The City Pair Program is a federal government air travel program that negotiates discounted, firm‑fixed airfares between specific origin–destination city pairs for official government travel, administered by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

What the City Pair Program Is

  • The City Pair Program (CPP) is a GSA‑administered contract under which selected airlines provide passenger transportation between designated “city pairs” (for example, Washington, DC–London) at pre‑negotiated, firm‑fixed fares.
  • The program’s core purpose is to deliver best‑value air travel for federal agencies by leveraging the government’s collective buying power to secure lower, more predictable ticket prices.

Key True Features

  • City Pair fares are generally mandatory for federal civilian and many Defense travelers when available on a given route, unless a specific exception (such as mission need or sold‑out flights) applies.
  • Fares are fixed for the entire fiscal year and do not require advance purchase, so last‑minute tickets cost the same CPP rate as those booked far in advance.

Flexibility and Restrictions

  • City Pair fares typically include: no advance purchase requirement, no blackout dates, no minimum or maximum stay, fully refundable tickets, and no airline‑imposed change or cancellation fees.
  • Travelers can usually book one‑way, round‑trip, or multi‑leg itineraries under CPP, allowing flexible routing for complex official trips.

Savings and Scope

  • The program covers tens of thousands of markets (city‑to‑city routes), using historical travel volume and other factors (flight frequency, elapsed time, price) to decide which routes to include each year.
  • CPP is expected to save U.S. taxpayers well over a billion dollars annually in reduced airfare costs, making it one of the federal government’s largest travel‑savings initiatives.

Applying This To “Which Statement Is True?”

If you are facing a multiple‑choice question like “Which of the following statements about the City Pair Program is true?”, the true statement will usually look like one of these patterns, based on official descriptions:

  • “The City Pair Program provides firm‑fixed, discounted airfares between specified city pairs for federal employees on official travel.”
  • “City Pair fares generally do not require advance purchase and have no blackout dates.”
  • “City Pair fares are typically fully refundable and do not carry airline‑imposed change or cancellation penalties.”

Any choice claiming things like “only weekend travel is allowed,” “tickets are nonrefundable with high change fees,” or “fares vary daily like normal commercial tickets” would be false in the context of the City Pair Program.