[Due for payment 2026-03-13] [$250] Distance - Old unit persists when creating distance expense after changing distance unit

[nlemma]

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Version Number: 9.3.28-1
Reproducible in staging?: Yes
Reproducible in production?: N/A - new feature, doesn't exist in prod
If this was caught during regression testing, add the test name, ID and link from BrowserStack: #74967
Email or phone of affected tester (no customers): isodjnosidjiojiojiso@gmail.com
Issue reported by: Applause Internal Team
Bug source: Exploratory - Significant User Experience Deterioration
Device used: Mac 26.2 / Chrome
App Component: Money Requests

Action Performed:

Precondition:

• Enable distance rates.
• Change distance unit to Kilometers.

1. Go to staging.new.expensify.com
2. Go to self DM.
3. Click + > Track distance > Manual.
4. Enter amount > Next.
5. Click Create expense.
6. Open the expense.
7. Click Distance field.

Expected Result:

In Step 3 and 4, when creating distance expense, distance unit should default to kilometer (from the changes in precondition).

Actual Result:

In Step 3 and 4, when creating distance expense, old distance unit (mile) persists.
In Step 6, after creating the expense, the distance amount persists but with the different unit (kilometer).
In Step 7, distance editor still shows miles when the menu item shows kilometers.

Workaround:

Unknown

Platforms:

• Android: App
• Android: mWeb Chrome
• iOS: App
• iOS: mWeb Safari
• iOS: mWeb Chrome
• Windows: Chrome
• MacOS: Chrome / Safari

Screenshots/Videos

Bug7092490_1772511385574.023.mp4

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Issue Owner

Current Issue Owner: @dylanexpensify

Upwork Automation - Do Not Edit

• Upwork Job URL: https://www.upwork.com/jobs/~022028768106167481138
• Upwork Job ID: 2028768106167481138
• Last Price Increase: 2026-03-03
• Automatic offers:
• FitseTLT | Reviewer | 110642893

[melvin-bot]

You have been assigned to this deploy blocker because you recently merged this PR: #74967

[melvin-bot]

💬 A slack conversation has been started in #expensify-open-source

[melvin-bot]

Triggered auto assignment to @CortneyOfstad (Bug), see https://stackoverflow.com/c/expensify/questions/14418 for more details. Please add this bug to a GH project, as outlined in the SO.

[github-actions]

👋 Friendly reminder that deploy blockers are time-sensitive ⏱ issues! Check out the open `StagingDeployCash` deploy checklist to see the list of PRs included in this release, then work quickly to do one of the following:

1. Identify the pull request that introduced this issue and revert it.
2. Find someone who can quickly fix the issue.
3. Fix the issue yourself.

[OSBotify]

Investigation Summary

Classification: Frontend bug
Causing PR: #74967 - "Fix - [Unreported] Add distance rate to the distance expenses tracked in selfDM" by @FitseTLT (High confidence)
Related Issues: None

Recommendation: REVERT

PR #74967 adds functionality for distance rates in self DM (unreported expenses), but introduces a bug where the distance unit from policy settings is not properly applied during distance expense creation. The old unit persists during creation, then switches to the new unit after the expense is created, causing confusion and incorrect data display.

Labels: No label changes needed. DeployBlockerCash is correctly applied (this is a frontend/App bug that blocks the App deploy).

Detailed Analysis

Evidence

The issue states that when creating a distance expense after changing the distance unit from miles to kilometers:

1. During creation (steps 3-4), the old unit (miles) persists
2. After creating the expense (step 6), the distance amount persists but with the different unit (kilometers)
3. The distance editor still shows miles when the menu item shows kilometers

This matches the changes introduced in PR #74967, which modified how distance rates are handled for track expenses in self DM. The PR was merged on 2026-02-28 and is included in the 9.3.28-1 staging deploy checklist.

Verification

PR #74967 modified the following distance-related files:

• src/libs/DistanceRequestUtils.ts - Added isTrackDistanceExpense parameter to rate selection logic
• src/pages/iou/request/DistanceRequestStartPage.tsx - Changed to use usePolicyForTransaction hook
• src/components/MoneyRequestConfirmationList.tsx - Added policyForMovingExpenses to rate calculation
• Multiple distance request step files removed customUnitRateID parameter

The bug appears to be in how the distance unit is initialized during the creation flow. The setMoneyRequestDistanceRate function (lines 1798-1821 in src/libs/actions/IOU/index.ts) properly updates the distance unit when a rate is selected, but during initial creation on the confirmation page, the unit may not be properly initialized from the policy rate settings for track expenses.

Root Cause

When creating a distance expense in self DM after changing the distance unit setting, the transaction is initialized without the updated distance unit from the policy settings. The unit gets updated only after a rate is explicitly selected or after the expense is created, causing the unit mismatch during the creation flow.