Originally Posted by
garykung
Most don't, at least 95% and higher.
As a federal contractor, you are not bound by the travel policies of the federal employees. So you can do whatever you want (like you can fly premium classes). The Government simply reimburse the actual cost or the maximum allowed.
In this case, because the travel is not official, the travel provider is under no obligation to honor the GSA contracted rate to you.
As an example, if I booked a first class ticket, the gov't would deny the reimbursement without justification for the first class ticket. If I booked a full size car, the gov't would deny the reimbursement without justification for the full size car. That may not line up with your experience but that is my reality in this case.
As you say the travel provider is under no obligation to honor the GSA contracted rate, which is exactly why I opened this thread to find out which hotel programs would still give me the rewards while staying as the GSA rate.