Coding pre-booked Fares Allowance (FAA) entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES) 010-02100070

ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY PES student and non-student travellers can request their travel to be authorised in advance. Services Australia will assess eligibility for ABSTUDY FAA and book qualifying travel arrangements prior to the journey.

The details of the journey for pre-booked travel must be entered into TMA. Once lodged, the student and/or non-student traveller's travel request will be assessed for eligibility and the outcome recorded in TMA. A letter, where required, will be sent advising of the outcome of their claim for FAA.

The agency has agreed to provide approved travel requests to the Travel Management Company (TMC) within the following timeframes. This will allow the TMC enough time to:

• source travel providers
• finalise bookings, and
• provide travel itineraries for all travellers

The timeframes are:

• Bulk: School Vacation bulk request, 6 weeks before the travel date
• Other: All other travel reasons, regardless of whether the booking is for one or more travellers - 7 days before the travel date. This includes:
• start of year
• end of year
• special purpose
• orientation
• compassionate
• away from base
• mid year
• school vacation add-ons, and
• private boarders
• Urgent: New travel requests assessed as urgent. That is, unforeseen or exceptional circumstances before 7 days of travel
• Amendments: As soon as possible
• Cancellations: As soon as possible