Foreign Travel Agency

Started by sdgovacct · Sep 23, 2016 · 4 replies

s
sdgovacct
Sep 23, 2016 · 9y ago
Original post
I just found out that the travel agency my company is using is headquartered in Australia. Their US-based office handles all of our travel needs. The service fee they charge for each transaction is charged to the cost objective of the trip. Is there a problem using a foreign-based company for our travel needs? Should we switch to a US-owned company? We didn't realize the connection until recently.
h
here_2_help
Sep 24, 2016 · 9y ago
sdgovacct,

As far as I know, there is no statute that requires a US-based travel agency to be used. The key point would be whether your company is able to show that the price paid -- the service fee plus whatever else -- is fair and reasonable. That being said, do you have any contracts that impose additional requirements? I wouldn't think you would, but you need to check.

Hope this helps
s
sdgovacct
Sep 29, 2016 · 9y ago
Thanks for your help. I will poll a couple other local colleagues about their agency fees.
j
joel hoffman
Sep 29, 2016 · 9y ago

sdgovacct said:

Thanks for your help. I will poll a couple other local colleagues about their agency fees.

I presume that you are discussing travel agency fees that are reimbursable under the contract in question, not part of a fixed-price line item. Am I correct?

Thanks!
s
sdgovacct
Sep 29, 2016 · 9y ago

joel hoffman said:

I presume that you are discussing travel agency fees that are reimbursable under the contract in question, not part of a fixed-price line item. Am I correct?

Yes, that is correct.