What is a mileage claim?
A mileage claim is a type of reimbursement that let employees claim back money for business travel in a personal vehicle, based on the distance travelled rather than a receipt total. Instead of uploading a fuel receipt, you enter your trip's start and end points, Airwallex calculates the distance, and it multiplies that by a rate (for example, $0.67 per km) that your admin has configured.
Mileage claims work just like any other reimbursement: they're added to a report, sent through your organisation's normal approval flow, and paid out and synced to your accounting provider in the same way.
Before you start
- Your organisation must have Reimbursements enabled — mileage runs on top of it and can't be used on its own.
- An admin must have set up at least one mileage rate for your entity. The rate defines how much you're paid per unit of distance, the distance unit (km or miles), and the currency.
How to submit a mileage claim
1. Add a mileage claim to a report
- In a new reimbursement
- Select “+ New reimbursement” then “Mileage claim”
- From an existing reimbursement
- Click “Add claim” and choose “Mileage”
2. Enter your trip
- Choose your trip type using the toggle:
- One way – a single journey from start to finish.
- Return – a round trip. Your destination is automatically added back as the return starting point.
- Fill in the From and To locations. Start typing an address and select a result from the suggestions.
- (Optional) Click Add stop to add intermediate stops. You can drag stops to reorder them.
As soon as you've entered at least two locations, a map shows your route and the total distance.
3. Select a rate
Choose a rate from the dropdown. Each option shows the amount and its unit or description (for example, "$0.67 - km"). Only rates your admin has made active are available. The system will automatically remember the last rate you choose and suggest it.
4. Check the distance and amount
Airwallex automatically calculates your reimbursement:
Distance × Rate = Reimbursement amount
For example: 42.50 km × $0.67 = $28.48
Overriding the distance (optional): If the calculated distance isn't right, click the edit icon next to the distance, enter the correct value, and provide a reason for adjustment. The claim will show an "Overridden" marker so approvers can see the distance was changed manually. You can clear the override at any time before submitting.
5. Add the trip date
Enter the trip date. This field is required.
6. Add a supporting document (optional)
You can attach a file if you'd like to provide extra proof for the claim, but it's not required.
- Supported formats: PDF, Word, JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP
- Maximum size: 10 MB
7. Submit
Once every claim in your reimbursement is ready, click Submit.
Good to know
- You can't edit a claim after it's submitted. Double-check the trip, rate, distance, and date before submitting.
- Rates can change or be archived. If the rate you selected has been archived by the time you submit, you'll need to pick a currently active rate before the report can go through.
- Different currencies are handled automatically. If the rate's currency differs from your report's payout currency, Airwallex converts the amount using real-time FX rates.
- No receipt needed. Mileage claims are calculated from distance, so a fuel or travel receipt isn't required.