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                               April 3, 1997
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                             GSBCA 14029-TRAV


                     In the Matter of ABDUL KALIQ RAJA


     Abdul Kaliq Raja, Fairfax, VA, Claimant.

     Darlene Wooden, Travel Section, Department of Veterans
Affairs, Washington, DC, appearing for Department of Veterans
Affairs.

BORWICK, Board Judge.    

     Abdul Kaliq Raja (claimant), an employee with Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) at headquarters in Washington, D.C., seeks
reimbursement for the cost of a non-refundable airline ticket. 
Claimant purchased the ticket, for $101, from a company which is
not a government contract carrier (noncontract carrier); claimant
intended to attend a training course in Atlanta, Georgia.  Sudden
illness prevented claimant from using the ticket or attending the
course. 

     The VA refused to reimburse claimant because he failed to
justify use of a noncontract carrier, when a government contract
carrier was available.  We conclude the agency correctly denied
reimbursement. 

     Claimant argues that he purchased the ticket at a lower fare
than the fare available from the government contract carrier and
that his supervisor orally approved the purchase before the
intended travel date.  Claimant also relies on his second-line
supervisor's (the Director of the Finance Staff's) approval of a
travel voucher (dated two months after the planned travel) as
sufficient authorization for reimbursement.  The voucher approved
by the Director of the Finance Staff did not contain the
justification, described below, required by the Federal Travel
Regulation (FTR) for use of a noncontract carrier.  
   
     The FTR makes use of government contract air carriers
mandatory, when available, for employees of the executive agencies
on official travel.  41 CFR 301-15.21 (1996).  There are three
exceptions to mandatory use: (1) seating space or the scheduled
service is not available in time to accomplish the purpose of the
travel, or the scheduled service would require the traveler to
incur overnight lodging expenses; (2) the carrier's schedule for
the travel is inconsistent with the Government's policy of
scheduling travel to the maximum extent practical during normal
working hours; and (3) a cost comparison establishes that (i) a
restricted or unrestricted coach fare is lower than the contract
fare or other fare offered by the awardee, all other cost factors
being equal, or (ii) use of a noncontract coach fare available to
the general public would, when added to certain specified factors,
result in lower costs to the Government than the costs that would
accrue if the comparable cost factors were added to the contract
fare.  41 CFR 301-15.27(b)(1)-(b)(3). 

     Justification for use of noncontract carriers must be
authorized on individual travel orders (if known before travel
begins) or approved on vouchers (if not known before travel
begins).  41 CFR 301-15.27(a). 

     In the absence of specific authorization or approval stated
on, or attached to, the travel authorization or travel voucher, a
civilian employee is responsible for any difference in the cost
that may result from the traveler's unauthorized use of noncontract
service.  41 CFR 301-15.28.  In a case similar to this one, the
General Accounting Office denied the claim of an employee who
sought reimbursement for a non-reimbursable noncontract air ticket
after cancellation of the trip.  Shelley Eddy, B-238383 (July 13,
1990).   

     Generally, to be entitled to reimbursement for travel expenses
on official business, Government employees are required to obtain
travel authorization prior to making travel arrangements.  Ronald
H. Milligan, GSBCA 13701-TRAV, 97-1 BCA  28,713 (1996).  

     Failure to obtain prior written approval, however, is not
always fatal to an employee s claim for reimbursement.  If travel
expenses are otherwise allowable, an agency may pay those expenses
if they are approved after the performance of the travel.  David
Blanchet, B-246270 (May 19, 1992). 
 
     Claimant has not shown that contract carrier service was
unavailable or that the other exceptions specified by the FTR were
applicable to his travel.  Furthermore, an official cannot simply
waive the FTR's requirement for use of a government contract air
carrier.  Kevin S. Foster, GSBCA 13639-RELO, 97-1 BCA  28,688
(1996); Anthony Devito, B-196950 (Mar. 24, 1980); James Pakis, B-
193616 (Feb. 14, 1979).  The Director of Finance Staff's signature
on the travel voucher, absent the justifications prescribed by the
FTR, cannot be construed as agency ratification of claimant's
purchase of a non-refundable non contract carrier airline ticket. 

     Claimant argues that FTR 301-3.4(b)(1)(i) authorizes use of
special lower fares when "on the basis of the journey as planned,
it is known or can be reasonably anticipated that these tickets
will be used."  The next sentence of that regulation, however,
warns that "the use of special lower fares does not take precedence
over the mandatory use of contract air fares between selected city
pairs as prescribed."  Id. 

     

     
     
                         ________________________________
                         ANTHONY S. BORWICK
                         Board Judge