Board of Contract Appeals General Services Administration Washington, D.C. 20405 ________________ March 30, 1998 _________________ GSBCA 14140-TRAV In the Matter of SABAH A. ISSA Sabah A. Issa, Bettendorf, IA, Claimant. Bobby A. Derrick, Acting Director, Finance and Accounting Systems Transition, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Indianapolis Center, Indianapolis, IN, appearing for Department of Defense. PARKER, Board Judge. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) has requested a decision pursuant to 31 U.S.C. 3529 concerning a claim for air travel costs filed by Mr. Sabah A. Issa. In August 1996, Mr. Issa, a civilian employee of the Department of the Army in Moline, Illinois, was issued airline tickets needed for his temporary duty assignment in Europe. The tickets were issued by a travel agent under contract with the Government at a cost of $1,783.75. When Mr. Issa noticed that the tickets included several flights on Alitalia (an Italian airline), he returned the tickets to the travel agent. Mr. Issa then obtained tickets on the same flights directly from Alitalia, using a voucher from Alitalia for $882 and paying the balance of $819.63 in cash. Mr. Issa had acquired the voucher in connection with a personal vacation. The voucher, issued on October 6, 1995, came with the following letter: Per our conversation of October 3, 1995 we have reviewed once again the occurrence and, as gesture of good will, we are offering a voucher in the amount of $882.00, representing the difference in air fare paid. The voucher is valid for one year from the date of issue and may be used toward future air transportation on Alitalia service. Since you indicated that you will be traveling to Amman in the near future, I noted the voucher accordingly. Mr. Issa claimed reimbursement of a total of $1,701.63, which included $882 for the value of the voucher, $795.45 paid in cash for the balance of the flights on Alitalia, and $24.18 paid in cash for a round-trip ticket from Moline to Chicago on United Airlines. The agency allowed the claim for the cost of the flight on United Airlines, but denied reimbursement for the flights on Alitalia. The Army denied reimbursement because (1) Mr. Issa should have used the tickets provided by the Government contract travel agent, (2) Mr. Issa should have flown the entire trip on an American-flag carrier which, according to the Army, was available for the European leg of the trip, and (3) the Government may not reimburse an employee for using a personal travel coupon for Government business. Discussion Purchasing tickets directly from an airline The Army denied Mr. Issa's claim for reimbursement of the entire cost of the tickets on Alitalia because Mr. Issa purchased the tickets directly from the airline, instead of obtaining them from the Government contract travel agent. The Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), on which the Army relied, provide as follows: Use of Travel Offices. In arranging official travel, employees are authorized to use the following in accordance with Service regulations: 1. Commercial travel offices (CTO) under contract to their respective organizations; 2. In-house travel offices; 3. General Services Administration (GSA) Travel Management Centers (TMC). Except as indicated in subparagraph B below [not applicable here], when an employee purchases transportation from a CTO not under contract to the Government, reimbursement is not authorized unless it can be demonstrated that the employee had no alternative. JTR C2207-A. Notably, the regulation does not say that employees must use one of the three types of travel offices; it says that employees are "authorized" to do so. The regulation goes on to say that if an employee purchases transportation from a commercial travel office other than one of those listed, he may not be reimbursed for the ticket. The regulation says nothing at all about purchasing tickets directly from an airline. We know of no provision, either in the JTR or in the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR), that prohibits an agency from reimbursing an employee for the cost of a ticket purchased directly from an airline.