Agenda:
       I.   Non Refundable Pilot 
             A. Review Findings 
             B. Risk Mitigation and Recommendations
             C. Path Forward – Policy Change
  National Science Foundation    Office of Information and Resource Management      Division of Administrative Services
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                   Non Refundable Ticket Pilot Findings
                                                    Ticket Data                 Count           Invoice               Savings 
                                                                                                Cost                  Data*
                                                    Ticket Price at                 911         $541,531
                                                    Contract YCA fare
     The Pilot was conducted on an 
    optional basis for panelists and results        Total Tickets                   911         $425, 654
    are for all participants in FY09 , Pilot        Actually Issued
    continued FY10 with similar results.
                                                    Total Non                       238                               $115, 877
     Participants selected non refundable          Refundable 
    fares 26% of the time                           Selected
                                                    Total Cancelled                    11       $     5, 975
     Extrapolating across the Foundation, 
    there is a potential savings of $2.7 million    Tickets
    dollars based on average savings and %          Net Savings                                                       $109, 901
    of utilization
                                                    Average Savings                                                   $462
     Benchmarking with other Agencies              Per Ticket
    reveals several who allow and encourage 
    the use of non refundable fares
            e.g., DOT, DOI, USDA, and VA
                                                                              *Savings is comparison of  actual fare 
                                                                                           paid vs. YCA
  National Science Foundation             Office of Information and Resource Management                  Division of Administrative Services
                               Managing Non Refundables
                                          Rules of the Road
       Risks                                               Mitigations
       Lose Financial and Audit Controls when              Issue all tickets through contracted travel 
       tickets are purchased outside of the                agent; provides reporting and visibility to air 
       contracted travel agent                             and rail travel expenditures
       A small percentage of tickets will go unused  Contracted travel agency provides 
       (1.2% in the pilot)                                 negotiating support with the airlines to 
                                                           reduce impact and still have positive net 
                                                           gain
       NSF will have to pay change fees for                Pilot data indicates the change fees plus 
       legitimate official changes                         original ticket cost still represents a savings 
                                                           over higher cost fares
       Reduce utilization of GSA’s Contract City           The Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) 
       Pair program which could potentially drive          allows for choosing another carrier if a 
       contract prices up                                  lower fare is offered that the contract carrier 
                                                           does not offer or have available. Airline 
                                                           pricing is driven by market competition
  National Science Foundation    Office of Information and Resource Management      Division of Administrative Services
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                               Managing Non Refundables
                                   Rules of the Road (cont)
       Risks                                               Mitigations
       Travelers could unwittingly select a                Customer feedback indicated a strong 
       non refundable fare when reserving                  preference not to offer an on line 
       on-line                                             option for non refundables due to the 
                                                           time constraints for ticketing.
       A traveler could potentially reserve a              Staff will be instructed to call 
       personal stopover                                   CWTSatoTravel for leisure in 
                                                           conjunction with official travel. For 
                                                           panelists the contracted travel agency 
                                                           will limit tickets to what is authorized
       Non refundable fares generally require  Customer feedback overwhelmingly 
       ticketing within 24 hours of booking.               recommended to get an approved 
       Approver would have to learn to                     travel plan first and then contact 
       approve within hours.                               CWTSatoTravel to make the 
                                                           reservation and secure the ticket.
  National Science Foundation    Office of Information and Resource Management      Division of Administrative Services
                                                                                                                5
                                    Customer Outreach
       • Initial “green light” from Executives to proceed 
            on travel policy change
       • Solicited Voice of the Customer for 
            Implementation
             – Administrative Officers
             – FedTraveler Super User Group
             – Travel Advisory Council
             – Conducted Focus Groups
             – Briefing each Directorate/Office on upcoming changes
  National Science Foundation    Office of Information and Resource Management      Division of Administrative Services
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