Hi Everyone,

If you will be flying internationally and want to charge your federal grant, please be sure to verify that all flights of your trip are a US carrier, or code-shared carrier.  Please see the below Decision Tree and Fly America Exception Certification forms.

Some of the more common allowable exceptions to the Fly America Act are:

No U.S. flag air carrier provides service on a particular leg of the route
Use of a U.S. flag air carrier increases the number of aircraft changes outside the U.S. by two or more
Use of a U.S. flag air carrier extends travel time by six hours or more
Use of a U.S. flag air carrier requires a connecting layover time of four hours or more at an overseas interchange point

However, if you have booked an international flight because of any exceptions to the Fly America Act, please be sure to have proof from a travel agency website, Expedia, or some other site to show that taking a US Carrier would have extended your travel or layover time or required more than two aircraft changes.   Doing this will help get your reimbursement processed faster. This is because OSP verifies the information on the Certification form and does so by using a system that checks the flights that were available during the time of the trip.

I know this sounds strange, but the cost of the airline ticket is not an exception to the Fly America Act.

https://osp.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/FAA-DecisionTree-072117.pdf

https://osp.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/FLY-AMERICA-EXCEPTION-CERT-050217.pdf

Thanks,
Terri

Terri Mancini, MPA
Director, Sponsored Research Administration
Volgenau School of Engineering
George Mason University
4400 University Boulevard, MS 4A3
Fairfax, VA  22030
703-993-9550 PH
703-993-9641 FAX