[foot #] 1 Requirement to use an American-flag carrier The second reason given by the Army for not reimbursing Mr. Issa is that he should have flown the European portion of his trip on an American-flag carrier, which the agency believes was available. Paragraph C2204-B of the JTR requires that employees use domestic United States airlines (called "certificated" air carriers) for foreign travel if travel on such carriers is available. Mr. Issa has stated that, to the best of his knowledge, travel by a domestic airline was unavailable. The record shows that Mr. Issa took the same flights booked for him by the Government's contract travel agent. The agency's statement that American-flag carriers were available for some of the flights in Europe is somewhat attenuated. The Army explains that, if Mr. Issa had followed his original itinerary for the travel, he could have taken several American-flag carriers, and implies that Mr. Issa changed his itinerary so that he would have to fly on Alitalia (and could thus use his personal voucher). Mr. Issa responds that his travel itinerary was changed due to conflicts in meeting dates and limited availability of Government personnel in Europe. He also points out, correctly, that his travel orders recognized that his itinerary was subject to change and authorized Mr. Issa to vary it as necessary. The bottom line here is that the Army travel office does not really know why Mr. Issa changed his itinerary. Given the language in Mr. Issa's travel orders, which permitted him to vary the itinerary, Mr. Issa's statement that the amended itinerary was necessary to accomplish the Government's business, and the lack of a statement from one of Mr. Issa's superiors disputing Mr. Issa's explanation, we do not find reasonable the Army's decision to base Mr. Issa's right to reimbursement on a trip which he did not take. Mr. Issa has stated that no American-flag carriers were available for the European portion of the trip that he did take and the Army has provided no evidence to the contrary. Accordingly, the fact that Mr. Issa flew on a foreign- flag carrier would not prevent him from being reimbursed for the cost of the tickets. ----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS --------- [foot #] 1 The authority to purchase tickets directly from an airline is not without limits. Federal employees are required to use discount fares offered by air carriers under contract with the Government between certain cities when such fares are available. 41 CFR 301-2.2(d)(1)(ii) (1996). This requirement is not at issue here because no contract air service is available for the European portions of Mr. Issa's trip. ----------- FOOTNOTE ENDS ----------- Use of a personal travel voucher Mr. Issa used a personal voucher, which he had acquired in connection with a vacation, to "pay" $882 toward his tickets on Alitalia. The Army's position is that, even if reimbursement for the flights is otherwise permissible, an employee may not be reimbursed for the value of a coupon or voucher which was not obtained in connection with Government business. Here, we agree with the Army that Mr. Issa may not be reimbursed for the value of his voucher. The Board has recently considered the issue of reimbursing employees for such things as frequent flyer miles, coupons and vouchers obtained in connection with personal business. In Roy Roth, GSBCA 14203-TRAV (Feb. 27, 1998), the Board followed the longstanding rule of the Comptroller General that, in the absence of regulations specifically permitting it, the Government may not reimburse employees for the value of frequent flyer miles, coupons or vouchers obtained in connection with personal business. This is because, when the employee uses one of these items, he incurs no out-of-pocket expense. In addition, the "value" of such things is subject to interpretation. Finally, using coupons and vouchers obtained in connection with personal business for Government travel creates problems of control and accountability. Id. at 2. Mr. Issa argues that the voucher he used for the Alitalia portion of his trip "was not a free coupon, frequent flyer coupon or a discount coupon. It was compensation from Alitalia Airlines for money I paid on a previous trip." Although we are sympathetic to Mr. Issa's situation, we do not agree with his argument. Mr. Issa used an airline voucher which he obtained in connection with a dispute with Alitalia concerning personal business. The voucher, which the airline called a "gesture of good will," was about to expire. The extent to which Mr. Issa was actually out-of-pocket and the value of the limited-life coupon are, at best, uncertain. Given the absence of regulations permitting reimbursement for such items, we hold that the Army was reasonable in declining to reimburse Mr. Issa. Decision The claim is granted in part. The agency shall reimburse Mr. Issa in the amount of $819.63 (the amount of the claim, $1701.63, less the amount of the voucher, $882).[foot #] 2 __________________________ ROBERT W. PARKER Board Judge ----------- FOOTNOTE BEGINS --------- [foot #] 2 This amount includes the $24.18 for domestic airfare which the agency agrees is due Mr. Issa. If Mr. Issa has already received reimbursement for this item, the agency should subtract $24.18 from the award.