Travel Preparation

Before travelling, you must:

• Consider whether travel is necessary. You can read more about UiB’s travel policy below.
• Get your travel approved from the leader with budget allocation authority.
• If necessary, apply for a credit card. You should use the credit card for travel so that there is no need for a travel advance. UiB has a credit card agreement with Eurocard. This is a credit card with company liability, but it is issued in the employee’s name. There is no annual fee associated with the card. The card can only be used for travel-related expenses for UiB.
• Consider whether you should submit a travel request and possibly apply for a travel advance. Guidance on how to submit a travel request/advance can be found here.

UiB has a credit card agreement with Eurocard and wants all employees that have business trips to apply for this credit card. This is a credit card with company liability, but it is issued in the employee’s name. There is no annual fee associated with the card. The card can only be used for travel-related expenses for UiB.

Frequently asked questions and answers for Credit Card with company liability can be found here.

You can apply for a credit card here.

If the credit card invoice is not paid, the amount will be deducted from your salary.

Credit Card Use

When the card is used to pay expenses while travelling, you will be insured on your travel. Therefore, you need to register the credit card number in your profile in Berg-Hansen.

1. Log into Berg-Hansen
2. Click on Profile under the START-menu to the left.
3. Click on Credit Card in the column on the right.
4. Register the Credit Card.

You can register the credit card in the self-service portal. Guidance on how to register the credit card can be found here. The credit card makes it easier to book and conduct business travels. When you have registered the card, you can obtain your transactions and transfer them to the travel expense claim directly. With the ‘Book Now-Pay Later’ system, the travel will be invoiced once the trip is completed. This happens automatically and you do not need to activate this feature. There will be a small fee incurred when you apply this to the travel expense claim. The system can be used when booking up to six months before departure.

The card should only be used for business-related travel expenses, not for personal purchases. The invoice is sent to and paid by the card holder, but UiB will pay the invoice in case of non-payment. In such cases, an agreement is made for salary deduction upon issuance of the card. In the event of non-payment, the card is also blocked for further use. Read more about the use of the card in the ‘Guidelines for the allocation and use of credit cards with company responsibility at the University of Bergen (UiB) for business travel purposes.’

Credit Card and Travel Insurance

The Credit Card has multiple use places across the entire world and travel insurance is included. When you use the credit card for most of the trip, and the trip is made using public transportation, you are insured by the credit card company. The insurance applies to business travel up to 90 days in duration. The insurance applies to cardholders who are resident of Nordic countries and are members of the National Insurance Scheme (Folketrygden) or equivalent systems in their Nordic home country.

You should use the credit card when traveling so that you do not need a travel advance. If you still need a travel advance, you must apply for this in a travel request in the self-service portal. Guide on how to apply for a travel request/advance can be found here.

UiB has an agreement with Berg-Hansen, which covers purchases of flights, hotel, rental car and train, visa services and arrangements for group travel. UiB’s discounted agreement prices for flights and hotels are implemented in the service. For visa services and arrangements for courses/conferences, the service will be priced depending on the scope.

As an employee at UiB, you book your travel through the self-service solution at Berg-Hansen.

If travel needs to be booked for an external guest or visitors, a designated travel booker must handle this. Often, this is the same person who orders goods and services at each unit.

Group Travel Bookings

For booking of group travels, contact Berg-Hansen: grupper@berg-hansen.no, telephone: 810 56 810.

If group travel is paid via invoice, the costs of the approved travel expenses must be documented. This is done through the purchasing system (contact your purchaser). The actual travel booking is done directly to Berg-Hansen, while in the purchasing system, you refer to the travel booking. The purchase order number is sent directly to Berg-Hansen who will include it on the invoice.

A fee will be charged for all services/bookings, which will be included in the travel expense claim.

You can register your travel expense claim in the self-service portal or the DFØ-app. Guidance on how to register a travel expense claim in the self-service portal can be found here. Please refer to our help guide ‘How to register a travel expense claim’ for step-by-step instructions on how to register a travel expense claim, and what information and attachments are necessary for each step when sending in a travel expense claim.

Travel expense claims and expense reimbursements are paid out twice per month. See the payout dates under the bar ‘Payout dates (all customers)’ for specific dates.

You can find the detailed schedule for the payout dates for the current year here.

Guidelines for travel expense claims regarding EU projects:

• All expenses must be ‘best value for money’ and all expenses must have a valid receipt in the travel expense claim. This also applies to receipts for public transportation.
• Travel should be booked through Berg-Hansen.
• Boarding passes need to be attached in the travel expense claim.
• If your flight is booked through Berg-Hansen and documented with receipt for the completed trip (shown as status:flown), it is not necessary to attach the boarding passes.
• The travel expense claim must be marked with the purpose and necessity for the project and, if applicable, WP (work package).
• Proof of participation and a link to the project must be attached.

Representational expenses (dinner/lunch for guests and others involved in the project) are not approved costs on the travel expense claim and must be ordered through the purchasing system. The following rules apply to EU projects regarding representational expenses:

• Lunch and/or snack expenses can be covered for participants if it is necessary in regard to meetings (the meeting needs to meet the criteria of the Grant agreement).
• Dinner is not an approved cost and has to be covered by each participant following the meals per diem rate. In some cases, dinner can be covered as representational expenses, for example a dinner for a Kick-off meeting where UiB coordinates, but only with approval from the Project Officer.
• Gifts are not an approved cost and must be covered by other funding sources (for example top funding).

Examples of attachments:

• Invitation
• Program
• Other printed materials from the event
• Copy of the presentation held
• Photos from the event
• Agenda
• Meeting minutes
• Signed participant list
• Work Package (WP)

If you are going to lead or participate in an expedition, you can find the agreement regarding remunerations on expeditions here. The agreement applies to government employees normally work on land and who temporarily perform duties related to their regular work aboard ships on an expedition.

You can read more about fieldwork and expeditions in our employee handbook.

You can find more information about fieldwork and expeditions in our employee handbook.

The University of Bergen has a travel policy that applies to all employees at UiB.

The travel policy is divided into two main sections:

• A checklist for travel planning
• Guidelines for prioritizing flights

Consider Alternatives

• Is the trip necessary?
• Could the trip be replaced by video conference?
• Can I use another method of transportation instead of flights?
• Can I skip the flight one way? Every little bit helps. Taking the train one way is equivalent to (almost) halving the emissions for the trip.

Plan, Prioritize and Combine

• Can multiple short trips be combined?
• Can I do several things at once? Maybe a sensor can also hold a seminar or maybe you and your collaborator are going to the same conference and can schedule a meeting at the same time?
• Can I avoid flying in sensors? Perhaps it is enough for one sensor to fly in, while another can participate via video conference?

Reduce Carbon Footprint of Your Own Events

• Internal meetings/seminars should be local.
• Therefore, avoid scheduling internal meetings/seminars in locations that require flying.
• Consider whether Teams or Zoom can be an alternative.

Guiding Checklist for Prioritizing Flights

The list serves as a guide for individuals and units to reduce emissions from travel. It is designed to protect academic and strategic activities, ensuring that travel related to academic work and travel to protect the University’s interests is prioritized. However, it is up to each unit to make the final decision on which travels should be prioritized.

The Following Purpose should be Prioritized

• Necessary trips for data collection.
• Collaborative projects where meetings cannot be conducted via video or similar.
• Presentations at conferences.
• Travel to protect the interests of the University of Bergen (for example meetings with the Ministry of Education and Research, negotiations, strategy meetings).