Travel Reimbursement Guidelines
SNS Travel Expense Guidelines for Visitors and Seminar Speakers
For reimbursement of your travel expenses, please remember we cannot reimburse your expenses without electronic receipts and boarding passes. (PDF files) Electronic receipts are required for all expenses.
Reimbursement requests should be submitted within 30 days of your visit. Note: exchange rates for foreign denominations should be calculated using instructions at the end of these guidelines.
During your visit, the School of Natural Sciences will cover the costs of local accommodations in our on campus housing. If a spouse or companion accompanies you, additional costs for IAS housing will be charged to you.
The School of Natural Sciences will reimburse coach/economy class rates for all air travel. Please try to plan your trip ahead and find the lowest fare possible. Domestic airfare (includes Canada) over $700 and international airfare over $1200 will need prior approval. Include boarding passes along with your airfare receipts.
PLEASE NOTE:
- If you are flying to this area, Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, NJ (airport code EWR) is the preferred airport. That airport is the most convenient of the area airports to travel to IAS by train or Uber/Lyft.
- Flying into Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is an option but not as good as Newark because there is not a direct train and you would need to change trains twice.
- Flying into John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) or LaGuardia Airport) (LGA) is NOT recommended because the ground transportation is difficult and time consuming.
Transportation from Newark Liberty or the Philadelphia International Airport to Princeton:
- by train or Uber/Lyft is fully reimbursable.
- If you choose to take a regular taxi (non-Uber or Lyft), limo, airport shuttle bus, or rent a car to travel from and back to the airport, you may provide us with the invoice and we will pay up to $150 in lieu of reimbursing the full cost of a regular taxi (non-Uber/Lyft), limo, airport shuttle bus, or rental car from and to any airport.
Note: Local, regular taxis (as well and Uber/Lyft) are reimbursable for transportation within Princeton. (e.g. A taxi from the Princeton Junction Train Station to IAS.)
Mileage for use of your personal vehicle will be reimbursed at the current government approved rate.
Mileage is calculated from one's place of business to the destination. If you need to be reimbursed for mileage, please include a PDF file from MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com/directions) or Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps) with the beginning and ending addresses that show the distance.
Costs for meals can be reimbursed in one of two ways (below). Please use one method for entire visit.
- A flat per diem of $61 per day subtracting for any IAS provided meals (e.g. breakfast - $13, lunch - $17, and supper - $31). Note: If we provide a supper for a speaker, deduct 1 day per diem.
- OR (2) actual costs. We ask for both the itemized receipt that shows what food was ordered as well as the credit card receipt if a tip was added there. Please remember to ask for a receipt at the IAS dining hall.
Please provide all receipts as PDF files and email them to the appropriate Academic Assistant along with your Travel Reimbursement Form (e.g. airfare, boarding passes, taxi, train receipts, meals). The Request for Travel Reimbursement form must be completed, signed, and dated.
If you have a US bank account and would like direct deposit, please complete the Direct Deposit Request Form – Accounts Payable Only form and attach a copy of a voided blank personalized check or documentation from your bank that includes your checking account number and bank Transit/ABA Number (9 digits). Please note that this form must be typed (except for the signature). If you wish for secure transfer of this form, let us know and it will be sent to you via Filelocker for you to complete and send back.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Astrophysics: Amanda Cenker, cenker@ias.edu
Physics: Lisa Fleischer, lisa@ias.edu
Physics/Biology: Audrey Smerkanich, audrey@ias.edu
Foreign Currency Conversion Guidelines:
If a US credit card is used to make a purchase in a foreign currency, include the receipt in the currency transacted and the credit card statement showing the U.S. dollar amount and any fees that were assessed.
If US dollars were converted at a bank or kiosk, provide the receipt showing the exchange rate and any fees. Please indicate which purchases you made with these funds. We will reimburse your expenses using the conversion rate for these funds.
If you do not have the receipt showing the exchange rate you received for converting funds, the expense should be converted using the conversion rate on the day of the transaction.
Use the Oanda 164 Currency Converter tool (https://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/), select the transaction type you used to make the purchase (Typical ATM rate, Typical Kiosk rate or typical credit card rate).
A visitor or member who made a purchase in a foreign currency with that foreign currency (either cash or credit card), can use OANDA Currency Converter to convert each receipt on the date that expenses were incurred. Use the interbank rate = 0%.
(updated 10/6/2021)