DHS Should Do More to Reduce Travel Reservation Costs

DHS does not require components to track justifications for making travel reservations offline, that is, by contacting an agent by telephone. Therefore, it is difficult to identify whether offline travel fees are excessive. Making reservations by telephone costs $23 to $27 more per transaction than making a reservation online through the web-based system. The Department is also not effectively managing components’ use of the online system. As a result, the Department may be missing opportunities to reduce offline travel reservation fees and identify cost savings. Finally, although the Senate Appropriations Committee expected DHS to reduce its offline reservation costs in fiscal year 2014, data from DHS showed that, overall, offline costs increased.