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, Hotel/accommodation/rail bookings, car hire, conference registration, Flights with low cost airlines, Visas for travel etc:
   Contact Key Travel www.keytravel.com and select your travel requirements. It is University policy that all staff and students purchase their travel from Key Travel, which is the sole authorised travel agent for Durham University.
   Once you are happy with your itinerary and have your quotation, send it to your administrative team at astro.secretary@durham.ac.uk , who as a Travel Booker, will submit the travel booking for approval.
   A travel booking will only be submitted for approval if the necessary Viator approvals are in place, the financial information is correct and the travel is within the limits of the University 2024 Business Expenditure Policy . After your trip has been approved by the Physics Finance team, you will receive confirmation of your travel booking.
   Key Travel App All travellers are encouraged to download the free Key Travel App:Digital Travel Assistant (e.g at Google Play Store ), which offers destination information, real-time alerts, traveller tracking and communication features to support you while travelling on University business.
   
   
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 Crisis 24 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).