The General Services Administration has released its annual updating of per diem rates for federal travelers, making numerous changes that will be effective October 1 including splitting off some outlying parts of certain metropolitan zones into their own zones and changing the way rates vary by season in some cities.
The annual exercise is closely watched not only by travelers themselves–who often complain that the rates are inadequate and that they end up subsidizing their travel out of their own pockets–but also by local members of Congress, the hotel industry and others who have a vested interest in the amount spent on travel.
As in the current fiscal year, the “meals and incidental expenses” portion of the daily rate will range from $39 to $64, and the standard rate for areas without their own rates will remain at $60 per night for lodging and $39 for meals and incidentals.
As is typical, certain large metropolitan areas and resort destinations had the highest rates, topped by Vail, Colo., at a total of $365, counting both lodgings and meals and incidentals, from December 1-March 31. Other locations at the top end include Manhattan, Aspen, Crested Butte, Nantucket, Boston, Key West and Washington, D.C., again with rates the highest during certain seasons. In most cases the rates are up a modest amount from last year but the top rate in Manhattan, $338 combined from September through December, is up by $48 from the combined top rate there in fiscal 2006.
The new rates are at www.gsa.gov/perdiem. Click on FY 07 Per Diem Rates.
