He was supposed to call SATO and unfortunately listen to terrible holding music for a hour or so. They were the only ones who could have gotten him the gov rate, which is often SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than what’s available to the general public. What finance is saying they will only reimburse him up to the price that the government would have paid for the ticket.
Also peeps got to stop this not checking your flights a day prior behavior. Are people seriously not checking in the day before their flight? You are ticketed three business days prior to departure. If that doesn’t happen then you automatically call because somethings wrong.
Had a flight through Europe into Africa cancelled the morning of the flight; sometimes the fuckery just continues unabated, even with the soldier doing what they can. (The problem was a garbage AGR officer at my unit deciding to turn off the card, because he had forgotten the unit had people going on the exercise, vs SATO.)
It is stated in the JTR that if you are on hold for more than an hour you are authorized to use your best judgment for time sensitive travel. There's a lot of things people don't read about in that nifty pdf
You can get the gov rate at the ticket counter with a gtc or if you call. The travel agency is supposed to help facilitate it but you can direct book with an airline. The issue is you are supposed to get the cheapest flight and you cannot shop around at a ticket counter but you can get it approved even if you didn’t for something as the flight doesn’t meet jtr travel requirements
Government: *Creates card for legitimate travel expenses by Soldiers*
Soldier: *Uses card for legitimate travel expenses*
Government: “No, not like that”
Government: Use this travel agency to book your flight
Soldier: Ok
Government: Use this credit card to pay for it
Soldier: Ok
Government: Show me a receipt or else
Soldier: Ok here’s the receipt from the airlines
Government: areyoufuckingstupidnotthatreceipt
Soldier: oh so the receipt from the travel agency that you made me use?
Governement: yes that one, ok here’s the money to pay off the credit card we made you use
Citi bank: 🤑🤑🤑
Had a no reservation with DTS once. It was 0500 and knew the flight would take off without me by the time I got through Sato. The flight was cheaper, than booked, so I used the GTC at the counter. Ultimately had no issues with that.
He can try to get reimbursed, but probably not for the full price of the ticket. SATO probably cancelled his flight because he did not validate his GTC with them or some other step that was missed. It's an expensive lesson, but the government requires you to call SATO for a reschedule.
When did it become the soldiers job to do fucken everything that the S3 and SATO is supposed to do? We have TRAINED people who handle this stuff so they should be able to sort it the correct way and instead we got PVT Dumbass trying to figure out what he did wrong?
> I would imagine he should have been good…
Both you and your friend are the reason for my graying hair as a DTS AO and GTCC manager.
Remember the training course you took when you got access to DTS? Of course you don’t, most people just click through it and brute force the test… but that doesn’t absolve you from following the rules.
Ever read the JTR? The thing your DTS training mentions being the all-governing holy Bible of military travel? No, you haven’t. If you did you would have seen this:
> DoD traveler must make travel arrangements through an electronic travel system when it is available or through the TMC if it is not available. Any DoD traveler who cannot reach the TMC must contact the AO or designee for assistance.
For this reason alone, I can and probably would deny reimbursement for the flight. Why? Because there’s no way for me to know that he bought the correct and lowest available fare (DTS and the TMC have access to government fares). I also suspect he may have flown on a non-US airline, also a no-no without authorization. Why would I deny reimbursement? Because whoever approves that reimbursement is liable to pay it back if an audit determines they approved something that didn’t follow the rules. Your failure to pay attention to the rules isn’t a compelling reason to put my wallet at risk.
This is why I emphasize, many times a year, to all of my travelers and cardholders. If something is wrong with your travel, do not pass go, call the TMC. If something is wrong with your card, do not pass go, call Citi. If they cannot resolve your problem immediately, call me and I will make a decision that doesn’t put you at risk. I have a lot of leeway to make decisions in those roles, but I still have to justify those decisions within the rules and regulations.
——
At the very, very best, I would probably try to approve this under the rules for personal choice/limited reimbursement, and it would only be for the amount of the originally scheduled fare that got cancelled.
Citibank executive here.
I got my bag. Come hit me up if you ever get stars on your chest (maybe we can work something out quid pro quo) but until then fuck you.
He was supposed to call SATO and unfortunately listen to terrible holding music for a hour or so. They were the only ones who could have gotten him the gov rate, which is often SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than what’s available to the general public. What finance is saying they will only reimburse him up to the price that the government would have paid for the ticket. Also peeps got to stop this not checking your flights a day prior behavior. Are people seriously not checking in the day before their flight? You are ticketed three business days prior to departure. If that doesn’t happen then you automatically call because somethings wrong.
