I've been getting questions about purchasing plane tickets, and here are some answers. These answers apply to people for whom I've written them an email telling them we can fund them to participate in Sage Days 27 (Bug Days), and not to everybody in the world, obviously.
QUESTION: Are there any particular rules we need to obey in order to have airline tickets reimbursed? E.g. only US carriers?
ANSWER: I think you can only be reimbursed if you buy your ticket on a US carrier. So buy your ticket on a US carrier. Also, obviously, you should buy an economy ticket (at least, we can't reimburse for more than the cost of an economy ticket).
QUESTION: I would also want to stop somewhere and visit family; I'm of course happy to pay the fare difference to a direct flight out of my own pocket but I would be rather unhappy to foot the entire bill...
ANSWER: You can pay the fare difference out of pocket, and we'll pay the rest. Make sure to obtain documentation at the time you purchase your ticket about what the fare is both with and without the stop, so we know exactly what the fare difference is.
QUESTION: Do I have to buy the ticket?
ANSWER: Yes, you buy the ticket, and we will reimburse you after the workshop. (Fortunately, reimbursement at UW is very efficient these days.)