The traveler must be at least 40 miles from the headquarter location or home, whichever is closer, to be reimbursed for an overnight stay. 

• CONUS (within the continental United States) travel is limited to actual lodging expenses for trips less than 30 days.
• OCONUS (outside the continental United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories) travel allows up to the maximum stated limits, as published by the Department of State, for all foreign travel and domestic travel exceeding 30 days.

• Rate Limits
• Reservations
• Room Sharing
• Reconciliation

Rate Limits

UC Davis adheres to the U.S. Department of State's daily allowances. 

• CONUS - maximum nightly rate is $333 (not including taxes and fees) as of January 1, 2024
• OCONUS - The rates listed on the Office of Allowances website are the maximum that can be authorized.  Receipts are not required when claiming foreign lodging.
  • Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Territories per diem rates 

Reservations

Lodging reservations should be made through AggieExpense and paid with your UC Davis Travel Card.

• Prior to booking, check the Hotel Agreements that the University of California currently has in place. 
• Compare rates: In the absence of UC hotel agreements, shop AggieExpense to compare hotel rates for the best deals. When comparing rates, review the entire package.
• Book in advance: Making hotel reservations as far in advance as possible ensures that a room is available and at the best rate.
• Ask about specials: Where appropriate, inquire about weekly rates or weekend specials. The university has a policy of paying additional expenses associated with travel extended to save costs (e.g., a Saturday night stay for domestic travel may be reimbursed when the resulting airfare savings are sufficient to offset all other expenses incurred for the extended stay).
• Consider Location: Depending on the hotel's location and whether it has a shuttle service you may be able to eliminate the need for a rental car. Forgoing a rental car would also save on parking fees and gas.
• Always take a Transient Occupancy Tax Exemption Certificate (PDF) with you when traveling. This saves the university money by granting a tax exception to university travelers on official university business. At check-in, present the completed form to the front desk clerk (they will let you know whether or not the form is accepted at their hotel).

Room Sharing

University travelers may share a room (if they choose) and have a couple of options to pay for their stay:

• Have the hotel split the bill and each traveler pays their own portion.
• One traveler pays for the entire room and roommates reference how their hotel stay was paid on their own travel reports.

In the case of Group Travel, the group leader pays for the room (group lodging applies when the group leader pays for the whole group's hotel rooms).

Reconciliation

Lodging expenses require a paid, itemized receipt for reimbursement—an itemized receipt will show that only lodging expenses were charged to the hotel stay.

Receipts are not required when claiming foreign lodging. Please attach a copy of the published maximum allowances, by location, with the report.  

The payment procedure depends on how the reservation was secured:

• UC Davis Travel Card: Submit an AggieExpense expense report. This report can be submitted prior to the trip end date. 
• Out of Pocket: After the trip, submit an AggieExpense expense report requesting reimbursement for lodging.

Expense Types

• Lodging
• Paid receipts are always required, except for foreign lodging. If foreign, attach a copy of the published maximum allowances, by location, with the report. 
  
  Use Lodging for typical lodging costs, including hotel, Airbnb, and other lodging facilities. This expense type requires an itemized receipt be submitted with the expense report, in addition to itemizing the nightly costs.
   
• Lodging-other
• Paid receipts are always required.
  
  > Lodging, Deposit is used to pay for a lodging deposit.
  > Lodging, Host Gift is used to pay for a host gift, per policy G-28. Receipts are required for host gifts of $25 or more and are limited to no more than $75 per host, regardless of the duration of stay.
  > Lodging, Long-Term is used for stays exceeding 30 days and may be entered as one amount for entire duration. Provide a comment including the dates of lodging.
   
• Foreign Lodging

• When using the Foreign Lodging expense type, you should attach an image of the federal maximum allowance rates found here: https://aoprals.state.gov/web920/per_diem.asp. 

  Please note: Foreign Lodging is only for use with Foreign travel of 30 days or more.

If you need lodging for a department-hosted conference or meeting, review the Hosting a Conference page for information and instructions.

Questions? Please contact the Help Desk.