There are two ways to handle guest artist travel accommodations (flight, lodging, rental car):

1. The guest may book accommodations himself and be reimbursed by the department after travel has completed. The guest is required to submit proper receipts and invoices in order to be reimbursed.
2. The department may direct bill flight, lodging, and rental car accommodations on their behalf.

Please give as much information to the guest artist liaison in order to help with guest travel plans.

For more information about UT travel you may peruse the Travel Management Services webpage.

Skip to Flight.

Skip to Lodging.

Skip to Rental Car.

Skip to Other Travel Costs.

Direct Bill Flight

The University of Texas at Austin handles direct bill flight bookings through two different travel agencies, Anthony Travel and Carlson Wagonlit.

You may not buy a ticket for a guest yourself and be reimbursed later. Websites like Expedia or Travelocity may only be used by the guest himself. Acquiring tickets on the guest's behalf must be done through one of these two travel agents. The guest artist liaison will book the travel for the guest once all the paperwork has been turned in.

Estimates for airfare: when preparing the guest artist form, please consult  Expedia or Travelocity to get the best estimate for the airfare.  Airfares change everyday, it is important to turn the guest artist paperwork in on time in order to guarantee a lower price in airfare.

The travel agent will require certain information about the traveler. Please help Liliana by doing your best to provide as much of this information on the Guest Artist Form.

Required information:

• Guest's full name (as it appears on the Driver license)
• Guest's date of birth
• Travel information (dates, preferred times, airports)
• DocID number

Travel information:

• Preferred airline
• Frequent flyer numbers
• Aisle or window seat preference
• Preferred airport
• Preferred travel times

The agent may ask you whether you would like a refundable or non-refundable ticket. A non-refundable ticket is often significantly cheaper, but the State of Texas has special state rates for certain destinations. These state rate tickets are refundable, so if you are given the choice between the two and there is a negligible price difference, go with the state rate ticket. Please also consider the reliability of the guest. If you feel this guest might back out at the last minute, the refundable ticket is typically the way to go. Airlines require exorbitant fees to cancel a non-refundable ticket, and it becomes very difficult to reclaim even a small portion of that money.

Lodging

The Department of Theatre and Dance has direct bill relationships with a certain number of B&Bs, hotels, and extended stay establishments around Austin.

The University does not allow rental agreements with short-term rentals such as AirBnB, HomeAway, or Property Management companies.

Please contact Liliana with the guest's needs or preferences.

A guest may book his own lodging accommodations at any hotel or make use of AirBnB, HomeAway and others and be reimbursed after travel is completed.  Make sure you have enough lodging money allocated on the guest artist form before he books the room.

Hotels in the vicinity that are currently set up with a direct bill account for our department:

• Extended Stay America on Guadalupe
• La Quinta Inn Austin Capitol
• DoubleTree Club Hotel
• Doubletree Guest Suites Austin
• Embassy Suites Downtown
• Hyatt Regency Austin
• AT&T Conference Center
• Adam's House
• Courtyard-Marriot Austin
• Hampton Inn and Suites Austin at The University
• Omni Austin Downtown

Estimates for housing: Averages for lodging should be estimated between $110 - $250/night, depending on availability of the hotel.

Rental Car

The department has direct bill accounts set up with Avis and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. However, often the deals negotiated between the rental agency and the university are less favorable than the rates on these agencies' websites. If you must direct bill a rental car, talk to Liliana about the guest's needs or preferences. Direct bill accommodations may not be booked online. for more information about rental information and provisions, click here.

When offering a rental car, please keep in mind that the guest might ask for a reimbursement of gas.

A guest may book a rental car himself, or the guest artist liaison may book a car on his behalf. In this scenario, the guest artist will incur rental costs and must be reimbursed after travel is completed. A sponsoring faculty member cannot be reimbursed for rental car payments incurred on behalf of a guest.

Other Travel Costs

Sometimes guests have other needs which they wouldn't readily state at the beginning of this process. It's always a good idea to ask guests if they will require additional needs.

• Per Diem. This is a standard per day cost for meals and other small expenditures of travel. The standard per diem rate for UT is $51 per full day of travel. Partial travel days are not eligible for per diem. Please consider these costs when factoring in your guest's travel accommodations. An honorarium is considered income and reported on a guest's tax return. Per diem is not reported as income and therefore the guest will retain the full amount allocated.
• Baggage Fees. Most airlines require baggage fees for those guests checking luggage. It's always good policy to ask a guest if he will check a bag, and to factor that cost on the Guest Artist Form.
• Taxi or Shuttle. Often guests will provide alternative transportation to and from the airport. Please ask what their travel plans are at their home airport, and if you should factor in taxi or shuttle costs into their travel. Guests will have to submit receipts after the fact for these costs to be reimbursed. UT also requires them to state origin and destination (home to airport, for example).
• Parking. Sometimes guests will request airport parking reimbursement as part of their travel expenses. If you agree to these expenses, make sure to factor in these costs on the Guest Artist Form.  If the guest receives a car rental, please be aware you will have to offer parking opportunities too.  
• Wireless Access on Campus.  UTGuest WIFI Access 
• Parking on Campus. The department has a limited supply of one time use parking cards, which can be used in any UT garage. Talk to Liliana about your guest's parking needs on campus. Parking is $12/day on campus.  If the guest stays here for an extended time, please contact Liliana to discuss the parking needs/options.