expenses. The total cost of the fare greater than $250 will be available on the debit card, post tax, for the qualifying purchase.

9. Filing Paper or Online Claims for Parking
Reimbursement for parking expenses are NOT limited to the use of the Debit Card.
If you incur an expense for parking and you pay out of pocket, you may file a claim for reimbursement. You may do this by submitting a claim form to Benefit Strategies directly by mail, fax, or . You may also file a claim online in your personal account by logging into your online account.
The parking claim form may be found on the TRIP page on the Benefit Strategies website. Form.pdf
The processing time for claims is 3-5 business days from the day we receive it.
Reimbursement is available by check or direct deposit. For direct deposit, you may add your banking information to your online account. The Manage Banking Information section of the online account will allow for the input of this information.

10. Adding Direct Deposit to Online Account
Hover over the profile tab at the top of the page and click on bank accounts Click on add bank account

11. Benefit Strategies Login Credentials
Once you enroll in the TRIP benefit, an account will be created for you. You will have 24 hour access to your account where you can view your account balances, review transactions you have made with the Debit Card, and file parking claims.
The login page can be accessed on the TRIP page of the Benefit Strategies website. 2f
Your username is defaulted to your Young & Rubicam Group Employee ID Number. Please enter this in the “Username” field and then click “forgot password?” to create your password.
Please contact our Benefit Strategies Customer Service Team for assistance if you are not successful in logging in to your account.

12. Use of TRIP Account with Change of Employment Status
If you go out on a Leave of Absence, your TRIP account is not available to you for use. Under the guidelines of the IRS the funds taken from your payroll are to be used while you are actively working. The funds will remain in your Benefit Strategies account for your use when you return to active working status.
Terms of use with Separation: the TRIP account and Flex Express Debit Card remains active for your use until midnight of the last day of the month that the separation occurred. Example: If the separation date is May 5, 2014, the Flex Express Debit Card remains active for your use until midnight on May 31, 2014.
Transit - If there are any pretax transit funds remaining after the end of the month in which you become separated, these funds will be forfeited. Post tax transit funds are returned to you within 45 days of separation.
Parking – Manual claims can be filed up to 180 days in arrears of the separation. If a manual claim is not filed for qualifying parking expenses within the 180 days after separation, the remaining pretax funds will be forfeited. At this time the post tax parking will be returned to the former employee.

13. Questions? If you have any questions you may reach a member of our Client Relations Team by phone at or by Service Center Hours of Operation: Monday - Thursday 8:00am - 6:00pm ET and Friday - 8:00am - 5:00pm ET