To better serve the needs of WVU students, faculty and staff who are traveling on University business, WVU will transition away from the MyTravel booking tool and its current travel management company.
Effective March 17, 2025, WVU travelers will independently book travel through their preferred airline, hotel, etc. and our contracted rental car company.
After a thorough review of updates and changes in the travel industry, the WVU Procurement Contracting and Payment Services (PCPS) team found this change will greatly benefit WVU travelers through more competitive pricing found by booking direct, a better sense of convenience when booking and direct customer service through the booking company.
With this change, travelers are still encouraged to utilize the University’s travel discounts whenever possible, which include discounts for:
- Enterprise/National Car Rental
- United Airlines
- Southwest Airlines
- Marriott
- Several local hotels
The MyTravel system will continue to be available through March 31 to allow users to view past or future trips, note important information for trips and download reports. However, travelers should no longer book additional trips through this system.
Travelers who have already booked future trips through MyTravel are not affected by this change. These trips will proceed as booked. For questions about existing trips, please contact American Express for 24/7 support at 669-272-1301 or us.travelercare@amexgbt.com.
Finally, please review the below information to keep in mind when booking travel independently.
Rental Cars:
WVU will continue to use Enterprise/National Rental Car as its contracted rental car company. All car rentals should be booked through Enterprise unless there is a lack of availability. To book rental cars, please book directly through Enterprise’s website and enter the University’s booking code, which can be found on the travel discounts webpage.
Airfare:
Travelers are free to book airfare directly with their preferred airlines. However, we strongly encourage travelers to utilize the University’s contracted discounts with United Airlines and Southwest Airlines. Additional information on these discounts can be found on the travel discounts webpage.
As a reminder, travelers are expected to take the lowest logical available fare. Any personal upgrades must be paid separately with personal funds.
Lodging:
Travelers may also now book lodging directly with their preferred hotel, directly through a conference page or through an online booking tool, like Hotels.com or Expedia.
The University has discounts with several local hotels for guests to campus. Additional information on these discounts can be found on the travel discounts webpage.
Travelers are expected to use sound financial judgment when selecting hotels.
Additional important policy reminders:
- All international travel must be registered with Global Affairs
- Non-grant-funded travel must be approved by the Dean/VP or designee and should be reserved for mission-critical travel.
- Although no form or other written notice is required, travel must be approved by the traveler’s supervisor beforehand. If the travel is grant-funded, the traveler must follow any grant regulations regarding travel authorization requirements.
- PCard is the preferred payment method for airfare, hotel, conference registration and car rentals. For employees who use a personal credit card to pay for travel, reimbursement requests may only be made after the trip has concluded. Reimbursements must be submitted in a timely manner. Reimbursements submitted more than 90 days after the trip has concluded will not be approved.
- International travel funded by the federal government must meet the Fly America Act guidelines.
- The PCPS Travel team no longer requires its approval for black car service/limo service. However, the use of these vehicles should be limited to rare situations and must be approved by the applicable Dean/VP.
- We ask that you avoid cancellation/change fees when possible. However, we understand there are some instances where they are unavoidable, such as being required to change travel plans for business reasons, inclement weather, natural disaster/pandemic or personal emergencies. Please use discretion when cancelling/changing bookings with this in mind.
For more information on travel policies and procedures, as well as tips for before and after travel, visit the PCPS website.
For questions on the transition away from MyTravel, contact PCPS Travel at travel@mail.wvu.edu.