MSPeconomist

I can often but not always buy the plane ticket several weeks up to several months in advance. In principle, I could go through the hassle of getting a cash advance for the trip, but I never have done so. Also in principle, for some trips there would be a method of setting up an encumbrance on my travel budget with lots of approvals and paying a service fee to purchase the ticket from some small local travel agent I never use, which again isn't worth my time. So I just make my own arrangements and get reimbursed after the trip, which also happens when third parties are paying for my travel, with very few exceptions that aren't worth the hassle and that I ignore unless forced to use someone else's corporate travel agent, etc.