Federal regulations (2 CFR §200.475.e(1)) require that airfare costs in excess of the lowest economy fare class are unallowable except when the latter would offer accommodations not reasonably adequate for the traveler’s medical needs.  This is one of several exceptions.

In order to document this exception, a doctor’s note should be obtained to identify the medical accommodation(s) being requested, such as extra leg room, etc.  The note should NOT include any privileged medical information regarding the traveler’s medical condition.  The traveler’s privacy must be maintained. 

Doctor’s Note Example:   John Smith is currently under my care and is advised to only book airfare with extra leg room to accommodate his medical needs.

Travel on sponsored projects requires an itemized hotel bill, with $0 balance due. The itemized hotel bill confirms the travel has taken place and details the full accommodation costs, travel dates, and the payment confirmation.  Travelers should request a copy of an itemized bill from the hotel to confirm the accommodation costs and any additional meals,
sundries, etc. charged to the room.  

A hotel booking agency receipt is a prepaid hotel ‘reservation.’  In circumstances where a 3rd party booking agency was utilized and a hotel’s itemized bill is not available, a written confirmation from the hotel identifying the accommodation dates and $0 balance due will suffice for the accommodation costs. Supporting documentation is still required for any expenses above the accommodation costs.

For all sponsored projects, proposed per diem or subsistence allowances must be reasonable and limited to the days of attendance at the conference plus the actual travel time to reach the conference location by the most direct route. Where meals and/or lodgings are furnished without charge or at a nominal cost (e.g., as part of the registration fee), the proposed per diem or subsistence allowance must take this into consideration. 

Resources:
U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Meals & Incidentals (M&IE) breakdown for further guidance on meal deductions.
NIH Grants Policy Statement NIHGPS 14.10 Allowable and Unallowable Costs

• If you are booking a flight with more stops or a longer duration than required for a business trip, due to personal travel, a
  comparable airfare quote must be obtained. It's best practice to provide comparable itinerary using a flight search aggregator,
  such as Google Flights or Kayak. The comparison quote must be obtained at the time of booking to show the available
  airfares for the sponsor-related portion of the trip (including price, dates, and air class). That comparison quote report should
  be attached to the expense report in Workday. The traveler will be reimbursed up to the value of the least expensive
  comparison quote or the actual airfare, whichever is less.
   
• If you are directly booking your flight with FCm Travel Solutions, then the travel agent must also obtain the comparison quotes
  (see above for process) at the time of booking. If the airfare cost is greater than the comparison quote, FCm Travel must be
  provided with a non-sponsored account or the traveler's credit card information to pay directly for the difference.
   
• Multipurpose trips without a timely comparison quote cannot be reimbursed from sponsored project funds.

The Fly America Act is a federal regulation that requires that any foreign air travel funded by the federal government be booked with U.S. flag air carriers, regardless of cost and convenience.

Yes. Any travel costs charged to federal awards must comply with federal regulations, including the requirement to book the lowest economy airfare and comply with the Fly America Act. Travel on a non-federal award does not need to meet the Fly America Act requirement.

In general, all airlines based in the United States qualify. Specifically, a U.S. flag air carrier is one that holds a certificate under Section 401 of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. If you have questions on where a particular airline is based, you can search this airline database.

In addition, travelers are allowed to fly on code share flights operated by foreign carriers. A flight qualifies if a ticket is purchased from a U.S. flag carrier but the aircraft is operated by a foreign airline. Your ticket will identify the U.S. carrier in this case. For example: “AA 1234 operated by SAA 567” (AA = American Airlines, SAA = South African Airways).

The traveler is considered to be on a code share flight if he/she purchases a ticket from one carrier but flies on an aircraft owned by another airline. This would be a ticket that is issued by a U.S. air carrier that states “U.S. air carrier flight XXXX operated by foreign air carrier.” There may be a list of code share partners on the U.S. air carrier’s website; however, not all flights on those partner airlines are operated under code share agreements. Only code share flights booked properly through the U.S. carrier are allowable.

Allowable:  AA 1234 operated by QF 4321
Unallowable: QF 4321 operated by AA 1234
(AA = American Airlines, QF = Qantas Airways)

Tickets/electronic receipts include the information necessary to determine if a flight is a qualifying code share. Tickets must be issued by the U.S. flag air carrier and the flight number in most cases has the code of a U.S. carrier (e.g. UA, AA).

If you have questions before purchasing a ticket, you can contact the airline, which is required by law to answer questions related to code share flights.

If you are trying to determine the country of origin of an airline, visit The Airline Codes Website.
You can search for any airline and see the country associated with the airline on the Airline Code Search Results page.

Even when traveling between two foreign locations, a traveler must abide by the Fly America Act regulations. Certain exceptions may apply.

You must use a U.S. flag air carrier for all legs of your route on which a U.S. flag air carrier is an option. If a U.S. flag air carrier does not travel to your final destination or does not provide service on a portion of your route, you may use a foreign air carrier only on the leg(s) for which U.S. service is unavailable. If a Fly America Act exception exists, it is the traveler’s responsibility to obtain the supporting documentation at the time of purchase to substantiate the allowable exception.

