Booking
Book and Register Your Travel
Our goal is to support the health, safety, and security of Stanford travelers. All university-funded/sponsored travel needs to be booked through Stanford Travel and registered with International SOS/MyTrips. Doing so provides us the opportunity to share advice, alerts, and assistance in the event of an emergency.
In order for Stanford to be able to provide support to its faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars and students when they are traveling on university-sponsored business, the university requires that faculty, staff, students and postdocs book air travel through the Stanford Travel program.
The limited exemptions to this policy are outlined on Stanford's Gateway to Financial Activities (Fingate).
Book Your Travel
Flights
Faculty, staff, postdoctoral scholars and students booking air fare for university-sponsored travel must utilize a Stanford Travel booking channel.
Booking through Stanford Travel channels allows Stanford to contact you and offer assistance in the event of a major emergency or changing circumstances related to your travel destination. If you have booked your trip through Stanford Travel (e.g. Egencia, FCM (formerly Casto), United Corporate Direct, or Student Universe), your itinerary is automatically registered and you do not need to do anything further.
Exemptions and Exceptions
If you qualify for an exemption (as described in the Administrative Guide and Fingate ) and have not used Stanford Travel, see below for instructions on how to register your travel.
If you would like to request an exception, travelers or travel arrangers need to email travelbookingexceptions@stanford.edu (subject line: “Booking Exception Request”) with (1) a justification for booking outside of the Stanford Travel booking channel(s), (2) location(s) of travel, and (3) dates of travel. This process is specific to requesting exceptions to the booking method only; exceptions to business expense policies and processes (e.g., such as for class of fare) are administered by Financial Management Services and approved first by the school or unit where applicable.
Lodging
Travelers have the option to book their hotel outside of the Stanford Travel program. Since booking a hotel through Stanford Travel affords safety benefits and administrative efficiencies, Stanford Travel remains the preferred option. Regardless of the mode of booking hotels, travelers must continue to adhere to Stanford’s lodging policy and register the booking.
Rental Cars
Travelers are no longer required to reserve a car through the Stanford Travel program, but may continue to choose to do so for administrative efficiencies.
Stanford Travel Booking Policy & Travel Registration Summary
Book via Stanford Travel | Register Travel | |
---|---|---|
Flight | Required, unless exemption applies | Required (automatic if booked via Stanford Travel) |
Hotel | Recommended | Required (automatic if booked via Stanford Travel) |
Car | Recommended | Not required |
More Booking + Travel information, including flight exceptions, can be found in the Stanford Travel Booking Frequently Asked Questions.

Registering Your Travel
Individual Trips
If you qualify for an exemption or have not used Stanford Travel for your lodging, before departing on your trip, register your trip details by forwarding your itinerary confirmation exactly as it was received from your Stanford email address to StanfordTravel@itinerary.internationalsos.com.
This is an automated process. Simply forward the confirmation email (and any attachments) from your Stanford email address to StanfordTravel@itinerary.internationalsos.com. For the automated system to process an itinerary, it must include the traveler's name. If there are multiple itineraries (for example, flights, hotel, and car rental), forward only one at a time. You will receive a notification when your itinerary is uploaded successfully. In the event that you are unable to upload your itinerary by email, please register your trip directly in MyTrips by clicking “New User? Register Here” on MyTrips page.
In addition to flight itineraries, you can register hotel, car rental, and train bookings in MyTrips. Enter as much detail regarding your trip as possible (all flight segments, lodging, transportation) and revise any information as necessary.
You can find out more and manage your trip information directly through MyTrips. Create a your account/log-in on the MyTrips page.
Uploading on Behalf of Another Stanford Traveler
If you are sending an itinerary on a traveler's behalf, please send the original email exactly as it was received to the traveler’s Stanford email address and cc StanfordTravel-TO@itinerary.internationalsos.com. If there are multiple itineraries, attach only one per email.
Group Trips and Travel Booked by Third Parties
If you are booking travel for groups of 10 or more persons, or if your trip was booked by a third party (i.e. conference organizer or talk sponsor), registering your travel is as easy as forwarding an itinerary confirmation from your Stanford email address to StanfordTravel@itinerary.internationalsos.com. In addition to flight itineraries, you can register hotel, car rental, and train bookings.
If you experience any issues with forwarding an itinerary, please contact Global Risk (globalrisk@stanford.edu).
Finding A Place to Live
Regardless of where you’re planning to stay, you should conduct a safety and security assessment of the housing prior to booking. Please use the guide below to help you with this process.