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Meals and Lodging
- Meals
- Lodging
- Contract hotels
- Direct payment of lodging expenses
- Lease of apartment or house
- Lodging receipt requirements
- Lodging reimbursements
- Requesting a higher maximum lodging reimbursement rate
- Reducing meal reimbursement rate to increase lodging rate
- Sharing lodging
- Inability to obtain reasonable lodging within the duty point
- Multi-day travel to duty point
- Hotel occupancy taxes
- Meal and lodging exceptions
- Exceptions for employees of the legislature or a state agency in the legislative branch
- Exceptions for certain key officials
- Exceptions for certain governmental meetings or conferences outside Texas
- Exceptions for designees of legislators or certain officials
- Exceptions for travel with legislators or certain officials
- Overnight Travel
- Non-Overnight Travel
Forms
- Travel Voucher (73-174) PDF
- Request to Increase Maximum Lodging Rate
- Travel to Washington DC - OSFR Official Form
Other Resources
- Comptroller Object Codes for Travel
- State Travel Management Program
- Electronic Signatures
- Mileage Calculator
- Travel Rules in Texas Administrative Code
- Texas Government Code Chapter 660
- Travel Regulations in the General Appropriations Act
Payment Search
Training
- Introduction to Travel
- Travel Voucher Completion
- Travel Workshop
Register through Training Center
Archive
Contacts
If you have questions, contact your agency's Travel Contact or call (512) 475-0966.
Or send a comment, suggestion or question through email.
Meals
Direct payment of meal expenses
If a state agency directly pays a commercial lodging establishment, a credit card issuer or a travel agency for lodging expenses incurred by an agency’s employee, the agency may also directly pay meal expenses incurred by the employee at that lodging establishment.
- Commercial Lodging Establishment
- (1) a motel, hotel, inn, apartment, house or similar establishment that provides lodging to the public for pay; or (2) a person or establishment that provides lodging for pay that the Comptroller determines to have a sufficient number of the characteristics of a commercial lodging establishment for the purposes of the Travel Regulations Act. Texas Government Code Section 660.002(5) The term includes lodging provided by: (1) a governmental entity on property controlled by that entity; or (2) a religious organization on property controlled by that organization; or (3) a private educational institution on property controlled by that institution.
- State Agency
- A unit of state government that uses appropriated funds to pay or reimburse a travel expense of a state employee. This includes the Teacher Retirement System of Texas and the Employees Retirement System of Texas. Texas Government Code Section 660.002(19)