Travel Reimbursement Policies

Graduate students may travel to academic conferences with their adviser’s approval. Prior to travel, it is important to familiarize yourself with University and departmental policies.

Concur
  • Princeton uses Concur to reimburse eligible travel and business expenses. 
  • Review Princeton’s travel policy. 
  • Before traveling, you’ll need to obtain written approval from your adviser with the funding source. Upload it to your Concur expense report.
Getting started
  • Follow these instructions to get started in Concur. 
  • Learn how to create an expense report. Receipts are required for all expenses. Itemized receipts are required for meals. 
  • You are required to enroll all domestic and international travel with the University. 
  • Your assigned Concur expense delegate will review your reports. 
  • Submit expenses within 30 days, including those incurred in advance of a conference (e.g. airfare, conference registration, etc.).
  • Don’t wait more than 60 days to submit expenses! They will require an explanation and be reported to the IRS as taxable income.
  • Remember - Be reasonable with your costs. If you would not make a purchase with your own funds, you should not make that purchase with your adviser’s funds.
Flight
  • You must book economy class flights. For trips charged to federally funded sponsored projects, US air carriers must be used. Important: Before booking your flight, check with your expense delegate whether your funding source is a federally funded sponsored project. 
  • Airline tickets must include itemized charges, credit card information and seat information. Trip insurance is not an allowable expense.
  • If personal travel is combined with University travel, only the business portion of the trip is an allowable expense. Provide comparison flights — the lesser will be reimbursed.
Hotel
  • Only standard rooms may be booked. Airbnb is permissible. You must note all guests.
  • The itemized hotel bill must always be included on the expense report. No-show charges are not reimbursable.

Maximum nightly rates

  • United States:
    • $400 New York City, San Francisco, Boston, Menlo Park
    • $350 Washington D.C., Seattle, Palo Alto, Cambridge (MA)
    • $300 Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando
    • $250 All other U.S. locations, except Princeton
  • International:
    • $400 London & Paris
    • $350 Amsterdam, Geneva, Hong Kong, Milan, Rome, Singapore, Tokyo, Zurich
    • $300 All other international locations
Meals
  • Group meals will not be reimbursed. You must pay for your portion of a shared meal and submit an itemized receipt for your meal cost.
  • If the conference provides meals, you should be eating the meals provided.
  • Transportation costs (such as Uber, Lyft) to/from meals are not reimbursable.
  • Maximum reimbursement amounts for meals: $75/day (domestic) and $125/day (international). Alcohol is not reimbursable.
Other costs
  • Expenses related to visas, passports and vaccinations for business travel are allowable.
  • Taxi fare (Uber, Lyft) is allowable from home/airport and hotel/conference site.
  • If you’re planning a business trip and have questions about expenses, please contact your Concur expense delegate!
Contact and resources