VA travel pay reimbursement through the Beneficiary Travel program pays eligible Veterans back for mileage and other authorized travel expenses to and from approved health care appointments.

The Beneficiary Travel Self Service System is the new, faster way for eligible Veterans to receive reimbursement for their travel expenses.

VA offers two types of travel pay reimbursement: general health care travel and special mode transportation. As a Veteran, you may be eligible for one or both. You may be eligible if you meet the criteria below:

• Have a service-connected rating of 30% or more.
• Are traveling for treatment of a service-connected condition.
• Receive a VA pension, or your income does not exceed the maximum annual VA pension.
• Are traveling for a scheduled compensation or pension exam.
• Have vision impairment, spinal cord injury or disorder, double or multiple amputation, enrollment in VA rehab programs.

• Access 24 hours a day, every day
• Fast payments
• Direct deposit
• Track claims at any time

BTSSS is an online, self-reporting system that eliminates delays created by paper forms and the kiosks. An updated profile is required to file a claim online and to process previously submitted kiosk and paper claims. Filing travel claims electronically with BTSSS and using direct deposit results in the fastest payment possible.

Visit access.va.gov and select the Veteran Travel Claim Entry icon to get started. You will then be able to choose to log on using your preferred login credentials. 

No. But it is strongly encouraged. Eligible Veterans and caregivers can also file VA Form 10-3542 to request travel reimbursement.

BTSSS is strongly encouraged because:

• Combining electronic filing with direct deposit is the fastest way to be reimbursed.
• BTSSS provides an easy way to check the status of a travel claim.
• BTSSS is a self-adjudicating system, meaning once your account is set up properly and all your information is verified, self-submitting a claim in BTSSS means within 3-5 days you should be paid, regardless of any paper backlog the Beneficiary Travel Office may be experiencing.
• When a Veteran files a paper claim, the Beneficiary Travel Team must manually load and process that claim in BTSSS for the Veteran. It takes significantly longer to process this way, leading to substantial backlogs, increasing the wait time to be paid for all Veterans filing by paper.
• Logging into BTSSS is easy with any of these three methods - credentials for ID.me, My HealtheVet, or a Level 2 DS-Logon account.