You read your orders, you look up the lodging rate for the city, you book a place at the cap, and three weeks later somebody in the squadron mentions that long courses only pay 75 percent. That is the long term TDY per diem rate change, and it catches people every year. It is not a mistake, it is not your travel office being difficult, and it is written into the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) — the rulebook that governs military travel pay. The fix is simple: find out which rate applies before you sign a lease or book a hotel, then price your lodging to that number instead of the full one. Start with the TDY per diem and reimbursement guide if you want the whole system end to end.
This article covers one slice of it: what happens to lodging and meals money when a temporary duty (TDY) trip runs past 30 days, how the math actually works, and what to do if your orders get extended after you have already moved in. Run your own figures in the per diem calculator as you read — the percentages below mean nothing until you apply them to your city.
What does the long term TDY per diem rate change mean for you?
Normal TDY per diem has two parts. Lodging is a ceiling — you are reimbursed what you actually pay, up to that nightly cap. Meals and incidental expenses (M&IE) is a flat daily amount you get regardless of what you spend. For short trips, that is the whole story.
For long trips, the JTR allows a different method: flat rate per diem for long-term TDY. Instead of paying lodging up to the cap, the authorizing official (AO) sets a flat daily amount based on a percentage of the locality rate, and you are paid that amount regardless of what your room actually costs. The tiers look like this.
| Expected length of the TDY | Per diem method |
|---|---|
| 30 days or fewer | Full locality rate — lodging reimbursed up to the cap, full M&IE |
| 31 to 180 days | Flat rate at up to 75 percent of the locality lodging and M&IE rates |
| 181 days or more | Flat rate at up to 55 percent of the locality lodging and M&IE rates |
Two words in that table do the heavy lifting. Expected — the tier is based on the length of the TDY as ordered, not on how long you end up staying. And up to — the reduced rate is an authority the AO may use, not an automatic cut. Some commands apply it to every long course by default. Others never use it. Your orders are the only place that answer lives, and it is usually spelled out in the per diem remarks block.
So step one is not math. Step one is reading your authorization line by line and asking your travel office, in writing, which rate your voucher will settle at. That single question is worth more than anything else in this article. If you want to see how the bidding and pricing side works once you know your number, the four-step process page walks through it.
The math, in round numbers
Here is the shape of it. These are made-up figures, not any real city's rate — use the calculator for yours. Pretend the locality pays $100 lodging and $60 M&IE.
- Full rate: $160 a day. Over 90 days, $14,400.
- 75 percent flat rate: $75 lodging plus $45 M&IE, so $120 a day. Over 90 days, $10,800.
- 55 percent flat rate: $55 lodging plus $33 M&IE, so $88 a day.
That 75 percent tier is a $3,600 swing on a three-month course. If you booked a hotel at the full cap and the voucher settles at 75 percent, you are covering the difference out of pocket — roughly $25 a night on this example, every night, with no way to claim it back.
The flip side is the part nobody mentions. Flat rate means flat. If your lodging costs less than the flat lodging amount, you are generally paid the flat amount anyway. Find a furnished room at well under the reduced number and the long term TDY per diem rate change stops being a penalty and starts being margin. Confirm how your finance office implements it before you count on it, because practice varies.
What rules decide the money on a TDY over 30 days?
Receipts. Under the standard method you need a lodging receipt for every night, itemized, with your name and the dates. Under flat rate, lodging receipts are generally not required because reimbursement does not depend on what you paid. Generally is not always — plenty of offices still ask, and an audit a year later is a bad time to discover your landlord does not do paperwork. Get itemized receipts regardless. The full breakdown of what a voucher actually needs is in TDY per diem explained.
Government quarters. If on-base lodging is available at your TDY location and your orders direct you to use it, availability drives your lodging money. When the inn is full, you need a non-availability number — non-A — from base lodging before you book off base. Get it in writing and attach it to the voucher. A missing non-A is still the most common reason a long-TDY lodging claim gets kicked back.
Travel days. The first and last day of travel are paid at 75 percent of the M&IE rate. That is a separate rule from the 75 percent long-term tier, and the two get confused constantly. On a long TDY under flat rate, your travel days are computed off the reduced M&IE figure, not the full one. Check what the Defense Travel System (DTS) actually calculated before you sign.
Orders changes. If your course slips, your tier can move. A 25-day TDY extended to 95 days may be re-cut at the 75 percent flat rate. In most cases the change applies going forward from the amendment rather than reaching back to day one, but the AO decides, and the amended orders control. The moment you hear your dates are moving, ask the travel office what happens to your rate.
Actual expense allowance. If the flat rate genuinely cannot cover lodging in your city — a tight market, a seasonal spike, a medical or family situation — the AO can consider an actual expense allowance (AEA). It is approved case by case, it needs justification, and it is far easier to get approved before the trip than after. Ask early.
Two more things worth knowing. Per diem is not the same allowance as temporary lodging expense (TLE) during a permanent change of station (PCS) move — different clock, different voucher, different office, as laid out in TLE vs. per diem. And locality rates change, sometimes sharply, at the start of each federal fiscal year in October. Pull the current figure for your base from the per diem rates by base directory rather than trusting a number a classmate quoted from last year.
Where should you live when the rate drops?
A reduced rate changes the housing math more than it changes anything else. At the full cap, a chain hotel is break-even. At 75 percent, it usually is not, and at 55 percent it almost never is.