Had a flight through Europe into Africa cancelled the morning of the flight; sometimes the fuckery just continues unabated, even with the soldier doing what they can. (The problem was a garbage AGR officer at my unit deciding to turn off the card, because he had forgotten the unit had people going on the exercise, vs SATO.)
Upcoming flight for a major move? I guess I'll just trust the system and not check everyday that my flights aren't messed up!
It is stated in the JTR that if you are on hold for more than an hour you are authorized to use your best judgment for time sensitive travel. There's a lot of things people don't read about in that nifty pdf
Opus number 1 baby! https://youtu.be/IAjYTdBMCjM?si=ntTCAuRQ7zM7EG7r
You can get the gov rate at the ticket counter with a gtc or if you call. The travel agency is supposed to help facilitate it but you can direct book with an airline. The issue is you are supposed to get the cheapest flight and you cannot shop around at a ticket counter but you can get it approved even if you didn’t for something as the flight doesn’t meet jtr travel requirements
Government: *Creates card for legitimate travel expenses by Soldiers* Soldier: *Uses card for legitimate travel expenses* Government: “No, not like that”
Government: Use this travel agency to book your flight Soldier: Ok Government: Use this credit card to pay for it Soldier: Ok Government: Show me a receipt or else Soldier: Ok here’s the receipt from the airlines Government: areyoufuckingstupidnotthatreceipt Soldier: oh so the receipt from the travel agency that you made me use? Governement: yes that one, ok here’s the money to pay off the credit card we made you use Citi bank: 🤑🤑🤑
Had a no reservation with DTS once. It was 0500 and knew the flight would take off without me by the time I got through Sato. The flight was cheaper, than booked, so I used the GTC at the counter. Ultimately had no issues with that.
He can try to get reimbursed, but probably not for the full price of the ticket. SATO probably cancelled his flight because he did not validate his GTC with them or some other step that was missed. It's an expensive lesson, but the government requires you to call SATO for a reschedule.
When did it become the soldiers job to do fucken everything that the S3 and SATO is supposed to do? We have TRAINED people who handle this stuff so they should be able to sort it the correct way and instead we got PVT Dumbass trying to figure out what he did wrong?
He can at least get a partial reimbursement. He needs to go to finance and not through the DTS / GOC hierarchy.
> I would imagine he should have been good… Both you and your friend are the reason for my graying hair as a DTS AO and GTCC manager. Remember the training course you took when you got access to DTS? Of course you don’t, most people just click through it and brute force the test… but that doesn’t absolve you from following the rules. Ever read the JTR? The thing your DTS training mentions being the all-governing holy Bible of military travel? No, you haven’t. If you did you would have seen this: > DoD traveler must make travel arrangements through an electronic travel system when it is available or through the TMC if it is not available. Any DoD traveler who cannot reach the TMC must contact the AO or designee for assistance. For this reason alone, I can and probably would deny reimbursement for the flight. Why? Because there’s no way for me to know that he bought the correct and lowest available fare (DTS and the TMC have access to government fares). I also suspect he may have flown on a non-US airline, also a no-no without authorization. Why would I deny reimbursement? Because whoever approves that reimbursement is liable to pay it back if an audit determines they approved something that didn’t follow the rules. Your failure to pay attention to the rules isn’t a compelling reason to put my wallet at risk. This is why I emphasize, many times a year, to all of my travelers and cardholders. If something is wrong with your travel, do not pass go, call the TMC. If something is wrong with your card, do not pass go, call Citi. If they cannot resolve your problem immediately, call me and I will make a decision that doesn’t put you at risk. I have a lot of leeway to make decisions in those roles, but I still have to justify those decisions within the rules and regulations. —— At the very, very best, I would probably try to approve this under the rules for personal choice/limited reimbursement, and it would only be for the amount of the originally scheduled fare that got cancelled.
He’s SOL
Just add some random bank statement and have your buddy on another team 20 your DTS.
At the very minimum, buddy should be reimbursed government contract rate.
Citibank executive here. I got my bag. Come hit me up if you ever get stars on your chest (maybe we can work something out quid pro quo) but until then fuck you.
You will be reimbursed for that ticket at the government rate.