Independent military travel planning aid

Build a transparent TDY estimate.

Enter location, dates, rates, furnished meals, and authorized expenses. The report shows each component and assumption immediately.

Published by Moulton Holdings LLC · Sources reviewed August 21, 2026 · Not affiliated with the U.S. Government

1

Where are you going?

For CONUS trips, search official GSA data or enter the authorized rates manually. For OCONUS, enter the locality rates from the appropriate official source or your orders.

No rate loaded yet.

2

How long are you going?

Use the departure and return dates from the authorization. Choose a reduced factor only when the written authorization establishes one.

Trip length alone does not automatically reduce the locality rate. A reduced rate must be authorized under the applicable travel rules.

3

What did the trip authorize?

Leave unknown optional items blank. If actual lodging is blank, the report clearly labels its use of the authorized lodging ceiling as an estimate.

4

Were deductible meals furnished?

Count only meals that the applicable rules require you to deduct. Common-carrier meals and complimentary hotel meals generally do not reduce federal M&IE.

Calculator guide

Read the report as a transparent worksheet, not a payment promise.

The calculator counts calendar days from departure through return. A trip of two or more days has two travel days and the intervening dates are full TDY days. By default, each travel day receives 75% of the entered M&IE amount. A same-day trip is treated as one travel day, but the tool does not know whether the trip lasted more than 12 hours or otherwise qualified for per diem.

Lodging

Number of nights multiplied by the lower of actual nightly lodging or the authorized ceiling.

Travel days

Entered M&IE multiplied by the travel-day percentage for departure and return.

Full days

Full M&IE less deductible furnished meals, never below the entered incidental amount.

Other items

Entered lodging taxes, fees, and other expenses are added as planning inputs, not independently validated entitlements.

Inputs the calculator deliberately does not infer

It does not infer government-quarters availability, Integrated Lodging Program requirements, actual-expense authority, proportional taxes on over-cap lodging, leave days, personal travel, multiple TDY localities, exchange-rate changes, or local business rules. Split those cases into separate estimates or use the official travel system.

A reduced per diem factor is never selected automatically from trip length. Use 75% or 55% only if that factor is actually established in the authorization or by the responsible authority. Current JTR reduced-rate rules require authorization; a long trip by itself is not enough.

Calculation references

GSA M&IE breakdowns and current Joint Travel Regulations.