relangford

Caution: rant follows: I am stationed overseas with the U.S. Federal Government. Every two years when we renew our contract, we can get a government-paid trip home (to our "Home of Record - HOR). My HOR is Houston, TX, where I was living when I signed the initial contract. I now have a home in Dallas, TX. We CAN fly to an alternate location other than the HOR as long as the fare is the SAME OR LESS. Next month, I get a trip to my HOR. I am on an AA non-stop ICN - DFW (where I want to end up), but I have to continue on to IAH (since Houston is my HOR and the GSA fare to IAH from ICN is actually $30 cheaper than flying ICN to DFW) and then, at my expense, immediately return to DFW ($476 airfare cheapest r/t) . And, on the way back, I have to fly the night before from DFW to IAH and stay at an airport hotel to catch a 6:00 AM flight - yes, back to DFW, then on to ICN. I have taken this up as far as I can with the Army, JTR, and even GSA, and all I get is - "rules are rules". For my wife and myself, this "free" trip is costing over $1000 in airfare and hotel plus a lot of wasted time, twice transiting the very place I want to be. Oh, well, it's all the fun of being a government employee overseas. Rant over.

abmj-jr

Seems like it would be cheaper to just rent a car and drive the 240 miles. Or take Amtrak.

cmn.jcs

Having used this benefit (more accurately, something related to it), it's a pretty good deal. Not really the government's problem that you want to go somewhere other than your HOR.

relangford

You are correct, but this case is unusual in that the flight actually goes to DFW (my "real" home) before travel to my HOR. And, the fact that one cannot change their HOR (I only was working temporarily in Houston).I understand there can be options, but the flight arrives at IAH at 7:00 PM; no Amtrak service possible without a lot of mis-routed travel the next day; and - I am over 70 years old - don't want to drive after 20 hours of travel (BTW, we have to travel coach).

Yes, I said it was a rant. I do appreciate the $1000 trip from Korea to Texas and back - thank you, taxpayers. It is just that travelling the extra distance from DFW to IAH when I want to be at DFW seems strange.

jewels421

Hmm. Did you book a round-trip ticket or two one-ways? If two one-ways, on the way there can't you just..... not take the DFW-IAH leg? You'll have to pick up your bags and clear customs/immigration at DFW, right? Unless there's some wrinkle I'm not thinking of because it's international travel, it shouldn't be a problem. If RT, you can't do it because they'll cancel the rest of your itinerary.

relangford

Exactly. The rules of the Return Agreement Travel (RAT) is that it MUST be round trip, and MUST be to your Home of Record, and MUST be in the U.S. or possessions, and MUST be ticketed by the government travel office. If I were to not take the DFW - IAH leg (yes, I do have to clear customs and get luggage at DFW to recheck to IAH), I would void the return ticket. Real Catch-22.

jewels421

Well, I guess you could "misconnect" your DFW-IAH flight (show up at the gate after it's left) because of a "customs problem" or something. And just tell the GA that you're going to rent a car instead of taking the 2nd segment, but can they please keep the return flights. That's pretty risky, though, and probably only works if there are no other flights leaving within a reasonable timeframe.

Anyways, not to rub it in, but makes me glad I work in the private sector... There'd be no problem with me covering the extra $30 to actually go where I wanted.

cmn.jcs

Actually, now that I think about it, I'm certain that some members of my family have done exactly what you want to do--pay the differential to fly somewhere other than HOR--on at least one occasion. I'll see if I can find a citation for that.

ETA: Are you actually a contractor? What's the name of the program you're using to get back to TX?

MSPeconomist

If you were only working temporarily in Houston just before the government contract started, why is Houston your HOR rather than Dallas? I would guess that Dallas was/is your tax home, right?

relangford

Yes, the JTR regulations state that paying the differential is possible under the rules (I told them that I would be happy to do that - it's only about $60 per ticket); however, the ticket is charged to a government account and I have been told that no one here knows how to do a split payment (part government charge and part personal charge). I am a civilian employee and not a contractor. The program is the Renewal Agreement Travel (RAT) which grants home leave once an employee signs a renewal contract for at least two more years.My voting location, tax home, drivers license, bank account, etc. all are Dallas - the problem is a government quirk: the HOR is where you were when you signed the contract and cannot be changed. As an aside, during my 20+ years in the military, my HOR was a town some 80 miles from my home where I was working on a temporary assignment. But, I can understand the rationale behind not being able to change the HOR - some people would take advance of this since that is the location that personal household goods must be moved to when retiring.

cmn.jcs

So then it's not the policy you have an issue with, it's the people who don't know how to execute the policy that are giving you trouble. Not exactly a great situation, but different from what you implied before.

As for the HOR--how did you not get to specify that? When I joined the AF, my HOR was definitely not where I signed the contract.

pinniped

(1) Find someone who knows how to execute the policy. You should be able to pay the $60 and not have to deal with Houston at all.

(2) Failing that, I'd probably grab a cheap hotel at IAH and drive the following morning. (I completely understand not wanting to hit the road after 20 hours in Y...)

(3) $476 R/T between IAH/HOU and DAL/DFW sounds insanely high with a month's notice. Can you tell what's causing the unusual fares? Hopefully it's not something that also has hotel and rental car demand jacked up... Are flights the following morning less expensive?

powerlifter

Who ever you talked is wrong. I was stationed in Canada on my home leave you could go anywhere as long as it equal to or less than the trip to your HOR.
We had people go to Hawaii in the winter I went to Corpus Christi to see my daughter. I never had to fly to Savannah which was my HOR. The people you are talking to do not know the rules. Call someone higher up and get the rules right.
On another note I had a friend who was a civilian employee with the army she had saved up her leave to the 360 max. They told her she had to use it to get down to the 240 or what ever the number was that was the maximum. I kept mine for another eight years and retired with the 360 and got paid for it all.

jewels421

OP's problem is that flying to Dallas is $30 more expensive than flying to Houston. So, it's not "equal or less." Also sounds like the problem is the govt. not knowing how to execute split payments (or have OP reimburse them for the $30).

It's too bad you've had to deal with this red tape, OP...

tom_MN

If it's a GSA fare then it is fully refundable. Can't you approach the airline directly and pay any difference to them?

Also, aren't GSA fares always one ways, even if issued as what appears to be a round trip?