The most common per diem math error I see: someone multiplies the full daily rate by the number of trip days and calls it a budget. The Federal Travel Regulation says otherwise. Your first and last travel days get 75 percent of the meals and incidentals rate, no matter what time you fly. Here's how the rule works and what it does to a real trip.
Estimating a trip? Look up FY2027 per diem rates and build a full trip estimate with the calculator.
The rule
Under FTR section 301-11.101, travelers receive 75 percent of the applicable M&IE rate on the first and last day of travel, and 100 percent on full days in between. Three things people get wrong about this:
- It applies regardless of departure or arrival time. Land at 8 a.m. and work a full day? Still 75 percent for that calendar day. There is no proration within the day.
- It applies to M&IE, not lodging. Lodging is reimbursed at actual cost up to the cap for each night you stay. The 75 percent haircut touches meals and incidentals only.
- Single-day travel counts too. A day trip away from your official station longer than 12 hours gets 75 percent of M&IE. Shorter than that, no M&IE at all.
The M&IE rate itself is a fixed daily allowance, no receipts required, covering breakfast, lunch, dinner, related tips and taxes, plus a $5 incidentals slice for things like tips to porters and hotel housekeeping. Alcoholic beverages, entertainment, and anyone else's expenses are excluded.
What 75 percent looks like in dollars
The haircut scales with the locality's M&IE tier:
- $92 M&IE (Boston, San Francisco, New York City): first/last day = $69.00
- $86 M&IE (Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Diego): first/last day = $64.50
- $80 M&IE (Death Valley, Oakhurst, Visalia): first/last day = $60.00
- $74 M&IE (Bakersfield, Stockton): first/last day = $55.50
- $68 standard M&IE (everywhere without a special rate): first/last day = $51.00
A worked example: four days in Boston
Take a Boston trip at FY2027-ish rates: $291 lodging, $92 M&IE. You arrive Monday, work Tuesday and Wednesday, depart Thursday.
- Monday (arrival): $291 lodging + $69.00 M&IE = $360.00
- Tuesday (full day): $291 + $92.00 = $383.00
- Wednesday (full day): $291 + $92.00 = $383.00
- Thursday (departure): $0 lodging + $69.00 M&IE = $69.00
Trip total: $873 lodging + $322 M&IE = $1,195. The naive version, four full days at $383, gives $1,532 and overstates the trip by $337. On a three-day Atlanta trip the same mistake overstates costs by more than $200. If you approve travel budgets, this is the line item to audit.
The meal breakdown matters more than you think
GSA breaks each M&IE rate into breakfast, lunch, dinner, and incidentals. At $92: $23 breakfast, $26 lunch, $38 dinner, $5 incidentals. At $86: $22, $23, $36, $5. Why care? Because when meals are provided, by a conference, a client, or an airline, you're supposed to deduct the furnished meal's value from your claim. The breakdown table is how you compute the deduction. Claiming full M&IE on days someone else fed you is the kind of thing auditors notice.
Two more edges of the rule
Weekends and holidays count if you're still in travel status. The allowance runs for every calendar day of the trip until you're home or switch to personal time. And tips are already inside M&IE. Reimbursing tips on top of the flat allowance pushes the total over the federal limit, and the excess becomes taxable wages under accountable-plan rules. Don't pay them twice.
Frequently asked questions
Does the 75 percent rule apply if my flight leaves at 6 a.m.?
Yes. The rule applies to the calendar day, not the hours traveled. First day of travel gets 75 percent of M&IE whether you leave at dawn or dusk. There is no proration within the day.
Do I get the 75 percent rate for a same-day trip?
If the trip is longer than 12 hours away from your official station, you get 75 percent of M&IE for that day. Under 12 hours, no M&IE.
Can I use unspent meal money toward a nicer hotel?
No. The FTR doesn't allow mixing and matching: lodging is reimbursed at actual cost up to its cap, and M&IE can't be transferred to cover lodging. There's no "extra" to move between the buckets.
Are lodging taxes part of the cap?
No. GSA treats mandatory hotel taxes separately from the lodging ceiling. Reimburse the room rate up to the cap and list taxes as a separate line item, with the invoice as proof.
Price the whole trip correctly
The GSA Per Diem Calculator looks up FY2027 rates by city and builds a trip estimate with the 75 percent rule applied to your first and last days automatically.