Step | Action |
1 | Itineraries for a travel booking
On finalisation of a travel booking, Corporate Travel Management (CTM) sends an email with the itinerary attached to: - Services Australia via the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox, and
- the traveller, or
- the third party responsible for arranging the travel. For example, the education institution or hostel
CTM itinerary delivery timeframes vary depending on the approved travel type code. See the Corporate Travel Management (CTM) service standards table on the Resources page. On receipt of all itineraries from CTM, the ABSTUDY Smart Centre Travel Team must: - check the itinerary for accuracy against the booking request
- upload the itinerary to the travel booking
To view an itinerary for a travel booking, see the Adding attachments in the TMA table. For enquiries about itineraries, go to Step 2. To check an itinerary, go to Step 5.
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2 | Itinerary enquiries
If a person requesting travel contacts the ABSTUDY Smart Centre, Travel or Away from Base Teams to advise that an itinerary: - is incorrect:
- check the Notes tab on the Booking in the TMA for any details about the discrepancy. For example, alternative travel dates have been booked due to flight availability
- ABSTUDY Smart Centre Service Officers, if there are no notes or the customer would like to discuss the discrepancy further, use the Services Australia Workspace Transfer Options list to warm transfer the customer to the ABSTUDY Travel or Away from Base Teams. Procedure ends here
- ABSTUDY Travel and Away from Base Service Officers, if there are no notes go to Step 5
- has not been received and the requested travel date is 3 or more business days in the future:
- tell them to contact again 2 business days prior to the requested travel date if this has still not been received
Note: if a third party arranged the travel, for example an education institution or hostel, the customer must contact the provider to ask for the itinerary - procedure ends here
- has not been received and it is 2 business days or less before the requested travel date, check the Booking Status in the TMA. If this is:
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3 | TMA Booking Status is Requested or Rescheduled
A TMA Booking Status of Requested or Rescheduled may mean that an itinerary has not been issued. However, it may also be pending getting checked and uploaded to the booking. ABSTUDY Smart Centre Service Officers must first ask the customer to check their junk/spam email folder. If they cannot locate the itinerary, warm transfer the customer to the ABSTUDY Travel or Away from Base teams, using the Services Australia Workspace Transfer Option: - CLK NBG Abstudy Travel, or
- CLK NBG Abstudy Travel AFB
ABSTUDY Travel and Away from Base Service Officers must check the Itineraries folder in the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox to confirm the itinerary has not been issued. If the itinerary cannot be located, contact CTM by phone to issue the itinerary. If the itinerary has: - been issued but not received by the traveller or third party, go to Step 4
- been received and is:
- incorrect, ABSTUDY Smart Centre Service Officers must check the Notes tab on the Booking in the TMA for any details about the discrepancy. If there are no notes or the traveller would like to discuss the discrepancy further, use the Services Australia Workspace Transfer Options list to warm transfer the customer to the ABSTUDY Travel or Away from Base Teams. Procedure ends here
- incorrect, ABSTUDY Travel and Away from Base Service Officers, go to Step 5
- correct, procedure ends here
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4 | TMA Booking Status is Booked or issued itinerary not received
A TMA Booking Status of Booked means the itinerary has been issued, checked and uploaded to the booking. If the person requesting travel has not received the itinerary this must be reissued. The actions needed are determined by whether the student: - boards at a school/hostel
- is in receipt of an approved third-party Indigenous Scholarship
- boards privately
- is a tertiary student
Note: send all emails using the OFFICIAL security classification. To reissue an itinerary for: - secondary school students and their associated non-student travellers boarding at a school/hostel or receiving an approved Third Party Indigenous Scholarship:
- The traveller must contact the provider who requested the travel to ask for the itinerary
- If the provider has not received the itinerary, ABSTUDY Travel Service Officers must email a copy to the provider from the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox. Use the Reissuing an itinerary template
- bulk or group bookings of 10 or more travellers, ABSTUDY Travel and Away from Base Service Officers must email CTM from the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox using the Itineraries not received template. A copy of the itineraries will be sent to the education/boarding provider
- tertiary students or secondary students boarding privately:
- view the itinerary in the Documents tab in the TMA and provide the itinerary details over the phone. See Step 2 in Adding attachments in the TMA table
- email a copy of the itinerary to the traveller from the ABSTUDY Secondary mailbox. Use the Reissuing an itinerary template
