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Travel To and From Madison

Please wait to begin making travel arrangements until we email you about it. We plan to email everyone about travel soon, but are starting with a small group to find and fix issues.

Whether we offered to pay your travel costs or not, please we must hear about your travel plans so that we know when to expect you here. (And if we offered to pay for your hotel room, we will reserve your hotel room for you.)

Find the numbered section below that applies to you:

1. We Offered to Pay for Your Travel

We want to find reasonable and comfortable travel options for you. At the same time, we must stay within budget and follow University rules about arranging and paying for your travel costs. Let’s work together to find something that makes sense for everyone.

Here are ideas that have helped some School travelers in past years:

  • If you are near Madison, consider driving; we can reimburse mileage and tolls up to a point, plus parking. Or look into bus routes, especially from larger cities like Chicago. The buses are very comfortable, have wi-fi, and run frequently.

  • If you fly, try to get flights to and from Madison (MSN) itself. In some cases, we may ask you to consider flying to Milwaukee (1½ hours away) or Chicago (2½ hours away), then taking a direct bus to Madison; we do this only when the costs or itinerary options to Madison are terrible.

  • If you fly, be flexible about departure times — early and late flights are often the least expensive. We do not like very early or very late flights any more than you do, so we will work hard to find reasonable flight times.

Note: Please try to complete your travel plans by about May 30, when rates may go up.

Travel by Airplane

Do NOT buy your own airline tickets. University rules say that our travel agency, Fox World Travel, must buy your tickets.

Please try to complete air travel arrangements by Thursday, 29 May 2025; earlier is better!

Use the following information to get air travel tickets:

  • Start by emailing Fox World Travel (FWT):

    • Send the email to “[email protected]”
    • As always, CC the School: “[email protected]”
    • For the email subject, put something like “OSG School travel request (01UWS037) - ”, then your first initial and last name(s)
    • For the email body, repeat that you are requesting flights for the OSG School 2025 (01UWS037), and include your full name, where you are traveling from (city or airport), and where you are returning to
    • If you have special constraints or situations (e.g., other dates, travel companion), explain clearly

  • A FWT agent will email you back with options and/or questions. Watch for this email and respond as soon as reasonable. It may take a few emails back and forth. Please CC the School on all emails.

  • If you prefer, you may call FWT instead: +1 (844) 630-3853. If your itinerary must be approved (see below), then we will use email for that and remaining steps. Make sure FWT has your email address!

  • We must review and approve some itineraries. FWT can purchase tickets directly in many cases, but if the agent says that your trip must be reviewed, do not worry! It just means that we need to check the budget, options, and UW rules. We hope to approve your first choice, or we will work with you and FWT to find another reasonable one.

    Common reasons for a trip needing review are: total trip cost over $800, leaving too early or arriving too late, travel starting and ending at different locations, and travel on dates other than June 22 and 28.

  • Approval takes time, so it may take 1–2 days to get confirmation. Airplane tickets cannot be held without purchase over a weekend, so avoid contacting FWT late on Fridays.

  • Please be considerate of the FWT agent(s) you work with. They work hard to find good options for you, but they must also follow our rules. If you feel that they are not providing the options that you want, you should email us. We will help resolve any issues. Do not argue with the FWT agents, especially about options you find online — there are many reasons why that option might not be available to us.

Travel by Bus

For some nearby locations, or in addition to air travel to Chicago or Milwaukee, it may be helpful to take a bus to Madison. Bus companies that School travelers have used often in the past are:

To get bus tickets, pick one method:

  • Ask us to buy bus tickets for you in advance. This is the easiest option all around. Just email us at school@osg-htc.org; include your desired travel dates and times, and start and end bus stations or stops.

  • Buy bus tickets for yourself. You may purchase bus tickets yourself before or on the day of travel. If you purchase your own tickets, you must get approval from the School for the estimated cost first, then request reimbursement from us after the School.

    If you purchase your own tickets, save the original receipt (even if by email). It is best to have a detailed receipt (including your name, itinerary, date of purchase, and total amount paid), but a regular ticket stub (e.g., without your name or date) should work fine. Just get what you can!

    Be sure to email us with your bus plans, including:

    • Transportation provider(s) (e.g., Van Galder bus)
    • Arrival date and approximate time
    • Departure date and approximate time
    • Arrival and departure location within Madison
    • Actual or estimated cost (indicate which)

Travel by Personal Car

If you are driving to Madison, you will be reimbursed the mileage rate of $0.XXX per mile for the shortest round-trip distance (as calculated by Google Maps), plus tolls. Also, we will pay for parking costs for the week at the hotel in Madison (but not elsewhere). We recommend keeping your receipts for tolls.

Note: Due to the high mileage reimbursement rate, driving can be an expensive option! We reserve the right to limit your total driving reimbursement, so work with us on the details.

To travel by personal car, please check with us first. We may search for comparable flight options to figure out a reasonable maximum cost.

Be sure to email us with your travel plans as soon as possible. Try to include:

  • Departure date from home, location (for mileage calculation), and approximate time of arrival in Madison
  • Departure date and approximate time from Madison, and return location (for mileage calculation) if different than above

2. We Are Not Paying for Your Travel

If you are paying for your own travel or if someone else is paying for it, go ahead and make your travel arrangements now! Just remember to arrive on Sunday, June 22, before about 5:00 pm and depart on Saturday, June 28, or whatever dates we suggested directly to you. For other travel dates, check with us first, please!

Be sure to email us with your travel plans as soon as possible. Try to include:

  • Transportation provider(s) (e.g., airline)
  • Arrival date and approximate time
  • Departure date and approximate time
  • Arrival and departure location within Madison (e.g., airport, bus station, etc.)