Concur Travel FAQs

The University of Kansas has partnered with Collegiate Travel Planners (CTP) and Concur to introduce Concur Travel, an online travel booking tool that compliments our existing Concur Request & Expense. This allows the University to streamline the travel process, offering an integrated 'one stop shop' for pre-approved travel requests, booking travel, and easily completed expense reports for quicker reimbursement. Concur also affords you the peace of mind knowing you are covered under the University’s Duty of Care to receive automated and two-way risk messaging built into the Concur system. Booking through the University's travel program ensures you can be supported by the University and/or our team of CTP travel agents should difficulties arise before or during your trip.

By using Concur Travel & the Concur Mobile App you can:

• Book and manage the majority of your University travel in one place with full access to published fares.
• Access the University's discounted rates for airfare, hotel, and car rentals.
• Maintain a secure online profile to store your TSA Pre-Check and frequent flyer numbers as well as other travel preferences and payment method.
• Avoid sending PDF or paper copies of receipts to the SSC. E-receipts for flights, e-receipt eligible hotel and car rental vendors are sent directly to your Concur Expense profile. Plus, you can upload images of your receipts using the Concur Mobile App.
• Ensure compliance as travel policies, procedures and contracts are built into the system, including nightly per diem rates for hotels by location and Fly America Act.
• Accurately track and use unused ticket credits, including reminders as credit expirations approach.
• Receive travel updates alerts. Automated and two-way risk and safety messaging is available for all travelers who have booked travel using the Concur Travel system or CTP.

Additionally, here are some of the cost-savings and value-added benefits and services offered by CTP directly and/or through the Concur Travel system:

• Duty of Care monitoring to help get travelers to and from destinations safely
• 24/7 customer service
• Established relationships with airlines and hotels to better negotiate on our behalf
• Lowest available airfares*
• Rapid Re-pricing when fares or rates drop
• Up to 20% off Best Available hotel rates and over 582,000 hotels in more than 7,500 cities around the world to choose from
• Free quotes and online booking support
• International Travel booking expertise through their International Rates Desk
• Study Abroad, Meeting Management & Group (10+) Travel Services
• Destination information and travel advisories
• Passport and visa assistance

*CTP will provide the lowest logical airfare published and available at the time of booking, based on the traveler’s point of departure and arrival, stated itinerary and the company’s travel policy.

KU employees are strongly encouraged to use the Concur Travel booking tool or book directly with CTP to take advantage of safety features, travel support, efficiencies, and potential cost savings. Compliance of the travel policy will be expected by 12/31/2022, but we ask that you do not wait until then to learn and familiarize yourself with the system.

The University has a Duty of Care obligation to ensure to the best of their ability the safety of its faculty, staff, and students not only on campus but while they are traveling on behalf of the University.  Itinerary data from Concur Travel bookings and bookings directly with CTP feed into an integrated safety monitoring and communication system called Healix Travel Oracle.  Therefore, using Concur Travel and/or CTP better ensures traveler safety as it gives leadership and risk managers better visibility into where all KU travelers are via this Travel Oracle system.  It also gives KU risk managers the immediate ability to communicate with travelers potentially at risk, as well as allows us to send automated pre-trip country risk messaging.  These communications can prepare you for upcoming travel, inform you about disruptions and even help you navigate dangerous events - no matter where you are in the world.

The following per transaction fees apply when using Concur Travel and CTP travel services:

In your web browser, type: concur.ku.edu and sign in using your KU Single Sign-On. If trying to sign in on the concursolutions.com page, you must enter your KU email address which will redirect you to sign in through KU SSO. 

Only active KU employees have access to Concur.  Bookings for non-employee students can be booked by a KU employee using the Book for a guest feature.  Travel Requests for non-employee student travel need to be done by a SSC or LSI/IPSR support staff.

All active KU employees should have access to Concur which should include the Travel booking module.  If you sign into Concur through KU Single Sign On (SSO) and you do not have the word Travel in the black menu bar at the top of the screen and you do not have a TRIP SEARCH box on the left hand side of your Concur home page, please email fsku@ku.edu.  Provide a screenshot of your Concur home page and let them know you do not have access to the Travel module.  They will update your configuration to give you Travel access and email you when it has been added.

The first time you log into Concur, you must update and save your Concur Profile before you first attempt to book a trip in Concur Travel. While updating your profile, please be sure to verify your email address and add your mobile device for safety messaging. Additionally, you will need to activate your E-Receipts. This First-Time User Checklist will help guide you.

