Effective immediately, travelers who do not need a visa to enter the United Kingdom will need to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before their visit.

Currently, ‘non-visa nationals,’ including EU and US citizens, can travel to the UK without a visa for stays of up to six months. However, under the new system introduced by the Home Office, visitors will need to apply for and pay for an ETA before traveling.

Key points to note:

• The UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is an advance travel permission required for foreign nationals visiting or transiting the UK without a visa. The ETA costs £10 and allows multiple trips to the UK.
• Eligible non-Europeans can apply from 27 November 2024 and will require an ETA to travel from 8 January 2025.
• Eligible Europeans can apply from 5 March 2025 and will need an ETA to travel from 2 April 2025.

Here are the current countries this applies to:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden

It is the responsibility of travelers to ensure they have the correct travel authorization. For more details, including a list of nationalities eligible for the ETA, please visit gov.uk.

For further information, please refer to the following links:

• Who can get an ETA and how to apply
• Factsheet on the latest UK ETA updates

Bring your laptops and your questions and come get help from the experts! These open labs will be offered on a bi-weekly basis. The first one will take place August 7th from 10am-12pm at our office located at 3 Discovery Drive Unit 6076 in our Bid Room. (To make the best use of time, we ask that you please come prepared with any receipts/supporting documents saved to your laptop or already uploaded in Concur). Please register here to sign up for our first open lab session!

Bring your laptops and your questions and come get help from the experts! These open labs will be offered on a bi-weekly basis, and will be located at our office located at 3 Discovery Drive Unit 6076 in our Bid Room. (To make the best use of time, we ask that you please come prepared with any receipts/supporting documents saved to your laptop or already uploaded in Concur). Please register here to sign up for an open lab session!

The Employee Travel Card Request Form will be migrating out of Leap and into Kuali Build. The link will be updated on Monday 6/10. The form and its features will stay the same, but it will now be submitted and approved within Kuali Build. Though the process is the same, please review the items below as the setup is a little different:

-Most sections will auto populate, but you must start at the top of the form and fill out all required fields marked with an asterisk.

-To check the status of your form once submitted, there is a toggle button in the top left corner of the form. If you switch it from Review to Status, you can see where the form is currently and review any comments from approvers. Only the cardholder can check the status of the form.

-Processing times are still the same. Once your form is fully approved and processed, your card will arrive at our office in 7-10 days and you will be notified. Please plan accordingly. Increase requests, once fully approved, are effective immediately.

In an effort to streamline and simplify the process for obtaining a Student Travel Card, the card request form will now be submitted in Kuali Build. This will remove the two step process currently in place that requires a request to be submitted, and then an email sent with the training and request form. This change will take place on Friday December 22nd and the directions on our website will be updated accordingly. As always, our Travel and Card Service Center is here to help if you need additional assistance.

The Concur Travel System will be updating the visual theme of your signed-in web experience. Starting October 2nd, 2023, you will see a refreshed look and feel while navigating the application. New features in this update include:

-Improved design consistency, aligning with the Concur Mobile App.

-Light Mode, Dark Mode, and high contrast theme options, creating a more inclusive and accessible experience.

Functionality of Concur is not expected to change with this update, but you will notice that some buttons and features are in a new location. To change your Concur visual theme setting on the web after October 2nd, 2023, follow these steps:

1. After signing into Concur, go to Profile Settings.
2. Under Profile Options, click System Settings.
3. Under Appearance Settings, use the drop-down to select your preferred theme and click Save.

 

**Note: The current legacy theme (Concur Gateway) is an available option, however, this theme is scheduled to be deactivated permanently in Q1 of 2024.

Concur has also provided a demo video, walking you through the new experience. Questions about the update can be sent to techsupport@uconn.edu.

On September 13th and 26th Crystal Timmerman from Anthony Travel will be presenting an overview of Concur Travel and booking.

The following topics will be covered in this session:

• Concur Travel
  • Updating Traveler Profile
    • Traveler Preferences
    • Cell Phone Number
    • Traveler Arranger
    • Credit Card
  • Booking Groups/Conference Rates
  • Booking Guests
  • Important Contact Information
  • Unused Ticket
• Benefits of Booking within Program
• Travel Industry Updates
• Local Direct Bill Hotel

When combining business and personal travel please follow the guidelines below.

If you are planning to have combined personal and business travel, a price comparison must be done in Concur at the time of booking. If the price of the combined travel is less than or equal to the business travel alone, you can use your Travel Card to book in Concur or with Anthony Travel. If the travel including personal time exceeds the business portion, you must pay personally for the whole trip and submit for reimbursement for the business portion only. Anthony Travel cannot assist with personal travel arrangements. Please refer to this link for assistance: Guide to Obtaining a Price Comparison

Please bear in mind that no personal hotel lodging should be charged to the Travel Card. It is the responsibility of the cardholder to work with the hotel to ensure that only the nights related to business travel are charged on the Travel Card, and nights related to personal travel go on a personal card. When traveling with a significant other or family, you cannot book their travel within Concur or utilize Anthony Travel.

To align with the expense reports on the Travel side, we have given you the ability to add your attendees to Business Meals (Non Catered) and Catering expenses on a Company Billed Statement Report. This will eliminate the need for a Business Meal Preapproval Form. If the Attendees link does not display in that expense, please change the expense type and then change it back to the original expense type. This happens when the report was created prior to the change for adding attendees.

You can now book Amtrak using the Concur Booking Module. Rail travel is now integrated into Concur to provide a complete travel booking experience. To book rail in Concur, please click on the rail icon in the booking tool.