purchasing

State Travel Management Program – Airline Contract

Awarded Vendors

American Airlines – 800-433-7300

Delta Air Lines – 800-221-1212

Southwest Airlines – 800-435-9792

Contract Term

September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2025

Contract Information

The state of Texas airline fares are designed for last minute and/or fully-refundable travel requirements. These city-pairs provide maximum flexibility in traveling as fares are not subject to restrictions or penalties on last minute, refundable tickets. However, this flexibility means the rates are not always at the lowest cost to the state. When possible, state agencies and institutions of higher education should utilize 14-day advance or other lower cost airline fares for planned travel requirements to obtain the lowest possible cost to the state.

City-pair listings are one-way, in alphabetical order only, and applicable in both directions. Domestic airline fares listed include the 7.5% Federal Excise Ticket Tax, but do not include segment fees ($4.00 per segment), Passenger Facility Charges (up to $18.00 may apply depending upon the itinerary chosen, but can be as low as $4.50), security fees (up to $5.60 per one-way segment. An additional $5.60 fee can be assessed if the trip itinerary includes a layover or stopover of longer than four hours domestically or to/from Alaska and Hawaii.), fuel surcharges, or any other mandatory fees assessed by the airlines, airports, and/or local governments.

The Comptroller's office has also secured airline fares in international markets. The fares in these markets do not include TAXES, SEGMENT FEES, PASSENGER FACILITY CHARGES (PFCs), security fees or any other mandatory fees.

• 962 – M8 Contract Details

Booking Contract Fares

• Contact the state's contracted travel agency, National Travel Systems.
• Travel agencies utilized by institutions of higher education or travel eligible Texas Smartbuy Members.

If a Travel Coordinator chooses to book directly with a contracted airline, please follow the instructions given for each vendor.

American Airlines:

• Contact American's toll-free reservations at 800-433-7300 and inform the reservation agent that you are a State of Texas traveler.
• If requested by the American Airlines reservation agent, the State of Texas booking identifier code is 962M8-2714

962-M8 American Airlines City Pairs

• American Airlines Domestic and International City Pairs September 01, 2023 - August 31, 2024 (XLSX)

Delta Air Lines:

• Go to www.delta.com or the Fly Delta app and log in using your SkyMiles number.
  The program requires you to have a Delta SkyMiles numbers setup to receive the discount.

• To create a Delta SkyMiles™ account visit this link.

Required onetime set-up click one of the links below:

• State of Texas - State Agencies
  • State of Texas
  • Then enter your work email address and click Validate Email
• SmartBuy Members
  • SmartBuy Members Invitation
  • Then enter your work email address and click Validate Email
• Delta Team will ensure your access and send you a confirmation email.

Once set up follow the instructions below:

• Go to https://www.delta.com/ or the Fly Delta app and log in using your SkyMiles number
• Select "Business Travel" from your profile options

Southwest Airlines:

• Go to swabiz.com and log in using your entity's "Company ID".
• If your entity is not enrolled in SWABIZ, click here to obtain your "Company ID Number". Once you receive your Company ID number, send it to [email protected], and put "State of Texas CID" in the subject line. The Southwest Team will ensure you have access to the appropriate fares. Please allow 10 business days for account set-up to be completed once Company ID number is submitted via email.
• To learn more about Southwest Airlines contract offerings and inherent value, please visit The State of Texas Landing Page, exclusively for eligible State of Texas travelers.

Tips for Booking Airfares

• Travelers should ensure procedures regarding their state agency's travel policies are followed. Contact your state agency's travel coordinator for any questions.
• Compare state of Texas fares to general published fares.
• Understand the fare rules/restrictions when purchasing non-refundable tickets.
• Be flexible with your flight times. (Several hours can make $200+ difference.)
• Consider alternative airports in multi-airport cities.
• If you're an infrequent traveler and considering non-refundable fares, are tickets transferable should your trip be canceled?
• Confirm your itinerary BEFORE ticketing to avoid making ticket changes and incurring additional costs. (i.e. dates, times, fare, services, etc.)

Eligibility

Services to be provided are for elected and appointed state officers; state agency employees, including employees of institutions of higher education; employees and officers of participating Texas counties, municipalities, public/community junior colleges, and school districts; emergency communication districts established under Chapter 772, Health and Safety Code; and other persons traveling on official business on behalf of these participating entities when their travel expenses are paid by the governmental entity. This last category includes, but is not limited to, wards of the state, prisoners, indigent patients being transported by the state, and unpaid speakers invited by state agencies whose transportation, lodging, meals, and incidental business travel expenses related to travel are paid by the state agency or any other properly authorized entity.

Group travel, cost reimbursable contractors, paid speakers, and personal travel are NOT eligible to utilize the state of Texas airline fares.

Method of Payment

The mandatory form of payment for all airline fares is the state-issued corporate travel charge card accounts.

For members of the Texas Legislature, any form of payment may be used based on compatibility with ticketing and distribution channels. When applicable, for these individuals, a Texas Department of Public Safety official legislative identification card is all that is required to use the state of Texas airline fares.

Baggage Fees

Standard baggage fees apply for State of Texas travelers. Please check your airline's website for current rules and pricing.

Baggage charges that are related to state business are reimbursable. It is assumed that the first checked bag is necessary to complete business travel. Charges for excessive baggage may be reimbursed as long as the travel is related to state business (e.g. state-owned equipment).

Agencies are responsible for ensuring the reasonableness of the reimbursement and number of bags necessary. Questions regarding this policy should be directed to your agency or university fiscal management contact person. Please use the following link to find your agency's Fiscal Management Contact.

Booking Codes

The fare basis codes of "YCATX" and "_CATX" are to identify the state of Texas rates for each city-pair. The YCATX fare is last seat availability. The "_CATX" fare basis code indicates a market that is capacity-controlled by the airline with a limited number of seats available at the state of Texas rate. The far right hand column includes the fare code for those city-pairs that were awarded a "_CATX" fare.