Travel Arrangement for Interview Weekend

[VioletAyame]

Hi all, so I've got an interview at UCSB and I already RSVP yes for the event. The school is in driving distance, so I told them and I will be driving myself there and they will reimburse me for gas. The thing is, a friend of mine wants to take her sister to go see SB too, and I like to have someone drive with. They can take the car when I'm at the interview since I won't need it anyway. My question is, should I tell the program coordinator about this? I'm a bit uneasy about the reimbursement and I'll be fine not taking it, but how should I let them know? Will it seem unprofessional to combine the trip like this? We'll only be sharing the ride.

[VioletAyame]

Anyone?

[fuzzylogician]

I don't think there is any reason to tell them. They are paying for gas for you to drive down to visit them, and that's precisely what you're doing. Other travel arrangements you might be making are not any of their business and they wouldn't have anything to do with that information anyway.

[VioletAyame]

I don't think there is any reason to tell them. They are paying for gas for you to drive down to visit them, and that's precisely what you're doing. Other travel arrangements you might be making are not any of their business and they wouldn't have anything to do with that information anyway.

 

Thanks fuzzy!

[TakeruK]

I agree with fuzzy. Also, are you simply getting reimbursed for gas, or are you getting reimbursed for on a mileage basis? When I drove to visit one of my schools, it was on a mileage basis and I drove down with my spouse and we also made some (very short) detours/side trips to see other cool stuff on the way. So, I made sure to only claim the mileage as indicated by Google Maps between our start and end destinations! I think it's more fair to be reimbursed on a mileage basis, in my opinion, because driving costs more than just the cost of gas! 

[VioletAyame]

I agree with fuzzy. Also, are you simply getting reimbursed for gas, or are you getting reimbursed for on a mileage basis? When I drove to visit one of my schools, it was on a mileage basis and I drove down with my spouse and we also made some (very short) detours/side trips to see other cool stuff on the way. So, I made sure to only claim the mileage as indicated by Google Maps between our start and end destinations! I think it's more fair to be reimbursed on a mileage basis, in my opinion, because driving costs more than just the cost of gas!

Ah the coordinator did say "reimbursement for mileage" - I just assumed it's the same as reinbursement for gas but apparently not. She instructed me to copy down the odometer reading when I start driving and the one when I arrive, and they will double that number, so it sounds easy and simple to get just the mileage used to get there.

The reason I feel the need to tell them is because my friend will take the car for the weekend, and in my convoluted head when I stay with my host sans car there will likely be questions, in a friendly manner of course, but then I would tell them the arrangement and I'm worried it would look a bit not transparent and/or unprofessional. Does that make sense?

[fuzzylogician]

The reason I feel the need to tell them is because my friend will take the car for the weekend, and in my convoluted head when I stay with my host sans car there will likely be questions, in a friendly manner of course, but then I would tell them the arrangement and I'm worried it would look a bit not transparent and/or unprofessional. Does that make sense?

 

Driving down with a friend and loaning her the car while you're in town both sound completely reasonable. It has nothing to do with being (un)professional. If anybody even thinks to ask why you don't have a car even though you used one to drive down to the school, you could just say you lent it to a friend, no further explanation is necessary - not about your travel arrangements and not about how your reimbursement will work. Since they are paying per mileage according to the trip there, it's very simple. They can have a good estimate of the distance based on google maps, and since you're driving straight there the number you give should line up with that - having your friend with you will not change anything. The travels your friend might make while in town are just irrelevant.

[TakeruK]

Reimbursement for mileage probably depends on the policy at each school, but the government rate was something like 50 cents per mile in 2012.