- tell the traveller the itinerary can be printed at a Services Australia Service Centre if required
Procedure ends here. |
5 | Checking an itinerary for a travel booking
All itineraries received from CTM must be checked against the booking request to ensure locations, dates, times, transfers and accommodation meet the required booking specifications. Before checking an itinerary, search the Itineraries folder for the traveller’s name. If more than one itinerary has been received for the same traveller and travel date(s), Service Officers only need to check the most recently received version. All earlier emails must be filed in the Completed Itineraries folder. The following must be checked: - Customer Reference Number (CRN) must match travellers (recorded against the Movement Requisition field)
- Traveller name and title on the itinerary matches the name on the Overview tab
- When finalising traveller itineraries, CTM is unable to include apostrophes or upper case and lower case letters in passenger names
- If 2 travellers have the same name, respective itineraries will display SNR or JNR
- CTM may issue itineraries with traveller name titles as follows:
- Males under 16 listed as Master (or MSTR) - Females under 18 listed as Miss, or if they are over 18, Ms - Itineraries must not be returned to CTM for correction for the reasons above
- Mandatory Supervisor, check the Travel Requirements field on the Overview tab and whether travel dates fall on a weekend or public holiday. Determine if there is a supervisor booked for the traveller by viewing linked travellers on the Parties tab. Check the Notes tab if a supervisor has not been booked
- Parties tab:
- if travellers are linked, Service Officers must check if linked traveller itineraries have been received. Check all itineraries received for the party to make sure travel and accommodation aligns where requested
- where a Notional Student Traveller booking is linked to a non-student traveller booking and all correct linked traveller itineraries have been received, change the Booking Status of the Notional Student Traveller to Booked. No other fields need to be completed
- School Name, for:
- secondary students and their associated non-student travellers boarding at a school or privately and tertiary students, check the Education Details field on the Overview tab
- secondary students boarding at a hostel, check the Notes tab for the name of the board provider who requested the travel
- Travel dates, check the dates are as requested or match any CTM initiated variations
- Travel locations, check the from/to locations and that all legs on the itinerary connect
- Additional Requirements, check any additional requirements have been booked, for example, transfers or accommodation
- Travellers sharing accommodation, check they are listed in the notes of the accommodation component of the supervisor's/family member's itinerary when multiple travellers are booked in same room
Note: where a car seat or cot has been requested, this will not be included on the itinerary
- Email recipients, check the email from CTM to confirm the itinerary has been sent to all required email address(es) as per the booking note on the Notes tab
Ensure the: - travel times and duration of the journey is appropriate. For example, young travellers are not travelling alone at unreasonable times or for unreasonable durations, see Determining the appropriate mode of transport for ABSTUDY Fares Allowance (FAA)
- traveller has been given reasonable time to move from one terminal to another. For example, reasonable time to travel from domestic terminal to charter is 60 minutes
- mode of transport is correct
Has travel been varied or cancelled? |
6 | Travel varied or cancelled
If the itinerary is received: - before a request to vary or cancel travel is sent to CTM and travel is as originally requested, the itinerary is correct
- after a request to vary or cancel travel was sent to CTM, the itinerary is incorrect
Is the itinerary correct? |
7 | Incorrect itinerary ABSTUDY Travel and Away from Base Service Officers
If the itinerary is incorrect, staff must follow up with CTM for the itinerary to be reissued. Contact CTM by phone if travel is within 2 business days or there is a discrepancy with travel dates and complete the following: - If the discrepancy is correct:
- contact the person who requested the travel by phone to advise of the revised travel details and reason for the change
- record detailed notes on each booking using the CTM Amendment - Change to Travel Date/ACM DOC template
- update the travel details in the TMA to reflect the confirmed changes if required
- go to Step 10
- If the discrepancy is not correct:
- update the Booking Reference by inserting the PNR Reference located on the top of the itinerary. Do not change the Booking Status. Correct this to reflect the original status if required
- record the details on the Notes tab of the booking using the Itinerary Error DOC template. See the Resources page for the ABSTUDY Travel Minimum DOC Standards
- file the email from CTM with the itinerary attached in the Completed Itineraries folder in the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox
- procedure ends here
For all other discrepancies where travel is outside of 2 business days: - update the Booking Reference by inserting the PNR Reference located on the top of the itinerary. Do not change the Booking Status. Correct this to reflect the original status if required
