Rental Car
Anyone traveling on official WSU business may use the State contract with Enterprise/National Rent-A-Car. To make reservations, use the corporate contract number found on the WSU Enterprise / National Rent-A-Car Program Summary. If you do not book using the contract number you will not be covered and will be personally liable for any claims.
- You do not need to be an Emerald Club member in order to book under the contract.
- The contract number (as found in the Program Summary) must be entered in the ‘Promotion Code or Account Number’ field when booking through Enterprise.
- The contract number (as found in the Program Summary) must be entered in the ‘Contract ID’ field when booking through National.
Effective December 15, 2019, the Enterprise/National Rental Car state contracted rates will be changing.
Some notable changes from the old program to new:
- Airport-to-Airport One Way Rates – old program had no one-way fees. New program has one-way rate structure.
- Home City One-Way Rentals – $0.00 drop fee for in-State Home City returned One-Way Rentals. Home-City Locations have a $125.00 drop fee for out-of-State returned Home City One Way Rentals.
- 12/15 passenger vans – minimum rental age is now 25 years of age (old program was 21)
- Additional Car Classes – Premium SUV’s (Suburban’s or similar) added to the contract
- Guaranteed Availability – 96 hours in advance
The table below should be referenced when reserving a rental car to determine if the loss damage waiver should be purchased.
| Booking on Contract Regardless of Payment Method | Booking off Contract using WSU Travel Card or PCard | Booking off Contract using Personal Credit Card |
|---|---|---|
| Decline loss damage waiver coverage as the insurance is provided under the state contract. | Decline loss damage waiver coverage unless the vehicle rented is not covered by VISA. For more information please see this VISA Benefits Guide. | Traveler should accept the loss damage coverage. Note: Accepting any other insurance is a personal preference and not reimbursable. |
Private Auto
When using a personal vehicle, travelers are reimbursed for vehicle miles only at the applicable travel rate. Current rate is 0.56/mile, effective January 1, 2021. If the traveler chooses to drive their own car instead of flying, reimbursement is only provided for each mile driven up to the state contract airfare (if there is no contract fare, the lowest available coach fare) for the same trip. If an accident or any damage to the vehicle takes place during a business trip while in a person vehicle, the traveler’s insurance is the primary coverage and WSU is not responsible for the loss.
All miles outside of the daily commute are reimbursable when operating a personal vehicle on official business. Travel outside of the employee’s regularly scheduled work hours does not entitle reimbursement for the daily commute mileage expenses that are incurred during that time. The definitions needed for identifying what is considered the daily commute are below.
Definitions
- COMMUTE: Travel between the official residence (OR) and other domicile of a state officer or employee and their official station (OS) or other place of work.
- OFFICIAL STATION: The city, town, or other location where the state official or employee’s office is located, or the city, town, or location where the state official or employee’s work is performed on a permanent basis. If teleworking is performed, that location is used not the campus the employee is affiliated with.
- OFFICIAL RESIDENCE: The city, town, or other location where a state official or employee maintains a residence that is used as their primary domicile.
- TEMPORARY DUTY STATION: A fixed location where a state official or employee has been temporarily assigned to work for a specific period of time which is less than one year.