Travel Booking and Insurance Procedures

Before you start booking your trip check for funding – without a valid cost centre code and travel insurance we can’t book travel.

1. Obtaining a quote for the trip:
   Flight bookings: Contact Dawson and Sanderson, corporate.travel@travelco.co.uk, tel: 0191 251 5000 with your flight details and ask for a quote. It is University policy that all staff and students purchase their travel from Dawson and Sanderson, which is the sole authorised travel agent for Durham University. Once you are happy with the quoted flights get in touch with one of the Astronomy secretaries, they will provide a purchase order for the travel agent. If you need to book on-line you should use the group credit card and not your own personal credit card - again, check with one of the secretaries. 
   Hotel/accommodation/rail bookings, car hire, conference registration, Flights with low cost airlines, Visas for travel etc: Get in touch with one of the Astronomy secretaries, who in most cases will be able to book and pay with our departmental credit card or by bank transfer (note that bank transfers take up to two weeks). They can also help with most travel Visas.
   
2. For travel to be charged to the CEA/ICC Current Account or the Theory or Observer rolling grants, or certain individual grants:
   

   Staff must fill in this on-line form. If the grant you want to use is not listed on the on-line form please speak to one of the secetaries;

   Students should always use http://icc.dur.ac.uk/index.php?content=Travel/Studenttravel

   Please try and fill the form in at least 3 weeks before you travel.
3. For observing trips charged to the PATT grant:
   Follow the link http://icc.dur.ac.uk/index.php?content=Travel/PATTtravel.
4. Travel Insurance (required for travel booking):
   ** Please note: the secretaries are not authorised to book travel without valid insurance **
   Follow the link https://apps.dur.ac.uk/travel.forms/ to access Viator, Durham University’s online travel insurance system. Note that Staff planning a trip within the UK are automatically insured and don't need to complete the form. However, students will have to complete the form for UK trips which involve a flight or an overnight stay. See the University's Travel Cover & VIATOR page for more details.
   Global Response security platform Before filling in the insurance forms you should check the travel risk via the University's Travel And Risk Assessment page. This will direct you to the drum cussac platform. Should your destination have a risk rating of Medium or High your risk assessment must be sufficiently detailed to reflect and address those risks.
5. Absence Register:
   Once your travel is booked please enter your absence in the Physics Department Database. Postgraduate students are now entered on the Absence Register. All absences for travel or annual leave and sickness should be entered. Tutors must ensure that their teaching responsibilities are covered.
6. Expenses:
   During your travel: Keep all receipts as these will be required for expense claims.
   Once you are back: Staff must make their expenses claims via the University's Oracle Cloud system. Students must claim their expenses using a request for payment form.
   Payment: all approved expense claims in the system at the end of 10th of the month (or the next working day) will be paid on 15th of the month (or the next working day).