- email CTM from the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox and Cc the ABSTUDY Travel team,. All emails must use the:
- record the details on the Notes tab of the booking using the Itinerary Error DOC template. See the Resources for the ABSTUDY Travel Minimum DOC Standards
- ensure relevant details or documents are uploaded to the Documents tab, see Adding attachments in the TMA table
- file the emails in the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox. For emails:
- from CTM with the itinerary attached, in the Completed Itineraries folder
- to CTM, in the relevant education/boarding provider’s folder
- procedure ends here
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8 | Incorrect itinerary ABSTUDY Smart Centre Service Officers
When an incorrect itinerary is issued, non-travel staff must complete these follow up actions with the ABSTUDY Travel team and CTM for the itinerary to be reissued. If there is a discrepancy with travel dates, obtain Local Peer Support (LPS). For all other itinerary discrepancies where travel is within 2 business days: - forward the itinerary to the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox for follow up, include in the subject header - 'CRITICAL - ITINERARY REQUIRES CORRECTION'
- update the Booking Reference by inserting the PNR Reference located on the top of the itinerary. Do not change the Booking Status. Correct this to reflect the original status if required
- record the details on the Notes tab of the booking using the Itinerary Error DOC template. See the Resources page for the ABSTUDY Travel Minimum DOC Standards. Ensure relevant emails or documents are uploaded to the Documents tab, see Adding attachments in the TMA table
- once actioned, file the email from CTM with the itinerary attached in the Completed Itineraries folder in the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox
- itinerary errors identified after 2pm Melbourne/Sydney time must be escalated to an ABSTUDY Travel Officer via the ABSTUDY Travel - Group Microsoft Teams chat when:
- impacted travel is booked for the next business day, or
- the error is identified the day before a public holiday or weekend, and impacted travel is booked on those days
- To escalate the itinerary:
- tag @Travel Staff CRITICAL itinerary hand off, and
- date of travel
For all other itinerary discrepancies where travel is outside of 2 business days: - update the Booking Reference by inserting the PNR Reference located on the top of the itinerary. Do not change the Booking Status. Correct this to reflect the original status if required
- email CTM from the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox and Cc the ABSTUDY Travel team. All emails must use the:
- record details on the Notes tab of the booking using the Itinerary Error DOC template. See the Resources page for the ABSTUDY Travel Minimum DOC Standards
- file the emails in the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox. For emails:
- from CTM with the itinerary attached, in the Completed Itineraries folder
- to CTM, in the relevant education/boarding provider’s folder
Procedure ends here. |
9 | Attach an itinerary to a varied or cancelled travel booking

Itineraries received for travel bookings that have been cancelled or where dates, times, transfers, accommodation and destinations have been varied that are received before the request to cancel or vary is sent to CTM must be uploaded to the booking for reference purposes. To complete the process: - for varied bookings only, update the Booking Reference by inserting the PNR Reference located on the top of the itinerary. If a request to vary travel has been sent to CTM and an updated itinerary has not been received, do not change the Booking Status. Correct this to reflect the original status if required
- attach the itinerary to the booking, see the Adding attachments in the TMA table
- ensure the correct itinerary is attached to the Documents tab and it is opening correctly
- record the details on the Notes tab of the booking using the Itinerary Uploaded DOC template, see the Resources page for the ABSTUDY Travel Minimum DOC Standards
- file the email from CTM with the itinerary attached in the Completed Itineraries folder in the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox
Procedure ends here. |
10 | Attach an itinerary to a travel booking

When the correct itinerary is received, upload the itinerary and update the booking to reflect any changes, see Authorising and coding pre-booked Fares Allowance (FAA) entitlements for ABSTUDY and ABSTUDY Pensioner Education Supplement (PES). To complete the process: - update the Booking Reference by inserting the PNR Reference located on the top of the itinerary
- update the Booking Status to Booked
- attach the itinerary to the booking, see the Adding attachments in the TMA table
- ensure the correct itinerary is attached to the Documents tab and it is opening correctly
- record the details on the Notes tab of the booking using the Itinerary Uploaded DOC template, See the Resources page for the ABSTUDY Travel Minimum DOC Standards
- file the email from CTM with the itinerary attached in the Completed Itineraries folder in the ABSTUDY Travel positional mailbox
Procedure ends here. |