Federally-contracted reduced fares and room rates are negotiated with the airlines and hotels by the federal government for use by federal employees on federal travel. Federal employees pay for travel using a federally issued credit card so vendors can be assured that travel is being paid for by the federal government. State employees, however, may be traveling on any number of funding sources. It is up to each individual hotel or airline to decide if they will extend the federally-contracted reduced rate to state employees.
For lodging, UW employees can explain to the hotel that the UW complies with the federal per diem guidelines and request that the hotel accept the reduced rate. It is at the hotel’s discretion whether or not to extend the reduced rate to the UW employee.