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To generate and employ air mobility, enable theater and strategic airpower, and operate key Air Force power projection platforms, the 86th Airlift Wing often has to send Airmen to various locations throughout Europe.
With that travel, Airmen are often tasked to manage some aspect of the funding. But what happens when an Airman doesn’t have the funding in place? That’s where the Government Travel Charge Card program comes into play.
“Many new Airmen and civilians do not have credit when entering the Air Force, and this program aids in that respect,” said 2nd Lt. Helen Smith, 86th Comptroller Squadron Financial Services flight commander.
The GTCC program provides both military and civilian Department of Defense employees the ability to complete official travel in support of missions by granting them access to allotted money.
In addition to granting DOD employees access to necessary funding, utilizing and requiring the use of the GTCC allows agency program coordinators to view and track charges as they are made on accounts.
“This is particularly useful when members do not have access (to monitor their accounts),” Smith said.
Unless otherwise exempt, all DOD personnel are required to use the GTCC for all authorized expenses related to official government travel, which includes permanent changes of station and temporary duty assignments.
Not only does this allow APCs to track charges made by individual account holders but it also allows them to monitor the accounts for repayment.
“Cardholders are required to submit travel vouchers within five business days of completion of travel and use split disbursement to pay all expenses charged to the card directly to the travel-card vendor,” Smith said.
This means cardholders must file for reimbursement of travel expenses, including lodging and commercial travel, they charged to their card. It’s important to note that food is not accounted for under travel expenses but under per diem expenses.
Cardholders are meant to pay the card vendor directly by the due date located on the monthly billing statement issued by the vendor, regardless of the status of the reimbursement.
But what happens when the GTCC isn’t paid by the due date?
“Accounts are considered past due at 30 days past billing and delinquent if unpaid 61 days after the billing date,” Smith said. “Late fees are applied at 75 days past billing and at every 30-day increment or billing cycle thereafter until the delinquency amount is paid in full.”
If an account reaches 126 days past billing, it becomes eligible for salary offset, which is the collection of any amount the cardholder owes to the travel-card vendor as a result of undisputed delinquencies. Upon written request from the vendor, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service will begin the process of salary offset.
“Cardholders whose accounts become delinquent may be subject to disciplinary or administrative action,” Smith warned. “Also, salary offset fees are nonreimbursable.”
On average, the 86th AW has approximately 60 accounts in a delinquent status, with nearly $62,000 being owed quarterly.
The GTCC program isn’t all gloom and doom, however. For cardholders in long-term travel status, traveling for more than 45 days, they can file interim vouchers every 30 days in order to receive partial payments and use split disbursement to ensure their accounts avoid delinquency.
For individuals who are on travel orders that prevent them from filing interim vouchers, APCs can place them on mission critical status before the account is 61 days past the billing and suspended. Once the cardholder’s account is removed from mission critical status, they have 45 days to pay the balance.
When cardholders stay on top of their accounts to ensure they don’t enter delinquency status, both the members and the DOD receive benefits.
“When they keep the account from being delinquent, there are no late fees for the cardholder,” Smith said. “Also, the DOD receives a rebate for use and timely payment of the travel card.”
There are two types of rebates available from travel vendors: sales and productivity. Sales rebates are based on charge volume, or how much the GTCCs are used. Productivity rebates are based on payment timeliness.
“Since October 2015, Ramstein has received $72,882 toward operations and maintenance funds,” Smith said.
So it stands to reason, the fewer accounts in a delinquent status, the larger the rebates the 86th AW receives and the more money that can be directed toward operations and maintenance.
Smith encourages cardholders to read DOD Instruction 5154.31, Volume 4, “Government Travel Charge Card.”
So maybe next time an Airman has a mission supporting an ally or generating airpower in another country, they know the government has their financial back as long as it’s mutual.
