Goodbye paper trail, government travel goes online: Defense Travel System: a new era of government travel
Got Travelocity? Expedia? The next welcome addition to the cornucopia of online travel sites is now available–the Defense Travel System.
No more lengthy travel claim process! Shorter paper trail! With the new and improved online system, travelers on government orders can make travel arrangements right from the desktop. And aside from making commercial air, hotel and car rentals reservations, travel requests can be sent for approval and provide a printed voucher for settling the travel claim once the comfy TAD trip is complete.
The fully web enabled system will save the Department of Defense money, and enable a much more speedy way of handling travel, down to the lowest levels.
The catch? Although travelers won’t need to complete travel requests, they will create their own travel documents as long as they have been issued a Public Key Infrastructure Certificate. The certificate allows them to sign the request with an electronic signature. Once the document is signed, it will automatically route to an authorizing official, who will process it to the Defense Finance and Accounting Services office for payment. If travelers don’t have a PKI certificate, designated staff with PKI credentials can enter the request for them.