This policy will be revised when needed and reviewed in detail at least annually by the TIAA Travel and Event Subcommittee Chair for consistency between policy and current practice.
Overview
The Travel and Events (T&E) Subcommittee is a section of the TIAA Activities Committee and typically holds separate periodic meetings and makes reports to the Activities Committee at their regularly scheduled meetings. The goal of this committee is to sponsor and promote events which will be attractive to TIAA members who are interested in group travel, events and socialization. An objective for each sponsored event is to break even; i.e., charge the participants an amount designed to cover all estimable expenses. The Travel and Events Guidelines are posted on the TIAA website. The TIAA Administrator (TIAA Admin) and a Communications Committee representative attend the T&E meetings for continuity and publicity purposes and may or may not be a member of the subcommittee
Planning
The T&E subcommittee collects inputs from various sources, including surveys and the TIAA membership, to determine activities which might be of interest to the TIAA membership at large. The T&E subcommittee will offer periodic events as opportunities arise. The destinations and dates for these events are selected by the T&E subcommittee members after consulting the TIAA website Calendar to avoid conflicts with other TI or TIAA activities.
A calendar of planned events is communicated to TIAA members in several ways:
- the calendar and schedule on the TIAA website, which is updated as needed by the Communications’ eCalendar editor.
- the monthly eCalendar, coordinated by the Communications’ eCalendar editor;
- the monthly eNews, written by the Communications eNews Editor;
- the monthly postal TIAA News, derived from the monthly eNews;
- eNotes, written by the T&E subcommittee and edited by the Communications Editor to publicize a special event,
- a booth at TI’s annual retiree luncheon, and
- handouts at other TIAA events such as the Education Seminars, annual business meetings, etc.
The T&E subcommittee is responsible for defining the appropriate distribution list for an eNote pertaining to travel; i.e., all members, those former TIers living within a 25-mile radius, a 40-mile radius, a 100-mile radius, etc.
For planning purposes a T&E subcommittee member will research a venue to determine availability, group pricing and cancelation provisions. Items like expected departure time; travel time; event time; a restaurant (if applicable) that can handle our group size, that will take reservations and that will provide individual checks; the food (we try to vary the type of cuisine); restaurant time; return time; distance to be traveled; contact name at event and phone number, restaurant contact name and phone number; and special rules for clothing, etc. must be documented. Walking distance, convenience, comfort, handicapped accessibility, time of year and safety are considered.
The T&E subcommittee members, along with the TIAA Admin, will estimate the total cost including tickets, fees, transportation, accommodations, etc. If transportation is involved, the most cost-effective method will be selected (DART bus, DART light rail, ECHO bus, etc.) Where it makes sense, the event price will not include items for which it is more practical to have the traveler pay in situ, i.e., lunch, DART fees, etc. . The number of people expected to attend is estimated based on the specific event plus past experience. Pricing for an event for members and nonmembers is determined, included in various communications and is not changed after it has been published.
Pricing
The transportation fee will be included along with other expenses, such as tickets (if any), when determining the price. The anticipated transportation fee will be allocated over 75% of the bus seats and rounded up to the nearest dollar. This calculation is used because some seats in the bus may not be filled, and this is an attempt to recover the actual costs. However, if the event involves a limited number of purchased tickets, the transportation fee will be divided by the actual number of tickets. All pricing will be calculated by the TIAA Admin prior to any event’s publicity.
A TIAA member’s price will be the estimated cost of the event. A nonmember’s price will be the estimated cost of the event plus 10% (rounded up to the next dollar). Even though some members prefer to provide their own transportation, T&E may charge full price for the trip in order to recover TIAA's costs. If the bus will not accommodate the number of event tickets purchased, members may purchase the extra ticket(s) at cost from the TIAA Admin and provide their own transportation. A 10% handling fee may be added to the tickets in this case.
In order to best serve the TIAA membership, each member is allowed one guest. More guests can be added based on transportation limitations. The first invited guest will be charged the TIAA member’s price; additional guests will be charged the nonmember price.
Arrangements
The venue has been researched by a T&E subcommittee member to obtain current information. If applicable, the TIAA Admin purchases the tickets for the estimated event size prior to the event and notifies the T&E Chair and the TIAA Treasurer of the expenditure if over $100. If a bus trip is involved, the TIAA Admin makes arrangements to reserve a bus and the pricing is confirmed. Other arrangements, including actual restaurant reservations, etc., are made by the TIAA Admin after the actual number of participants is known. TI Security is informed by the TIAA Admin via email of the names of the registrants in order to facilitate readmission to the TI property.
Reservations and payments via PayPalPro are made by TIAA members using the TIAA website or by contacting the TIAA Admin if they do not have Internet access. The TIAA Admin limits the number of participants when setting up the event on our website and also creates for a waiting list for each event. If the event is sold out, the wait list is automatically generated by the website to use in case there are cancelations. The online reservations records are accessible by the T&E subcommittee chair, the TIAA Admin and the eCalendar editor. When a person signs up for an event, they will automatically be emailed a confirmation of their registration information if they signed up online. If a member chooses not to pay via PayPalPro or doesn't have Internet access, their payment (by check only) must be received at least seven days prior to the trip and those monies will be deposited by the TIAA Admin after the trip. The cancelation provisions are also explained on the registration acknowledgement.
If the event is more popular than expected and the wait list grows to be a sizable number, consideration will be given by the T&E subcommittee to opening up the trip to a larger number. Constraints include availability of tickets and transportation.
Each person who registers, but has not paid, will be contacted by the TIAA Admin seven days prior to the event to confirm their intentions to attend. If they still plan to attend, they will be requested to immediately pay the full cost. Refunds for cancelations will be granted up to seven days prior to the event. No refunds will be made after this point. If there is no one on the wait list, the traveler wishing to cancel within the seven-day window may locate and be reimbursed by a substitute.
If there are cancelations, persons on the wait list will be contacted by the TIAA Admin in the date order of their listing with preference given to TIAA members and their first guest before accepting a nonmember or multiple guests of a member.
If there are insufficient sign-ups 14 days prior to the event to make the event financially feasible, the TIAA Admin and the T&E subcommittee will discuss sending an eNote or canceling the event. This decision will depend partly on the ability to receive refunds or exchanges for the tickets, to cancel transportation without charge, and to recover other expenses already paid. If it is not practical to cancel the event, an eNote may be sent to local members to promote the event. If they cannot be exchanged, the tickets will remain unused. If a trip is canceled for any reason, registrants will be notified and full refunds will be made by the TIAA Admin.
An event may also be canceled or rescheduled at the last minute due to inclement weather or some other unforeseen event that precludes the trip. The TIAA Admin will make arrangements with the venue to receive refunds or swap for future tickets, if possible, and to notify the people who are registered to go to the event. Refunds will be made to those already-paid registrations.
Registrants are reminded of the event two days prior via an automatic email from our website. The email contains the departure time, the return time, the cell phone number to contact the TIAA Admin along with any restrictions such as closed-toed shoes, etc.
Trip
On the day of the event, a member of the T&E subcommittee or the TIAA Admin will greet the travelers at the designated departure point, participate in the event and function as the TIAA coordinator. The coordinator will have their event expenses paid by TIAA for one-day events. A tip for the bus driver may or may not be solicited based on that particular bus company’s contract. A survey form may be distributed periodically to participating members in order to collect information on the event.
Follow-up
An accounting will be made by the TIAA Admin to the TIAA Treasurer of all money collected and expenses paid to determine how closely the break-even objective was met. Other lessons learned will be used in planning future trips.
Updated by Annzell Boswell and Ronnie Brandenburg on September 01, 2020.
