Please contact travelawards@siam.org with any questions regarding the reimbursement process.

What is the value of my travel award?

If the conference/event is taking place on your residential continent, you will be reimbursed for up to $650.

Ex: If you are located in Canada, and the conference is in the United States, you will receive $650. 

If the conference/event is taking place outside of your residential continent, you will be reimbursed for up to $800.

Ex: If you are in China, and the conference is in the United States, you will receive $800.

Is registration included as part of my award?

Registration is complimentary unless otherwise noted.

For some conferences, you may be asked to register yourself and submit the receipt as part of your reimbursement. For conferences where registration is not included, you will be eligible to be reimbursed an additional $150.

My expenses total over the amount of the travel award; what should I do?

You can either choose to only report charges up to your award amount OR report all charges incurred. Either way you will only be reimbursed for the value of the award. 

For example, you could just report your airline ticket and meals if it was over $650.

How do I submit my reimbursement?

You must be logged in to submit a reimbursement. To log in, you will need a SIAM ID and password. Select "SIAM Account Single Sign On" from the log in option menu. You will be redirected to the SIAM Single Sign On screen and will need your SIAM credentials. 

If you do not have a SIAM account you can create one by visiting my.siam.org. 

Creating a SIAM account is free and you do not need to be a member. If you already have an account and do not remember your password, you can reset it using the same link.

Please note that if you do not use your SIAM ID to log in, we will remove your submission.

What do I need to submit to receive reimbursement?

You will need to submit a completed Expense Report as well as receipts for every charge you are reporting on the form. You must submit a receipt for all expenses you report on your form that are over $25.00, except for meals, which will be reported using a per diem rate.

Receipts must show proof of payment; we cannot accept reservation confirmations, boarding passes, or any paperwork that does not show a payment.

Please note that if your total for an expense row is over $25.00, we will need receipts for those charges. For example, three charges for parking at $10 per day = $30, and we would need a receipt for each day.

When in doubt, please keep and submit your receipts.

Where can I find the Expense Report?

Please use the form sent to you via email; it has information unique to your conference/event. If you cannot access it, please contact us and we will re-send it to you.

How long do I have to submit my reimbursement materials?

You have 30 days from the last day of the conference/event to submit your materials. 

How long will it take for me to receive my reimbursement?

Please note that your reimbursement will take 4-6 weeks AFTER the conference specific reimbursement deadline (not your personal submission date) to be fully processed and sent to you. 

How will I receive my reimbursement?

SIAM will send your reimbursement as a paper check via mail. Please be sure to use a viable address; if you need to update your information after your submission, please contact us as soon as possible.  

If you are not based in the United States, you may request a wire transfer instead.

What types of transportation are eligible for reimbursement?

You can be reimbursed for air travel, public transportation (bus/shuttle/subway/train), and/or automobile travel (personal, rental, taxi/rideshare). Parking tickets from paid garages/lots are also eligible. We will need to see documentation showing the cost of travel from your starting point to the conference and from the conference back to your starting point.  

Air travel should be arranged utilizing a combination of the most direct, convenient, and cost-effective routing in coach class seating. 

Private automobile travel will be reimbursed at the IRS rate. If you request private automobile reimbursement, you must upload a screenshot of the distance you traveled via Google Maps or another map service. 

A rental car should be used only if circumstances make it impossible or impractical to use public transportation, taxi, or rideshare.

What about accommodations?

Reimbursement is limited to the hotel room rate for one person for the night before the meeting, night(s) of the meeting, and the night after the meeting. We will also reimburse the use of short-term rental stay services such as Airbnb, VRBO, etc.

If you split a room with someone else, please make a note in the comment box on the form. You are only eligible to be reimbursed for your share of the final bill.

Please note that SIAM will not reimburse personal hotel expenses. These include, but are not limited to, in-room movies, valet/laundry service, health clubs, toiletries, magazines, premium internet, printing etc.

How should I report my meals?

You do NOT have to collect and submit receipts for meals given the per diem option. HOWEVER, if you do NOT use the per diem rate, you MUST submit receipts if your meal expenses total over $25.00. We highly recommend using the per diem rate.  

Meals are reimbursed as you travel to and from the meeting as well as during the meeting. You will be reimbursed using a per diem rate. The per diem rates we will use for your award are indicated in the email containing the details of your award and the conference specific Expense Report. Report your meals by filling in the appropriate per diem value (full or half day) for each applicable day in the corresponding “Expense Item” rows. 

For your full days at the conference, use the full day per diem amount. For your day of travel on the day you arrive at the conference and your day of travel on the day you depart the conference, fill in the half day rate. 

For U.S. cities, the rate is determined by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). For cities outside the U.S., the rate can be found at the U.S. Department of State website. We will use only the meals portion (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) of the total per diem allowed to U.S. State Department staff. (Incidentals at this website refer to costs incurred by State Department staff on extended stays.) 

I'm planning on extending my travel before/after the conference; how should I report costs?

If you are adding other stops to your itinerary, for example, visiting another city or extending your stay for academic, business, or personal reasons before or after the conference, please obtain a quote from your airline showing the cost of the round-trip flight for the dates of the conference and include it as part of your reimbursement package.

For example: The conference is in Los Angeles, begins on Monday, and ends on Wednesday. You would like to visit a friend in San Francisco on Thursday and fly home on Friday from the San Francisco airport. You would need to get a round trip quote from your home airport to Los Angeles for Monday - Wednesday and submit that, NOT your actual airline receipt.

No FAQ can cover all questions and situations; please contact us if you have questions or concerns.