Historically, we have always allowed visa fees, as described herein, for
reimbursement. Technically speaking, they were prohibited because of this
text early in the policy:
"only those categories of expenses listed in this document qualify."
I've left that text in place and added visa fees explicitly.
The current "lowest fare + $100" rule is simple, but provides less and less
choice as distances get longer. The most common feedback we hear about the
travel policy is a wish to have more flexibility to choose shorter flights.
This provides that flexibility by allowing more expensive flights that
provide time savings, while keeping the rules relatively simple.
It can be difficult for the Executive Director to approve expenses in a
timely manner if they themselves are traveling or taking time off. Allowing
any officer to approve the expenses helps us be more responsive with minimal
additional risk.
The limit has been $1,500 since the first commit of the policy in 2012.
Inflation and other economic forces have brought us to the point that
international travelers routinely show us searches where the cheapest fare
is around or over $1,400. Increase the limit to try to level the number of
flights requiring preapproval.
This was always our intention. However, the previous wording didn't account
for gaps in the time that advance purchases (especially flights and other
long haul travel) are made and the time the travel actually occurs. This
updates the wording to match our intention.
* Introduce a "Rates" section that's referred to throughout.
* Explain how the total M&IE allowance is calculated.
* Update the info about currency conversions to explain we now use Open
Exchange Rates based on the date of the reimbursement request.
