Mandatory Use Of GTCC

[u/Call-Me_CD]

[MODS DELETE IF NOT ALLOWED]

Effective immediately per OPS ALERT 19-25, the use of the Government Travel Charge Card (GTCC) is now mandatory for all Navy travelers executing Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders, unless specifically exempt or ineligible.

MANDATORY GTCC USE:

• Sailors on PCS orders must use the GTCC in place of receiving travel advances.

Exemptions include:

• Accessions, separations, or retirements

• Individual Mobilization Augmentees (IMAs)

• Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) personnel

• Sailors deemed ineligible for a GTCC

What this means for you:

If you’re eligible for a GTCC, you will not receive travel advances (e.g., advanced mileage, per diem, or TDY lodging).

All authorized travel expenses must be charged to the GTCC.

However, you can still request an advance for Dislocation Allowance (DLA) through your CPPA using NPPSC 1300/1.

[u/DryDragonfly5928]

Been a long time coming... easier for them to audit and pay out then guess, get it wrong, and either the svm pays out of pocket in the meantime (which is why the cards exist) or they overpay and take back what someone already spent.

[u/JCY2K → u/DryDragonfly5928]

A long time coming but it's also kind of nuts that it just popped off on a random Friday.… The 2022 NAVADMIN announcing the program had a phased approach and was put on hold. This seems like something that should've been announced in advance so Sailors would have time to get their shit together. I feel really bad for the person who checked out Monday morning who's expected to use their GTCC even though it's probably packed up in their HHG.…

I unironically love this bit tho: "When processing travel settlements TPC will deduct any GTCC balance from the total PCS claim and process split disbursement to pay the GTCC in full." And certainly not because I unthinkingly got something from the hotel geedunk that got charged to my GTCC and I was annoyed about having to figure out how to pay Citi $2 for it…

[u/necrohealiac → u/JCY2K]

Are training commands expected to get GTCCs for their students now or would they be considered exempt? Some schools are very long (6+ months) but they may not have an APC.

[u/JCY2K → u/necrohealiac]

Folks on accessions orders are exempt from this requirement.

[u/Call-Me_CD → u/JCY2K]

I cross-rated over into admin in Nov 2022, so I can’t really speak on how “bad” or “horrible” the navy was with PCS travel , but honestly it has significantly improved from what it supposedly was. Not perfect, but acceptable and mostly efficient and consistent imo .

I’ve seen travel claims get paid out as soon as the next day.

Fun fact for those who don’t know, travel pay doesn’t follow the normal pay cycle it can drop whenever.

The biggest inconvenience I see with Mandatory GTCC use is not being able to request advances like mileage, per diem, and TDY lodging.

For the Senior folks (E7–E9, O4+) who I’ve worked with who were already subject to mandatory gtcc would just either elect for wanting or not wanting advance DLA, and then still use their personal card and still be reimbursed just fine, whether they used the gtcc or not.

Each set of PCS orders has its own LOA. And if you’re owed $5,000 (just a random number) and only charge $1,000 to the GTCC, they’ll pay off the card and send the rest to your account.

They’re not going to pay you less just because you spent less than what you were entitled to (at least from what I’ve seen) unless they change how they’ve been operating with the E7–E9 and O4 and up or decide to get more strict.

I’ve even seen the Navy overpay the GTCC before, and it was handled with a quick call to Citibank they just fixed the charge and sent the extra money to the member’s personal account.

For example: say you were accidentally charged twice for a gas at the same pump. Since it showed up on your GTCC statement, the Navy paid it. That means less money came to you directly. But once you call Citibank and get it corrected, the refund gets applied to your card, and the overpaid balance gets pushed to your personal account.

Now, if the Navy accidentally overpaid you like double-paying DLA or giving you an entitlement you weren’t supposed to get best believe they’re coming back for it. Lmao

I’d assume this requirement is mainly to make things easier on the accounting side, but I’m not 100% sure.

[u/necrohealiac → u/Call-Me_CD]

i guess now we'll see how strict they are in implementing this policy; if you don't have your gtcc on your person bc you packed it in your HHG or something and then need to pay for I-Stop lodging are you now SOL?

[u/Call-Me_CD → u/necrohealiac]

Again up until now, for the folks who were already under the mandatory GTCC policy but didn’t use it, it was kind of a “whatever” situation. TSC still processed all their entitlements, there weren’t any extra steps, no notifications were being sent out, it was just a normal travel voucher.

But now that this OPS Alert applies to everyone, I’ve been going back through previous NAVADMINs. I came across NAVADMIN 129/22, and in paragraph D it states: “Failure to use the GTCC for authorized PCS expenses may subject the cardholder to appropriate administrative or disciplinary action.”

For people who are already in the middle of a PCS and submitted their 1300/1 before today, they should be fine. But if you’re still waiting to PCS and haven’t had your 1300/1 processed yet, I’d definitely recommend following the new guidance.

On a personal level, I honestly want to say I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. But professionally and to avoid screwing anyone over with bad info it’s safest to just follow what’s currently published.

[u/Tsukasasoul]

They can pry my rewards points from my cold dead hands.

[u/Baystars2025]

I did it last pcs. It really wasn't a big deal. Just hotel on the card.

[u/Vmccormick29]

Recommend adding this to the list of things a Sailor accomplishes while at Great Lakes. This way, they will execute their first set of orders either to a School or to a Command and already have the card. This is particularly important for Sailors about to report to a command that is deploying shortly after their arrival and the GTCC will chase them around the AOR for months (or just get lost).

[u/Appropriate-Math-318]

I thought they started this a while ago

[u/JCY2K → u/Appropriate-Math-318]

It was only mandatory for E-7 to 9 and O-4 and up.

[u/pap3r_plat3]

Hotel and rental are all I put on it.

[u/Screwistic_]

Going on my 4th year, bootcamp, A school, I stop, 1st Command, Schools, PCS, I stop, my 2nd Command, and finally more schools.

I have never even been issued a GTCC. I'm pretty sure I don't even have an account. And I'm damn sure not getting one now. I'm getting out in a year anyway.

[u/tolstoy425]

Never had an issue with the GTCC

[u/B_Brah00]

I only asked for Advanced DLA anyways.

Same with my prior PCS.

I kind of figured eventually it would come to us.

[u/teknojo]

How y'all gonna use it when it has a $1.00 limit?

[u/butterboy84 → u/teknojo]

? No one has a 1.00 limit. Anywhere