National Science FoundationOffice of Information and Resource Management Division of Administrative Services Division of Human Resource Management Division of Information Systems Travel Policy for Non Refundable Tickets Hilary Haight National Science Foundation September 22, 2011

National Science FoundationOffice of Information and Resource Management Division of Administrative Services Agenda: I.Non Refundable Pilot A.Review Findings B.Risk Mitigation and Recommendations C.Path Forward – Policy Change 2

National Science FoundationOffice of Information and Resource Management Division of Administrative Services Non Refundable Ticket Pilot Findings Ticket DataCountInvoice Cost Savings Data* Ticket Price at Contract YCA fare 911$541,531 Total Tickets Actually Issued 911$425, 654 Total Non Refundable Selected 238$115, 877 Total Cancelled Tickets 11$ 5, 975 Net Savings $109, 901 Average Savings Per Ticket $462 The Pilot was conducted on an optional basis for panelists and results are for all participants in FY09, Pilot continued FY10 with similar results. Participants selected non refundable fares 26% of the time Extrapolating across the Foundation, there is a potential savings of $2.7 million dollars based on average savings and % of utilization Benchmarking with other Agencies reveals several who allow and encourage the use of non refundable fares e.g., DOT, DOI, USDA, and VA * Savings is comparison of actual fare paid vs. YCA

National Science FoundationOffice of Information and Resource Management Division of Administrative Services Managing Non Refundables Rules of the Road RisksMitigations Lose Financial and Audit Controls when tickets are purchased outside of the contracted travel agent Issue all tickets through contracted travel agent; provides reporting and visibility to air and rail travel expenditures A small percentage of tickets will go unused (1.2% in the pilot) Contracted travel agency provides negotiating support with the airlines to reduce impact and still have positive net gain NSF will have to pay change fees for legitimate official changes Pilot data indicates the change fees plus original ticket cost still represents a savings over higher cost fares Reduce utilization of GSAs Contract City Pair program which could potentially drive contract prices up The Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) allows for choosing another carrier if a lower fare is offered that the contract carrier does not offer or have available. Airline pricing is driven by market competition 4

National Science FoundationOffice of Information and Resource Management Division of Administrative Services Managing Non Refundables Rules of the Road (cont) RisksMitigations Travelers could unwittingly select a non refundable fare when reserving on-line Customer feedback indicated a strong preference not to offer an on line option for non refundables due to the time constraints for ticketing. A traveler could potentially reserve a personal stopover Staff will be instructed to call CWTSatoTravel for leisure in conjunction with official travel. For panelists the contracted travel agency will limit tickets to what is authorized Non refundable fares generally require ticketing within 24 hours of booking. Approver would have to learn to approve within hours. Customer feedback overwhelmingly recommended to get an approved travel plan first and then contact CWTSatoTravel to make the reservation and secure the ticket. 5

National Science FoundationOffice of Information and Resource Management Division of Administrative Services Customer Outreach Initial green light from Executives to proceed on travel policy change Solicited Voice of the Customer for Implementation –Administrative Officers –FedTraveler Super User Group –Travel Advisory Council –Conducted Focus Groups –Briefing each Directorate/Office on upcoming changes 6

National Science FoundationOffice of Information and Resource Management Division of Administrative Services Non Refundable Ticket Recommendations and Path Forward Established New Policy for Review and Approval Established Internal Controls with Standard Operating Plan (SOP), Customer Communications Plan and Monthly Oversight and Results Reporting Advertised Change –Briefing Each Directorate/Office Internal Travel Website Updates Prepared to post Concurrent with Policy Publication Implementation Timeline: April 2011

National Science FoundationOffice of Information and Resource Management Division of Administrative Services Division of Human Resource Management Division of Information Systems National Science FoundationOffice of Information and Resource Management Division of Administrative Services Division of Human Resource Management Division of Information Systems Hilary Haight National Science Foundation Q&A