Save Award 2010 Ideas

Currently, government employees can pay up to four times the average citizen for airline travel. I suggest that GSA implement a "meet or beat" government contract fares option in GovTrip. Employees will be able to search discount fare options and input those flights and the corresponding rate into GovTrip. If contract carriers match the rate, then they get the business, if not, the employee can purchase the ticket with... more »

I think that the most money could be saved by rethinking travel. As it is now, we use contact travel agencies. Most of these "travel agencies" are are online and automated. Yet, we are being charged a minimum of $13.50 just for the travel agency to issue each authorization and voucher that could be handled internally. We also pay the fee to book flights, as well as having to deal with greatly inflated flight prices. I... more »

It is my understanding there are some government agencies that do not pay hotel, airport, and car rental taxes because they are tax exempt and have a special code on the government credit card that enables that exemption. How efficient. This should extend to all Federal Travelers. Other Federal travelers need to print appropriate Tax Exempt forms and are sometimes not granted the exemption. This should result in an... more »

I suggest the Department allow employees to book non-refundable airline tickets for travel. Currently, employees are prohibited from buying non-refundable airline tickets. Refundable airline tickets are typically 2 to 3 times more expensive than non-refundable, and in some cases even more. There would be a significant savings, even if an employee had to cancel their official travel plans.

For example, a non-refundable... more »

Telecon/VidCon. Reduce travel costs by hosting more Telecons and VideoCons. For most meetings/conferences, this system will work. The amount of travel money that could be save could be substantial.

It is already paid and may be vacant at times of travel needs; i.e. military base lodging or quarters (HUD apartments aren't furnished per comment). It could be mandated in policy to be made available and searched via web by every agency. It would come save millions in travel costs to every agency while utilizing available space.

Limit the number of employees from each agency allowed to attend the same training or conference. Require those who attended to report on what they learned, and make any electronic resources available to their co-workers to maximize the impact of the expenditure. Rotate the attendees so that the same employees are not the employees always attending training. This would save travel money, maximize the expenditure and create... more »

Allow Federal Employees who are traveling to purchase non-refundable airline tickets via online services rather than go through the Federal Travel system. Or, at least allow an opt-out of the Federal Travel system for pre-purchased airline tickets. Using the Federal "contracted carrier" system often costs the government double the price of a ticket purchased on-line, and does not allow for sale fares. Also, re-work the... more »

Currently federal appropriations law as interpreted by GAO (GAO-04-261SP) requires separate travel authorizations for travel that cross the FY end-start (September-October). Conversely, the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act (FASA) allows agencies to contract for severable services for a period less than 12 months, regardless of the FY. Why not extend this logic and allow a single trip that starts in September and... more »

End the use of non-efficient contactors such as Fed travel who charge fees for every change made to any reservation and often book travelrs in the wrong class of service. The same government rates are available directly through the airline and the airlines do not charge additional fees when making the majority of changes to government fares.

I suggest you change the rule for government travel to allow an employee to book a flight on an airline other than the contracted carrier or at a rate other than the government rate because that rate is always more than other listed fares. I realize that government fares are at a higher rate because they are refundable but I have traveled numerous times as a federal employee and have never changed my flight nor needed... more »

As a long-time Gov Employee, I know that any Travel Voucher that exceeds $2500 will be audited. Unfortunately, $2500 from the 80s and 90s is not the same things as today. Most travel costs for airfare, hotel and taxis exceeds $2500 and will trigger an automatic audit. These audits were established to prevent and/or catch improper or unauthorized charges and claims for reimbursement; however, now most of these just... more »

Allow federal employees to purchase airline tickets and other travel through carriers or online companies, such as travelocity, expedia, kayak, etc. We can purchase tickets at a much lower cost than having to go through fedtravel.com for the guaranteed rate. I realize the advantage of fedtravel.com is that the tickets are refundable, but the expense of higher-priced nonrefundable tickets could be offset by the ability... more »

Require a cost analysis for the training of the inspection force. The cost of sending hundreds if not thousands of inspectors to locations around the country for two, three and sometimes four weeks as opposed to sending 2 or 3 trainers to cities with multiple inspectors should be enormous cosidering the spending on airfare (Govtrip), room and board, meals and other expenses. This has got to be a considerable savings to... more »

Allow employees to purchase airplane tickets the same way a private individual would. Government contract fares for employees not in major cities are almost always at least 2-3 times the cost of regular tickets. The argument is that government tickets are refundable, but I could cancel 3 trips for the cost of most of my tickets.