The Fly America Act states that when using federal funds you must use U.S. flag air carriers or flights operated under a U.S. code share agreement to travel to the foreign destination. The easiest way to ensure that you are flying on a U.S. Flag Air Carrier is to book your travel directly through the U.S. flag air carrier. Using a travel website such as Kayak, Expedia, Travelocity, etc. can cause confusion, as these websites are designed to find the lowest fares regardless of air carrier.

Yes, the Fly America Act must be utilized by all individuals who are seeking reimbursement for travel costs on federal awards. If trainees, students, consultants, collaborators, or other non-Brown personnel book travel on foreign air carriers, they will not be eligible for reimbursement from federal sources.

In addition, international collaborators and consultants must also follow this regulation. Please make sure to work with international consultants before they make flight arrangements to ensure that they are aware of U.S. air carrier restrictions.

We want to save the award funding for other research-related purposes. Is this an allowable exception to the Fly America Act?

No, the Fly America Act specifically states that the decision to use a foreign air carrier service must not be made solely based on the cost of the ticket.

Can the portions booked on the U.S. flag air carriers be charged to the grant?

It depends on who issued the ticket or if there is a flight specific code share in place. If a U.S. flag carrier issued the ticket (i.e., it is printed on a U.S. air carrier ticket/boarding pass/receipt), then the expense will, in most cases, be eligible for reimbursement. If the ticket is issued by a foreign air carrier (i.e., the foreign airline is printed on the ticket/boarding pass/receipt), the ticket is not eligible for reimbursement on a federal award, even if there are portions of the flight that have a U.S. Air Carrier flight designator code. This is due to the fact that this ticket would have been booked incorrectly through the code share process. If a Fly America Act exception exists, it is the traveler’s responsibility to obtain the supporting documentation at the time of purchase to substantiate the allowable exception.

…and the flights to and/or within the foreign countries were on foreign carriers with tickets issued by the foreign carrier. Can the domestic flights be charged to the grant?

Yes, the domestic portions issued on tickets from U.S. air carriers can be charged to the federal grant. However, the tickets issued by the foreign carriers may not be charged unless there were no U.S. flag air carriers flying to that destination. Please note that U.S. flag air carriers must be used to the furthest point possible, and one should only switch to the foreign carrier for the portion where there is no U.S. flag air carrier available. Travelers must make sure to attach to the Expense Report request in Workday the flight information at the time of purchase to substantiate that there was no U.S. flag air carrier available.

No, this flight would not be eligible for reimbursement under the open skies exception because the United Kingdom is not a part of the European Union (EU). 

Yes, it is still your responsibility to ensure that the flight meets the U.S. flag air carrier criteria. However, you should inform the preferred vendor that the traveler is using federal funds.

No. You must adhere to the Fly America Act and fly a U.S. flag air carrier, unless you meet one of the exemptions allowed in the Fly America regulations.

The traveler is expected to secure the lowest available commercial discount or coach airfare at the time of booking travel, whether through a travel agent or by booking travel themselves.  

The cost of premium economy airfare and other offers provided by airlines in excess of the base price for a coach ticket is unallowable on sponsored projects. The use of these upgraded/ preferred coach seating options is generally a traveler's personal choice and therefore is at the traveler's personal expense (see 41 CFR 301-10.124). The cost attributed to the upgraded service cannot be charged to a sponsored project and must be deducted from the total amount of the airfare requested for reimbursement. Comparable flight documentation should be provided with the reimbursement request. The comparable flight documentation provided should include the base price for the coach airfare at the time of booking. Failure to isolate the upgrade cost and provide comparable documentation will result in denial of the reimbursement of the entire airfare on a sponsored project.

If airfare is determined unreasonable and no comparable documentation provided, the flight cost will be disallowed and not be reimbursed on a sponsored project.

No.  In most cases it is less expensive to pay the change fee for a rebooked ticket than to pay for a fully refundable ticket.  In cases where there is a high probability that the trip could be canceled and the funds are not available for a future flight, the purchase of trip insurance is allowable if supporting documentation is thoroughly completed and justification is provided.

Many non-refundable tickets can be used for future travel after paying a change fee.  Confirm with the issuing agent or airline that the ticket can be used for future travel.  It is the responsibility of the traveler to track unused airline tickets for future business use.  If future travel is related to a sponsored project the usual sponsored project rules apply. 

An upgrade is an unallowable expense on sponsored projects and is not permitted and will not be reimbursed.  Free upgrades or upgrades paid by the traveler must be clearly documented when seeking reimbursement.  Extra cost beyond the base fare is considered an upgrade to the ticket and is not reimbursable by a sponsored project account.

If supporting documentation is not provided, the cost of foreign air carrier travel is unallowable on a sponsored project and must be reimbursed by non-sponsored (personal or departmental) funds.