Travel & Expense Management Program Benefits

The Travel & Expense Management Program comprises a suite of products and services aimed at delivering exceptional travel-related services, streamlining the expense reporting process, and reducing travel costs. Products and services include Concur, Anthony Travel, and the OneCard. The benefits of this program include the following:

Benefits of Using Concur

Booking Travel

The Concur cloud application is used for self-booking travel through the University-wide Contracted travel agency, Anthony Travel. Booking through the Concur cloud application provides access to the University's travel discounts and offers a variety of benefits in conjunction with Anthony Travel (review the next section for full details). For simple travel requirements, booking directly using the Concur online booking tool is recommended. For more complicated or international travel, booking through Anthony Travel, with assistance from dedicated agents, is recommended. 

Managing Expenses 

Concur is also used for reconciling and submitting all travel and business expense reports. Itineraries booked through the Concur online booking tool or directly with Anthony Travel are automatically integrated into Concur to reduce manual entry and take advantage of e-receipts as well as TripIt.

Benefits of Booking Travel with Anthony Travel 

Booking travel with Anthony Travel, the University-wide Contracted travel agency, via their dedicated agents offers a variety of benefits to University travelers. For simple travel requirements, booking directly using the Concur online booking tool is recommended. For more complicated or international travel, booking through Anthony Travel, with assistance from dedicated agents, is recommended. 

In addition to the integration with the Concur online booking tool, Anthony Travel offers the following benefits:

  • Dedicated best-in-class travel assistance 
  • On-site agents 
  • 24-hour assistance including after hours, holiday, and emergency travel support from dedicated travel agents 
  • Is focused solely on higher education travel (general travel, group travel, athletics, etc.) 
  • Strong understanding of University requirements 
  • Provides experienced integrated travel management through Concur
  • Access to travel discounts with airlines, hotels, and car rentals in addition to Enterprise car rental insurance which have been negotiated by Pitt and Anthony Travel. 
  • Provides a single source for all travel needs 
  • Visa and passport services 
  • Provides e-Travel Advisories 
  • Provides automatic travel itinerary registration for travel booked through Concur or AT: 
    • For domestic travel, Concur provides emergency contact storage, domestic travel alerts, and allows the University to provide necessary safety guidance to faculty, staff, and student employees. 
    • International travel registration with International SOS (ISOS) provides an additional level of alerts as well as international response protocols, and support for global medical, security and logistical emergencies without having to contact campus first. ISOS benefits do not apply when traveling to your home country. 
  • Allows the transfer of unused tickets to another individual, eliminating additional costs to the department if the original traveler can no longer travel 
  • Unused airline tickets booked through Concur or AT, cancelled due to COVID-19 and set to expire in Spring 2020 were extended through Anthony Travel's airline relationships. 
  • Ability to track travel metrics related to University sustainability initiatives such as emissions for flights

Benefits of the OneCard

In addition to streamlining purchasing to one singular credit card, the OneCard provides many benefits related to University purchases and booking University travel, including the following:

  • Minimizes up-front expenses for faculty, researchers and staff while awaiting reimbursement since the OneCard is University paid (regardless of funding source). This is especially beneficial to those just starting their careers. 
  • Does not impact the cardholder’s personal credit report .
  • Works in conjunction with Concur and Anthony Travel to provide cardholders with convenient hassle-free travel and expense management. 
  • Reduces the University's liability by providing travel accident, baggage delay, and car rental insurance. Review full details about insurance included with the OneCard.
  • Provides enhanced fraud protection for the University. 
  • Improves internal controls and regulatory compliance via improved data quality (auditability) and automated receipt management.  
  • Provides improved spend data quality and enhances the University's ability to negotiate further savings with hotels and travel service providers. 
  • Retains the cardholder’s ability to earn points through airline and hotel reward programs.  
  • Reduces the cardholder’s time to reconcile expenses and submit expense reports by automating receipt management through integration with the Concur expense system.  
  • Eliminates foreign transaction fees.