Approving Travel and Blanket Travel Requests

These instructions will cover how to approve two types of requests:

  • Travel Request
  • Blanket Travel Request

At the end of the instructions, there are reminders on what to check as an approver for both Travel Request and Blanket Travel Request.

  • A Travel Request will be required if the traveler requests to go on a University business trip for more than 24 hours. You must identify the estimated travel expenses that will be incurred throughout the trip. To ensure you comply with Travel policies, ask your budget coordinator to provide an amount that is allowed for your department to spend on your travel expenses.
  • A Blanket Travel Request will be required if the traveler requests to go on a business trip in California, within a fiscal year (July 1st – June 30th). Blanket Travel estimated expenses will only apply to parking and mileage.

To view your divisions approval workflow go to Concur Approval Workflow for more information.

Click on any of the links below to skip ahead to that section. 

Table of Contents

If you need assistance with logging into Concur, please go to Logging into Concur.

Accessing Requests

Step 1: You will see your Concur dashboard, along with the number of approvals that are required to be approved by you as an Approver.

Click on Required Approvals.

Arrow pointing to requests that require approving

Step 2: You will see three tabs: Trips, Requests, and Expense Reports. You will also see the number of approvals you need to approve for each tab.

Select Requests.

Arrow pointing to number of requests that require approval.

Step 3: In the Requests tab, you will see requests that have been submitted to you for approval.

Click on the appropriate item.

In this example, Jan 2018 Las Vegas, NV was selected.

Options to review Travel Request are the same as Blanket Travel Request.

Two Travel Requests are displayed.

Step 4: You can approve multiple requests by checking on the boxes and then click on Approve. 

However, it is highly recommended for you to review each request individually.   

Green arrow pointing to Approve button to approve selected request.

Step 5: If you have a delegate set-up to preview requests, you will see a checkmark listed next to the requests indicating that it is ready for you to review.

Green arrow pointing to checkmark listed next to a request

Step 6: After you click on the request, you can review details by selecting each drop-down.

It is highly recommended to review all tabs with particular attention to Request Details, Attachments, and Expected Expenses before approving the request.

Request Details, Attachments, and Expected Expenses in a travel request.

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Approving Options

After reviewing all the tabs, you will see three options for approval:

  • Approve
  • Approve & Forward
  • Send Back Request

The Approve button will approve the request, and move it on to the next approver or notify the employee of their eligibility to book for their travel.

  • If you do not need to add additional approvers, proceed to  Approve.


The Approve & Forward button will approve the request on your end and will move forward to the next Approver that you will designate.

  • This option is best for situations where another department is paying for your employee to travel.
  • If you are the Approver for your employee, but another department is paying for your employee to travel, proceed to Approving & Forwarding.


The Send Back Request button will send the request back to the user.

  • Select this option if the traveler needs to make corrections on the request.
  • If you are sending the request back, proceed to Send Back Request.

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Approve

Step 1: After you reviewed the employee’s request, select Approve.

Approve button for a travel request.

Step 1a: A confirmation window will pop-up, asking you if you are sure you want to approve this request.

Click on the Yes button when you are ready to approve.

Confirmation message in pop-up window

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Approving and Forwarding

Step 1: After you reviewed the employee’s request, click on More Actions and select Edit Approval Flow.

The Approve & Forward button will be available in all tabs except Approval Flow.

More Actions options

Step 1a: After you click on Edit Approval Flow, you should see the page as shown here.

Edit Approval Flow window showing approvers added.

Step 1b: Click on the Add Step option, and the User-Added Approver field will appear below.

The field below is where you can determine what category you would like to search by.

Select the Add Step link to add an approval step

Step 1c: In this step, First Name was selected.

Add the next approver under User-Added Approver by typing in their First Name.

Drop-down menu with option to select employee.

Step 1d: When you are done modifying the approval workflow, click on the Save button.

Arrow pointing towards the Save button in the Edit Approval Flow window.

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Send Back to Employee

Step 1: Select Send Back to Employee option when there are red exceptions, such as:

  • Receipts/attachments are not attached to certain expenses
  • Wrong naming convention
  • Estimated expenses not identified
  • Estimated expense amount is unreasonable (comments need to be added)
  • Incorrect dates
Send Back to Employee option for travel request.

Step 1a: Type in the reason you are sending the request back in the comment section.

Then click on the Send Back button. 

Click the Send Back button

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Approving Travel Request Checklist

If you would like to use a checklist, click on the Approving Travel Request Checklist.

Approving Blanket Travel Request Checklist

If you would like to use a checklist, click on the Approving Blanket Travel Request Checklist.

Need more help?

Contact Concur Support at [email protected] or at 657-278-3600.