Yes, this is done in the online profile within Concur Travel under the Frequent Travelers Program section.

Concur has several required fields contained within the profile and while birthdate is only required for airline reservations, the same traveler profile is utilized regardless of what is being reserved.

Your online profile stores your KU, KUCR, or personal credit cards that you input. Please be sure to identify a default card for each travel type (air, hotel, car, etc.). The Concur site is secure and fully encrypted. You will have a choice of which credit card you wish to use when making the reservation. Please confirm all your credit card information is set up in your profile before booking in Concur the first time. If the information is missing you will not be able to continue with your reservation.

Flights are instant purchases using the card chosen when booking.  Rental Car and Hotel selections are reservations and will require a credit card at the point of sale/check-in. Be sure to have a card on hand while traveling.

Please pay for your air/car/hotel travel expenses with a card issued in your name (KU/KUCR P-card or personal credit card).  We ask that you do not use department p-cards or p-cards issued to others to pay for your travel. 

For P-Card policy compliance & card security, reconciliation, and reporting reasons, travelers are not permitted to save a credit card assigned to another employee or a department card to their Concur profile.  Concur is designed as a self-service tool, with each employee having their own profile from which their travel requests, bookings, and expenses are processed. By linking individuals to their own P-Cards, a chain of connection is established from person to the purchase allowing for easier processing and more accurate reporting.

• KU Employee Travelers need to use one of the following cards to book travel:
  1. A KU or KUCR issued P-Card in the traveler’s name
  2. A KU Declining Balance P-Card issued to the traveler. These can be assigned quickly, sometimes within hours.
  3. A personal credit card
• Guest Travel booked in Concur Travel by a KU Employee can be booked on that employee’s P-Card or department P-Card, as card information is not being stored in the system for guest bookings.

A personal credit card can be used for travel arrangements in Concur or more ideally, an employees can obtain a KU/KUCR  Individual 'standard' or Travel P-Cared, or Single Trip Declining Balance P-Card by completing the following:

1. Review Procurement Card Procedures and P-Card FAQ, then fill out and submit the P-Card application in TeamDynamix (TDX).
2. Complete and Pass the P-Card Quiz in Canvas. The requestor will be notified by email with the link to take the quiz.
3. Pick up your P-Card after successfully completing the quiz. .

Your P-Card can be mailed to you OR you can make special arrangements to pick it up.

KU P-Card or Declining Balance P-Card Questions:

• Mischa Bell
• Mike Lewis, Assistant Director of Procurement – Payables
  • KU P-Card Program Administrator
  malewis@ku.edu or 785-864-5938

KUCR P-Card Questions:

• Kevin Teel, Business Manager – Office of Research
  • KUCR P-Card Program Administrator
  kteel@ku.edu or 785-864-7775

Travel Program Questions:

• Lori Gutsch, Assistant Director, Travel Services
  lorigutsch@ku.edu or 785-864-5616

Apply for a UKANS Individual P-Card:  If you mainly use KU or KU Endowment funds and need a P-Card for travel and other KU 'standard' business expenses.

Apply for a UKANS Travel Card:  If you travel more than once a year, mainly use KU or KU Endowment funds, and need a P-Card for travel expenses only.

Apply for a KUCR Individual P-Card:  If you mainly use KUCR research funds, are NOT a GRA, and need a P-Card for travel and other KUCR 'standard' business expenses.

Apply for a KUCR Travel Card:  If you travel more than once a year, mainly use KUCR research funds, and need a P-Card for travel expenses only.

Apply for a UKANS Declining Balance P-Card :  If you only travel once a year, use KU, KU Endowment or KUCR research funds, and need a P-Card for travel expenses only.

KU P-Card or Declining Balance P-Card Questions:

• Mischa Bell, KU Payables auditor/p-card administrator
• Mike Lewis, Assistant Director of Procurement – Payables
  • KU P-Card Program Administrator
  malewis@ku.edu or 785-864-5938

KUCR P-Card Questions:

• Kevin Teel, Business Manager – Office of Research
  • KUCR P-Card Program Administrator
  kteel@ku.edu or 785-864-7775

Travel Program Questions:

• Lori Gutsch, Assistant Director, Travel Services
  lorigutsch@ku.edu or 785-864-5616

If your P-Card or personal credit card saved in your Concur profile has changed in any way, you will need to update it in your Concur profile as soon as possible. This will ensure that any future reservations made online or with a CTP travel agent use an up to date card.

