Air Force moves to different way to pay for travel Published Dec. 21, 2010 By Senior Airman Wes Carter 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The Air Force is scheduled to replace the way individuals pay for government travel. Currently, members use their government travel card, which is essentially a credit card, to pay for expenses occurred while on official government business. Now members will be replacing their government travel card with the Citi Controlled Spend Account. The new card will act essentially as a prepaid debit card. "Once a travel authorization is approved, a transaction flows to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service that includes the estimated cost of travel," said 1st Lt. Nathan Smith, the deputy chief of 71st Comptroller Squadron at Vance. "This transaction is also sent to Citibank to add the estimated travel cost to your card." Once Citi receives the estimated cost of travel, the amount will be loaded into the card. Unlike the old card, when a travel voucher is processed all funds will go directly to Citi. If funds are left on the card, members will be allowed to use the card for personal use, Lieutenant Smith said. Since the credit amount will be preapproved, there are no outside qualifications necessary to receive the card, and there will be no possibility of affecting a member's credit report. "Everyone will receive a card because there will be no credit check and no one will be exempt from receiving a card," said Lieutenant Smith. If a servicemember is sent to a temporary duty location on verbal orders of a commander before a travel authorization can be complete or travel dates are extended, they can call Citi for a temporary spending limit, Lieutenant Smith said. As the card is rolled out, existing GTC holders will go through an auto enroll process coordinated with Citi and their agency program coordinator. New cardholders will need to fill out an application.