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Travel Rental Car vs Mileage (1/22/2021)

This policy update applies to all employee travel beginning January 1, 2019. Depending on the circumstances surrounding the employee’s business travel, the employee may use their personal vehicle or rent a vehicle. Mileage reimbursement may never exceed the cost of available alternate transportation, e.g. the reimbursement for mileage cannot exceed the lowest rental car rate plus fuel cost. All employees are required to attach the Rental Car vs. Mileage Reimbursement Calculator form with their Request to Travel as documentation that proper research has been completed when calculating travel expenses. In cases where the employee elects to drive their personal vehicle rather than travel by rental car, only the lower of the two will be reimbursed to the employee. Document of Page 2 of Travel Voucher the details of the choice of travel.

Please do not hesitate to call Allison Martin at extension 6134 with any questions when researching options for travel.

Note: Effective January 1, 2023, reimbursement for mileage is $0.655 per mile.

Instructions for completing Rental Car vs. Mileage Reimbursement Calculator Form

All variables must be input for the information to calculate correctly.

  1. Enter the total round-trip miles to be driven. This information is pulled from Map Quest. Enter information into box A. Input Variables. Attach map from Map Quest with the total mileage from point A to B with Request to Travel.
  2. Enter the total number of RENTAL days your trip will take. Most rental car locations in the Jefferson County area are not open on Sunday. If you must leave on a Sunday, the car will have to be picked up on Saturday. Enter information into box A. Input Variables.
  3. Select the daily rate of the car class to be rented from box C. Current Contract Rates. (Rates are on a 24 hour basis.) Rates are calculated based on the time you pick up the rental car. If you pick up the car on Saturday at 1:00 pm, the rental is calculated from Saturday to Sunday at 1:00 pm. Enter this information into box A. Input Variables.
    NOTE: The College will only reimburse an employee for a Compact or Intermediate size rental car unless 4 or more employees are traveling together.
  4. Cost of Gasoline per Gallon. Enter the market price of one gallon of fuel. Information can be found on AAA Fuel Gauge Report. Open website, scroll down and click on blue map to get the Texas average for Regular Unleaded fuel; do not use the National average. Enter this information into box A. Input Variables.
  5. Enter the current Mileage Reimbursement Rate. Effective January 1, 2023, reimbursement for mileage has been updated to $0.655 per mile. Enter information into box A. Input Variables.
  6. Enter the estimated MPG for the rental vehicle selected from box C. Current Contract Rates.
  7. Enter applicable state/local sales taxes and any additional fees/surcharges. In most cases, this will be $0. The contract rates for rental cars are inclusive of these additional fees/surcharges.

Once you have input all these variables, the calculator will determine whether it is more cost effective to rent a car or take mileage reimbursement on your personal vehicle. These results will appear in the “Calculated Results” box. Print this document and attach to your Travel Request Form.

Current Contract Rates

Current rates can be viewed on the State Travel Management Program - Car Rental Current Contract Rates page.