If you need:

• Concur navigation assistance - please contact the KU helpdesk at concurhelpdesk@ku.edu or KU Travel Services at travel@ku.edu.
• Concur system error message assistance - please contact the CTP online assistance desk at 877-208-1396 and choose option 1 between 7:30 am – 7:30pm CST M-F, or by emailing na.online@travelctm.com.
• Full-service agent booking* assistance, need to cancel a trip, or have issues with a Concur reservation - please contact CTP at 877-630-1232 and choose option 1 between 7:30 am – 6:30pm CST, M-F to assist you.*$20 service fee applies for full-service flight bookings.
• After Hours* Emergency assistance while traveling - please contact CTP at 877-200-1501 from 6:30pm – 7:30am CST, M-F, Weekends & Holidays. *Additional fees apply for After Hours calls, should only be used for emergencies.

Yes. Concur Open Dashboard provides a glimpse at system outages and interruptions. We are in the US2 Data Center.

The system is set up to default the results to “search by price”. If you cannot find the flight you are looking for you can search by schedule which allows you to build your own itinerary. Under Trip Search, simply choose the appropriate drop-down before clicking Search on the main Concur Home Page. Search by Price displays flight options Concur Travel suggests you take based lowest cost, availability and company policy and may not show you all options or schedules.

Basic Economy tickets are “use it or lose it” tickets. If you need to change your flight for any reason, you forfeit your ticket and must purchase a new one. No changes are allowed and many times they do not include carry-on bags. Additionally, if a flight is oversold, Basic Economy seats are the first to be bumped from the flight which requires you to purchase a new ticket. For these reasons we have flagged Basic Economy in Concur with a warning.

Even though Basic Economy fares are slightly cheaper, they are strongly discouraged due to their restrictive nature.  Main Cabin, Economy, or Southwest Wanna Get Away fare class is the preferred fare class option. 

A fare purchased that is $200 more costly than the lowest logical domestic fare offered within your search parameters or $400 more than the lowest international fare will be considered out of policy. Upon selecting the higher airfare, as denoted by a yellow triangle icon with an exclamation point which is next to the Fare button, you will be presented with a pop-up box and will be required to select a reason code from a drop down box. Your selected fare, along with the less expensive alternatives that were presented to you, and your purchase will be listed on an Exception Report which will be provided monthly to the University’s Travel Service department. It is recommended that the traveler or travel arranger be prepared to provide an after-the-fact explanation, if requested to do so.

Yes, and CTP’s Full-Service Agents can provide you with free quote options if you want their expert assistance but wish to book on your own through Concur Travel. It is recommended to book complex international travel directly through a CTP agent.  Feel free to email travel@ku.edu if you would like some international flight search help in Concur. 

No, Concur only creates the reservation. Our travel agency CTP processes the ticket on our airlines contracts and ensures all information is captured for reporting purposes and quality control checks for trip for accuracy.  Tickets are purchased directly with the airlines, not purchased from CTP as a 3rd party reseller.

You will receive an email directly from CTP which will signify your trip has been invoiced/ticketed. Keep this email as it contains important information you may need prior to or during travel and for your expense report. The SSC will need a copy of this email as a receipt for the CTP Agent/Service Fee. Additionally, in your Trip Library in Concur, you will see the status changed from Confirmed to Ticketed (if air is included).

Generally, quality control and ticket processing only take a matter of minutes so long as the system does not encounter any errors. The email provided by CTP is confirmation that your trip has been purchased and ticketing/invoicing has been successfully completed.

When you log into Concur Travel, you should see any unused tickets in the Alerts section at the top of the main Home Page. Additionally, you should see them in your profile as well as in the air search results matrix. If you have an unused ticket, on the Trip Booking Information page there is a dropdown to indicated that you wish to use your unused ticket credits. This will alert CTP to apply your credit. Remember unused ticket credits are airline specific and can only be applied against purchases from the same airline.

Yes. You can book up to 6 legs of travel on one reservation in Concur Travel. If the Trip Search on the Home Page, choose the Multi-Segment option of the Air search criteria section.

Users can opt to share a trip with another user so they can see/select the same flight and/or hotel arrangements. Additionally, on the Home Page while completing the Trip Search you can use the Adults # dropdown for booking up to 6 employees together. NOTE: you must be listed as an arranger on their profiles to use this option and the flight MUST be purchased on a KU/KUCR p-card.  It is against policy to pay for the travel expenses of other employees with a personal card.

There may be several reasons for this. The most common reason is that the Basic Economy fares offered by the airlines and leisure sites have been blocked in Concur as mentioned above. Another reason we see fare discrepancies is due to inventory fluctuations – timing is everything and inventory availability and costs can change minute by minute. Any questions about fare discrepancies should be reported in detail to CTP at online@ctptravelservices.com.

