A pretty common question I get asked by friends, family, and readers is what level of airfare accommodation the U.S. government provides. The answer can be complex.

The simplest answer is the U.S. government will pay for the cheapest unrestricted economy class tickets. These tickets whenever possible must also be in compliance with the “Fly America Act”, a law that basically stipulates that a U.S. Flag Carrier must be used whenever possible when travelling on the U.S. Government’s dime. Another layer is many locations will have negotiated “city pair” airfare costs, which is basically a cheaper fare negotiated by the U.S. government with carriers between commonly used route.

Confused yet? Let’s use some examples to shed some light:

Tom is a diplomat about to start his assignment in Paris, he is currently based in Washington D.C. and he wants to arrange is his travel to Paris. He works with the travel office and they review his requested travel dates. What will happen is they will first confirm if Washington to Paris has a city pair rate with a U.S. Flag Carrier. As it just so happens, Delta and their code share partners have a city pair rate for unrestricted economy airfare from D.C. to Paris that hypothetically costs $1900. If Tom is pleased with this arrangement, great, his travel is booked and funded, and off he goes.

Tom also is allowed to spend $300 to choose his own seat. He can’t use this money to fund business or first class travel, but he can use it if he wants a nice exit row seat or to upgrade to premium economy.

Well, what about if Tom wants to fly business class for his flight out to Paris? This is possible. The government wont fund business class travel directly unless it is for certain medical reasons or you’re a high ranking official heading to an important meeting. You are however, allowed to cost construct yourself into a business class seat.

Cost constructing is basically just taking a dollar amount quoted for your unrestricted ticket, and applying it to whatever type of ticket class you want as long as you still are in compliance with the Fly America Act. Using Tom again, his quoted price was $1900, so he basically has that amount of money to spend toward a ticket of his choosing. Let’s say he found that American Airlines has a restricted business class ticket for $1800 to Paris, great, he can book it at no cost to himself. Some risks when using a restricted ticket is if something changes and he can’t go, he will be on the hook for cancellation and change fees. The reality is that business class seats, even if restricted are a lot more expensive, so the real scenario is Tom likely found a business seat for $2500 and if he wants to take that flight, he needs to pay the U.S. government the difference. This happens a lot.

In our most recent trip to the Philippines, we had a cost construct cap of roughly $4k per person, and the business class tickets on Turkish Air were $4300 per person. I paid $1200 out of pocket for the 4 of us to fly business class, which for some might not be worth it, but for me, was worth the cost when travelling with two young kids over 2 days.

Another perk in all this is the government lets you keep any award miles you accumulate while travelling on government funded tickets. For me, this has gotten me to Gold Status on Air France, which has given me more affordable upgrades, an extra checked bag free, and free use of any SkyTeam lounge worldwide. Pretty nice when it has essentially cost me nothing.

So there you have it. The government funds economy class airfare, but there are legal ways that allow you to upgrade or change an itinerary to better fit your needs. Sometimes it might not work out, or it will cost you quite a bit, but it is indeed possible. I hope this wasn’t confusing as mud. -Nick