Lodging

Iowa State University uses rates set by the GSA for domestic travel, DoD for travel to the US territories, Alaska, and Hawaii, and the Department of State for foreign travel. Because of dynamic pricing and other factors, ISU allows for travelers to claim up to 150% of the stated rate for a location. Rates are based on destination county in the continental 48 states and by city destination for other locations.

• Both workers and non-workers can claim actual lodging expenses up to 150% of the stated rate for a destination. This means that the base room rate, taxes, fees, surcharges, and other allowable expenses must be at or below 150% of the stated rate. Amounts exceeding 150% of the stated rated are personal expenses unless otherwise approved by the Financial and Accounting Compliance Team (FACT). To request an exception, please submit an exception request in Workday.
• For example, suppose the GSA rate for a destination is $100/night. The traveler books a hotel room for $110/night with 7% tourism tax, 8% sales tax, and a flat resort fee of $20 per night. The cost per night includes $110.00 for the base room, $7.70 for the tourism tax, $8,80 for the sales tax, and $20 for the fee. The grand total cost per night is $146.50. Since ISU allows travelers to claim up to 150% of the rate, the traveler can claim actual expenses up to $150.00. Therefore, the $146.50 per night is acceptable.
• Now, suppose the GSA rate for a destination is $100/night, but the traveler books a hotel room for $125.00 per night. Assuming the 7% tourism tax, 8% sales tax, and the flat resort fee of $20 per night, the total cost is now $125.00 plus $8.75 tourism tax, $10 sales tax, and $20 for a total of $163.75. Since the traveler can only claim actual expenses of a maximum of $150, $13.75 of the lodging cost would be considered personal.
• The per diem and approved tolerance range are not an automatic allowance. Lodging costs are not reimbursed on a flat per diem basis at ISU
• There are allowed exceptions as well where the traveler may be allowed to exceed the per diem and tolerance range.

Specific hotels designated for conference or event attendance may exceed the established per diem rate. Actual expenses still are reimbursed with a proper itemized final folio, even if they exceed 150% of the posted rate.

• To claim, submit a conference agenda or similar documentation that shows the hotel you are staying in is above the specified location rate.
• Documentation must be attached to the expense report, with a note in the lodging expense memo field.
• With proper documentation, conference hotels are always approved.

All other exceptions must be requested in Workday using the Financial and Accounting Compliance Policy and Procedure Exception Request.

• A receipt or a hotel folio showing that the room was paid is required for all lodging, regardless of the amount. Most travelers will receive these at the time of checkout, either in paper or electronic form. In some instances, this documentation may need to be requested from the hotel, particularly if the room was booked on a T&H card of another ISU employee.
• Lost or missing receipts: In most cases, the hotel will gladly email or fax you an itemized copy of your hotel receipt if you forgot to get one before you left. You may submit the email or fax copy to the Procurement and Expense Specialist.
• Sometimes, when staying at a bed and breakfast or a very small hotel, they may give a handwritten receipt that is not itemized. In this case, simply write a brief note on the receipt that the only charges included were for room and room taxes. The intent of requiring the itemized hotel receipt is to avoid reimbursing for items such as movies, valet service, or meals claimed elsewhere.
• When using a 3rd party booking website (such as hotels.com, travelocity.com, etc.) to reserve a hotel room, the hotel will not provide an itemized receipt. In this case, please write a brief note on the receipt you received from hotels.com (or a similar service) that this is the only receipt available. 3rd party booking receipts can be obtained after travel from their website. ISU strongly discourages the use of 3rd party booking sites.

University policy allows for reimbursement for the number of people traveling on university business. No additional charges may be reimbursed for the lodging of spouses, children or friends. If the hotel charge was based on two or more persons, the reimbursement amount should be reduced to the single rate with the taxes pro-rated.

If you stayed at a hotel that had a conference rate where the rate was the same for one as for two people, please include a brief note to that effect. No recalculation is needed in this case.

You must submit the itemized hotel receipt to your Procurement and Expense Specialist, including a note providing your roommate's name and an explanation that you are claiming the full amount, as you paid for the full amount. It is not necessary in this case to provide a copy of your credit card statement.

You must submit a copy of the itemized hotel receipt to your Procurement and Expense Specialist as well as a proof of payment, such as a credit card statement to verify the amount you paid. You may blacken out your card number and any charges unrelated to the hotel stay.

Since the hotel receipt indicated two adults stayed in the room, add a note to explain that the charges already have been split, and give the other person's name, as well as their affiliation with ISU. Since the charge already has been split, each person can claim his/her own half.

Since even most undergraduate students have their own credit cards, this practice usually is not necessary and is discouraged. However, if it has already taken place, you must submit both itemized hotel receipts to your Procurement and Expense Specialist, as well as a proof of payment for the graduate student's room, such as a credit card statement to verify the amount you paid. You may blacken out your card number and any charges unrelated to the hotel stay. It is not necessary to submit a credit card statement for your own room.

No reimbursement is allowed for this purpose, even if an informal receipt is provided.

Yes, as long as this is less than or equal to what a hotel or motel would have been in that area. The traveler must use his/her personal credit card, as the Travel & Hospitality Card cannot be used for that purpose. Reimbursement can only take place after travel has concluded.

If the average room rate per employee is under the maximum lodging rate determined by the per diem rate of the location, then the room/house is allowed to go over the rate.

Example: if three employees stay in an Airbnb for $270 per night, and the per diem rate is $100 per night, then the average per employee is $90 per night, which is allowable. If the room was more than $300 per night room rate, this would still be unallowable.

Note: This also applies when sharing hotel rooms with ISU employees.

No. If you go over the maximum rate allowed for lodging, the taxes must be reimbursed at a prorated rate, based on the percentage of the lodging rate that is allowable. Flat fees can still be fully reimbursed.

Example: If the lodging room rate is $150 per night, but the allowed rate is $100, all applicable taxes must be reimbursed at a prorated rate of 66.6% ($100/$150). If the total taxes added up to $18, then the allowable reimbursement would be 66.6% of $18, or $12.

Some Iowa hotels offer a state rate that was negotiated by the Iowa Department of Administrative Services. A list of hotels, rates, and contact information is available here. If the last column on the spreadsheet (Political Subdivision) has a "Y," ISU employees are eligible for the state rate. If the last column has an "N," ISU employees are not eligible.