Fly America compliant flight options have an icon of a shield with a check mark in it that can be seen above the view fares button.

Conferences and meetings generally have hotel rooms blocked at privately negotiated contract rates between the hotel and conference/meeting holder. These special contract rates cannot be loaded into our Concur Travel system and therefore, you should follow the meeting organizer instructions for making reservations.  Feel free to can check pricing in Concur to compare rates and book whichever is cheaper.

In your Trip Search do not choose a car/hotel while filling in your cities/dates on the Home Page. Continue through Concur Travel as if you are just doing an air-only trip. Upon reserving your flight, you will be presented with the Travel Details page. From this page you have the option to click on the link to Add Car / Add Hotel or Cancel Car / Cancel Hotel. This will allow you to choose where you want the car/hotel and for how long.

Yes. To add or modify a hotel, click the name of the trip you wish to modify in the My Trips section of the Concur Home Page. From the Travel Details page, in the Trip Overview section you can Add a Hotel to the existing trip. If you add the hotel separately and not to an existing trip, your itinerary items will not be consolidated into a single itinerary which can cause issues. There is no fee to add a hotel reservation to an existing trip.

No. Policy allows for 1 night prepaid deposit when paying with University funds, before booking a prepaid, non-refundable Hotel room you must get preapproval from KURES or UKANS P-card coordinator. If you must choose a prepaid, non-refundable hotel room, you can select that room and you will be presented with a pop-up box and will be required to select a reason code from a drop down list. Your selected room, along with the compliant alternatives that were presented to you, will be listed on an Exception Report which will be provided monthly to the University’s Travel Services department. It is recommended that the traveler or travel arranger obtain preapproval from Mike Lewis (KU) or Kevin Teel (KUCR) before booking a prepaid, non-refundable room and submit that preapproval to the SSC to process with the transaction.

If you need to cancel a hotel and you are within the penalty window defined by the hotel, please contact CTP to assist you. If this happens after-hours, please contact the hotel directly or use the after-hours* service noted on your itinerary. *A Fee will be assessed for after-hours services.

No. Unfortunately, Concur cannot be configured to automatically send our KS Sales Tax Exempt Certificates to Kansas hotels with the reservations.  This needs to be done directly with the hotel at check-in as always.  If paying with a KU or KUCR P-card, the P-card has the KS Tax Exempt number on it and the card sleeve has our signed Tax Exempt Entity Information on it.

If you need a copy of the KU or KUCR KS Sales Tax Exempt Certificate, please email KU Payables at payables@ku.edu for the KU certificate -or- complete this Tax Exempt Request form for the KUCR certificate. 

Yes, Enterprise/National is KU’s mandatory contracted vendor where available. Our contracted rates, which include Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) fees, are loaded into Concur. If you must rent a vehicle from another car vendor due to Enterprise/National unavailability, you may choose another vendor notated with the yellow exception triangle and choose the appropriate reason code. Additionally, you should purchase CDW as it is not included in the rental price shown for other vendors. It is recommended that the traveler or travel arranger be prepared to provide an after-the-fact explanation, if requested to do so.

Yes. To add or modify a car, click the name of the trip you wish to modify in the My Trips section of the Concur Home Page. From the Travel Details page, in the Trip Overview section you can Add a Car to the existing trip. If you add the car separately and not to an existing trip, your itinerary items will not be consolidated into a single itinerary which can cause issues. There is no fee to add a rental car reservation to an existing trip.

You can get the KU car rental rates for personal rentals at Enterprise.com using the appropriate account number. To request this account number, email travel@ku.edu.  Please note that for personal rentals under this account number, the rate DOES NOT include the CDW coverage. 

For business travel, please reserve your rental car using the Concur Travel online booking tool.  Our contract for KU business travel, which includes CDW coverage, is configured into the system.

No.  If you need to rent a pickup truck or 12/15 passenger van, you will need to make your reservation directly through Enterprise.com using our Account/Client Number XZ05189 or by calling our account manager Brian Crockwell at 636-236-5687.

Yes. Concur Mobile is available for iPhone, and Android devices. It can be used to book travel, review trip itineraries & expenses, and submit receipts while traveling. It can also be used by Approvers to approve Requests and Expense Reports.