On base. Start here, both because your orders may require it and because it is often the cheapest option. Run the nightly figure through the on-base lodging cost calculator for your installation and compare it to your reduced flat rate. If the inn is cheaper than the flat lodging amount and you can get a room for the whole course, that is a clean answer. If it is full, get the non-A and move on.
Hotels. Extended-stay brands negotiate weekly and monthly rates that are well below their nightly price, and they will often meet a government rate if you ask for the long-stay desk rather than booking online. You are trading square footage and a real kitchen for convenience. On a 90-day course with cooking as your main cost control, that trade matters.
Furnished houses and crashpads. A room in a furnished house shared with other students, or a whole small house for a crew, typically prices per month rather than per night, which is what makes it work under a reduced rate. Kitchen, laundry, driveway, and a door that closes. What is a military crashpad covers the format and how to tell a good one from a mattress in a basement.
Regular leases. Possible on a six-month course, but most civilian landlords want 12 months and a deposit, and an orders change can leave you paying for an empty apartment. Ask for a military clause in writing before you sign anything.
Markets differ enormously. Albuquerque's supply near Kirtland fills up when several courses overlap, which the Kirtland TDY guide gets into. Denver-area pricing swings hard by season. A reduced rate in a cheap market is an inconvenience; a reduced rate in an expensive one is a planning problem you need to solve in week one.
What is the step-by-step plan?
- Read the per diem remarks on your orders. Look for flat rate, reduced rate, 75 percent, 55 percent, or a dollar figure that is lower than the published locality rate.
- Ask your travel office in writing. "Will my voucher settle at the full locality rate or a long-term flat rate?" Save the reply. It is your backstop if the voucher comes back short.
- Pull the live locality rate. Use the calculator or the GSA rate lookup at gsa.gov for your exact ZIP and dates. Seasonal cities change by month.
- Do the multiplication. Locality lodging times 0.75 or 0.55. That is your nightly housing budget, and nothing above it comes back.
- Call base lodging. Book a room or get the non-A number. Same day, not next week.
- Shop to the reduced number, not the cap. Monthly-priced furnished housing is usually the only way to stay under it comfortably on a long course.
- Get the receipt commitment up front. Before you pay a deposit, confirm the host or hotel will provide itemized receipts with your name, address, and nightly or monthly breakdown.
- Pack like you are moving in. Ninety days is not a weekend. The long-TDY packing list covers what a furnished place already has so you are not buying a frying pan at midnight.
- File interim vouchers every 30 days. Long TDYs allow it. Catching an error at day 30 beats catching it at day 180, and it keeps cash flowing.
If your course lands in an expensive market, read a market-specific guide before you shop. The Buckley SFB money guide shows how seasonal rates and a tight hotel market interact — the same pattern repeats anywhere resort or convention demand sets prices.
How does a crashpad fit?
Base Crashpads exists because of this exact math. We are furnished homes near major bases in twelve states, priced at or below the government lodging rate, with itemized receipts built for DTS and lease terms that move when your orders move. The founder is an active-duty Air Force pilot who files the same vouchers you do.
On a reduced-rate TDY, three things matter. Price has to fit under the flat lodging amount, not the full cap — tell us your reduced number and hosts bid against it. Receipts have to be clean, itemized, and in your name, because a reimbursement you cannot document is not a reimbursement. And the lease has to flex, because courses slip, washbacks happen, and no one should pay rent on an empty room in a town they left.
You post your base and dates, vetted local hosts bid within 48 hours, we send you the top three, you pick. No deposit to look. Honest caveat: in some small markets near pilot-training bases, inventory is limited and the best rooms go to whoever asks first. Post early.
Find a crashpad near your base — browse by installation, see what hosts are offering, and compare it to the reduced rate on your orders before you book anything else.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 75 percent per diem rate automatic after 30 days?
No. The JTR gives the authorizing official the authority to use a flat reduced rate on TDY expected to last 31 days or more, but it is a decision, not a switch that flips by itself. Some commands apply it to every long course; others rarely do. Your orders state which rate applies, and your travel office can confirm in writing.
What happens if my TDY gets extended past 30 days after I arrive?
Your orders get amended, and the AO decides whether the long-term flat rate applies. In most cases the reduced rate takes effect going forward from the amendment rather than retroactively, but that is the AO's call and the amended orders govern. Ask your travel office the day you hear about the extension, not the day you file.
Do I still need lodging receipts under flat rate per diem?
Under flat rate, reimbursement does not depend on what you actually paid, so lodging receipts are generally not required. Practice varies by office, and audits happen long after the trip. Keep itemized receipts with your name, the address, and the nightly or monthly breakdown for every stay anyway.
Does the reduction apply to meals as well as lodging?
Yes. The flat rate percentage applies to both the lodging portion and the M&IE portion of the locality rate. On top of that, the first and last days of travel are still paid at 75 percent of M&IE, which on a long-term flat rate trip is computed from the already-reduced meal figure.
What if the reduced rate will not cover lodging in my city?
Ask the AO about an actual expense allowance before you travel. AEA is approved case by case with written justification, and it is far easier to get authorized in advance than argued after the fact. Bring evidence: quotes from the base inn, extended-stay hotels, and furnished options showing the market will not meet the flat rate.
Does the 181-day 55 percent tier count my whole course or each set of orders?
The tier is based on the expected duration stated in the authorization. One set of orders covering 200 days sits in the 55 percent tier. Back-to-back shorter orders are evaluated on their own terms, though an AO can look at the overall picture if the trips are continuous at the same location. Ask your travel office how they treat consecutive orders before you plan around it.