PRIA Logo™
Title 5, Government Organization and EmployeesRelease 119-102

§5731 Expenses Limited to Lowest First-class Rate

Title 5 › PART III — EMPLOYEES › Subpart D — Pay and Allowances › CHAPTER 57 — TRAVEL, TRANSPORTATION, AND SUBSISTENCE › SUBCHAPTER II — TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION EXPENSES; NEW APPOINTEES, STUDENT TRAINEES, AND TRANSFERRED EMPLOYEES › § 5731

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Government employees may not be paid more than the lowest first-class fare for the type of travel they use. An official can allow a higher cost only if, under the rules in section 5738, it is certified that lowest first-class seats or rooms are not available or that a special compartment or other space approved by the agency head is needed for security. For travel by an inter-island steamship in Hawaii, the payment limit is the steamship rate that is as close as possible to the lowest first-class rate on trans‑pacific steamships.

Full Legal Text

Title 5, §5731

Government Organization and Employees, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The allowance for actual expenses for transportation may not exceed the lowest first-class rate by the transportation facility used unless it is certified, in accordance with regulations prescribed under section 5738 of this title, that—
(1)lowest first-class accommodations are not available; or
(2)use of a compartment or other accommodation authorized or approved by the head of the agency concerned or his designee is required for security purposes.
(b)Instead of the maximum fixed by subsection (a) of this section, the allowance to an employee of the Government for actual expenses for transportation on an inter-island steamship in Hawaii may not exceed the rate for accommodations on the steamship that is equivalent as nearly as possible to the rate for the lowest first-class accommodations on trans-pacific steamships.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

DerivationU.S. CodeRevised Statutes andStatutes at Large (a)5 U.S.C. 73b.Mar. 3, 1933, ch. 212, § 10, 47 Stat. 1516. Aug. 2, 1946, ch. 744, § 6, 60 Stat. 808. (b)5 U.S.C. 73e.May 28, 1938, ch. 289, § 811, 52 Stat. 577. In subsection (a), the words “by or under authority of law” are omitted as surplusage. In subsection (b), the words “by or under authority of law” are omitted as surplusage. The words “after the date of the enactment of this Act” are omitted as obsolete. Standard changes are made to conform with the definitions applicable and the style of this title as outlined in the preface to the report.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1998—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–264 substituted “Government” for “United States”. 1996—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–201 substituted “in accordance with

Regulations

prescribed under section 5738 of this title” for “in accordance with

Regulations

prescribed by the President”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1996 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 104–201 effective 180 days after Sept. 23, 1996, see section 1725(a) of Pub. L. 104–201, set out as a note under section 5722 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

5 U.S.C. § 5731

Title 5, Government Organization and Employees

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102