KU's Concur contains comprehensive, real-time inventory provided by the Global Distribution System (GDS) for airlines, rental cars, and hotels. Many of the airline, car, and hotel suppliers around the world maintain their inventory in the GDS.  The advantage that Concur offers is they partner with Southwest Airlines, Air Canada, and other direct connect suppliers so their inventory is more complete than others and our contracted discount rates are built into the system.  We have contracts loaded in Concur with Southwest, Delta, United and American Airlines as well as Enterprise/National Rental Cars.

Contracted rates and discounts can be received using Concur Travel or CTP Full-Service booking with the following vendors: Southwest, American, Delta, United, Enterprise/National, and various hotels around the world. The Parking Spot also offers KU Employees to sign up for discounts.

Out of policy options are identified in several ways in Concur Travel. Items that are slightly out of policy and may need additional consideration are noted with a yellow caution sign. If booked, it will be listed in a monthly report sent to KU’s Travel Program Manager. Items that are out of policy are noted with a red sign and are not allowed to book or they have been blocked from our Concur content. To identify the reason for the icon, click the icon itself and more details will be provided.

Yes. Any trip booked for a KU employee with a CTP agent will be uploaded into Concur overnight. Guest travel booked directly with a CTP agent cannot be uploaded to an arranger’s Concur profile.

Upon the completion of your booking in Concur Travel, you will immediately receive an itinerary confirmation emailed from Concur Travel TravelWizard@concusolutions.com. You will also receive a second email from Concur Online donotreply@agent-technology.com when CTP has completed the Airline Ticketing process. This second email from CTP will includes the airline ticket confirmation as well as the Agent/Service Fee receipt.

Additionally, you can view your trip itinerary in Concur by selecting Travel from the menu at the top of the page and going to your Trip Library section.

Yes. You can assign access in your profile to as many Travel Arrangers as needed. Go to your Profile and either scroll to the page to the “Assistants and Travel Arrangers” box or click “Assistants/Arrangers” from the My Profile menu on the left side of the page. Click Add an Assistant to add the person who you would like to authorize to book your travel. This person can update your profile, make any travel arrangements for you, and view upcoming your trips.

It is recommended that travel is booked by the traveler.  You will need to work with your SSC to determine their level of services provided regarding booking travel.

You can book travel for non-employees traveling on KU business utilizing the Book for a guest link found under TRIP SEARCH on the Concur Home Page. The Book for a guest feature should not be used for KU employees unless the employee does not have a p-card. However, it is preferred employees book from their own profile with a p-card issued to them or a personal card.

If you are paying for the guest travel with a p-card, that flight needs to be purchased in Concur or with our travel agency, CTP.  If the guest is purchasing it themselves and seeking reimbursement, they can purchase the flight where ever they wish.

No, booking through the online Concur Travel tool is for business purposes only.  If you wish to book a family member or companion along with your business travel, you can do so by directly calling CTP to make the arrangements for everyone (full service fees apply). Or you can book your family members flight outside the system (checking first to ensure ample seat availability), then book your business flight in Concur.  By adding a note in the Comments to Agent box at the completion of your booking, you can give CTP your family members record locator/trip information and request that they seat you together.

Changes to flight purchases can be made without penalty within 24 hours of purchase. Contact CTP at 877-630-1232 to assist you with the correction. Otherwise changes can be made in Concur via your trip itinerary. Note: airline change fees and a CTP agent fee will likely apply.

To maintain travel booking visibility for Duty of Care monitoring and communication purposes, you can add, change, or cancel a Flight, Hotel or Car Reservation online through Concur Travel or by calling CTP.

Flight changes:

• Flight changes that include a single carrier can be made online in Concur until you have checked into your flight. If you booked using multiple carriers, you must call CTP at 877-630-1232 between 7:30am – 6:30pm CST, M-F to assist you with the change. 
• For a ticketed flight for which you have not checked into, you can change the time and/or date of the flight in Concur. Your change options will be with the same airline and routing. Airline and/or routing changes need to made directly with CTP. Please note an airline change fee may apply and you will incur an Agent Fee as this is essentially a new ticket.
• If a change needs made after you have already checked into your flight and the trip is in progress, you will need to contact CTP at 877-630-1232 between 7:30am – 6:30pm CST to assist you with the change. Or CTP After Hours Emergency Support at 877-200-1501 | 6:30 pm – 7:30 am CST, M-F, Weekends & Holidays if needed.
• Trips booked outside of Concur Travel or CTP cannot be modified in Concur or with CTP.

Hotel changes:

• Check the hotel cancellation policy to ensure you are changing or cancelling within the cancellation timeline to avoid fees or penalties. Contact CTP to assist with cancellations within the cancellation penalty period.