Government Airfare Rates

The New York State Office of General Services has reached agreement with a number of airlines to provide discounted travel from Syracuse to various locations across the country for employees of the State of New York that are charging travel expenses to state accounts. These fares give the traveler flexibility because they do not require a Saturday night stay over, are fully refundable, and do not have a penalty when reservations need to be changed. The procedure for booking a flight at the government rate follows:

• Travel must be for official university business only.
• Reservations must be made through BTI Travel Consultants at 315.472.7737 or 800.472.7447.
• Payment MUST be made with the BTA account established at BTI Travel Consultants and a control number must be obtained from the travel office.
• Inform the Travel agent that you are eligible for the government rate (fare code "YCANY")
• Traveler must have NYS Driver's license or NYS Agency picture id (SUNY Card is acceptable)

The Research Foundation is not a state agency; however,it is able to use the state travelcontract as an "approved entity" whose activities further the purposes of SUNY and the State of New York. During the negotiations for the airfare contract that began 12/1/00, some airlines took a firm position that approved entities such as the Research Foundation should not be eligible for state rates because they are not state agencies. At the same time, we are advised that other airlines will continue to offer state rates to the Research Foundation as long as the payment method is the RF AMEX procurement card.

Please be aware that not every destination has a government fare available. You can check for the government fare by calling the Travel agency and asking for the YCANY fares or by looking at the OGS website at:
Air Travel Service Contract. The city pair item pricing begins on page 8 of the contract.