There are three real answers to "where do I stay on TDY": on base, a crashpad, or a short-term rental. Each one wins somewhere. Here's the honest comparison — including the places we lose.
The short version
| Question | Air Force Inns | Crashpad | Airbnb / VRBO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nightly cost to you | $0 (reimbursed) | $0 at/below per diem | Often over the cap once fees are added |
| DTS-ready receipt | Yes | Yes, itemized | Sometimes; fees are messy |
| Kitchen / laundry | Mini-fridge, shared laundry | Full kitchen, in-unit laundry | Usually |
| Orders change / extension | Easy | Easy — built for it | Host-dependent; cancellation penalties |
| Availability during class cycles | Frequently full | Book ahead | Varies |
| Who's in the house | Everyone | Other military on orders | Anyone |
Air Force Inns
Where it wins: a few nights, a short course, an exercise where you want to be walking distance from the squadron. It's cheap for the government, zero effort for you, and the receipt is flawless. Total your dates with the on-base lodging calculator.
Where it loses: anything long. A VQ room for three months means no real kitchen, coin laundry, and a parking lot view. And at UPT, B-Course, and tech-school bases it's routinely sold out, which is the whole reason the non-A exists — see how non-A lodging works.
Airbnb / VRBO
Where it wins: families on PCS house-hunting leave, groups who want a specific neighborhood, or a location with no crashpad market at all.
Where it loses: the math and the paperwork. Cleaning fees, service fees, and taxes stack on top of the nightly rate and routinely push a "per diem" listing over the cap — and many hosts can't produce an itemized statement your AO will accept. Cancellation and extension are at the host's discretion, which is a real risk when orders mod mid-course. Long-stay discounts help, but you're still the one absorbing the fee delta.
Crashpads
Where it wins: 30 to 180+ days. A crashpad is furnished housing that exists because of TDY orders: priced at or below the locality lodging rate, itemized receipts at checkout, utilities and WiFi pre-paid, weekly cleaning, private parking, and housemates who are also on orders — often from your own pipeline. Extensions and early departures are handled the way orders actually work.
Where it loses: very short stays (a two-night TDY belongs on base), and locations where nobody operates one yet. And you should ask the same questions of any crashpad you'd ask of us: is the rate at or under per diem, is the receipt itemized, what happens if my orders change, who else lives here.
Run the numbers for your orders
- Get the lodging rate and M&IE for your ZIP in the per diem calculator.
- Total on-base for the same dates with the on-base calculator.
- Compare against a crashpad at the locality rate on your base's page.
Whichever way it comes out, you'll go in knowing what you're spending — which is more than most people can say on day one of a course.