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Comparison Worksheet Required for Driving to Neighboring States

March 28, 2023
Comparison Worksheet:

A travel Comparison Worksheet is needed when traveling to a neighboring state as sometimes a rental car is cheaper than using a personal vehicle.

One thing to note is the system doesn’t always provide a location for the destination and the traveler has to choose “All Other Continental US Locations, United States of America” - this is why it is vital that an agenda is attached with the “where/when/why” detailed and adding city/state to the Justification field is very helpful.

If you are close to the neighboring state (traveling only a short distance) or traveling in a group or on a bus, simply state this in the Comment section, Business Purpose or Justification field. When you attach a travel comparison worksheet, please attach a quote from the rental car website and a fuel trip calculator: https://www.fueleconomy.gov/trip/. If a contracted rental agency is not available in your vicinity and that creates a hardship for you, please include that as part of your business justification.

If it is cheaper to rent a vehicle and you still want to drive your personal vehicle, please state a valid reason and understand that the reimbursement can be reduced to that of the cost of a car rental & gasoline.

Contiguous States and Rental Cars:

When traveling to contiguous states use rental cars whenever possible if driving (include the comparison worksheet in SA). There’s probably some situations where flying should be considered – like for Cincinnati to Philly for instance, so in those situations a flying comparison may still make sense to document choosing the most economic mode of travel.

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