Many per diem rates increased 1 October

October 2011 - Navy

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Military and government travelers will have more money for hotel bookings in many cities, under per diem rates set for fiscal 2012. Chicago will see one of the biggest increases. In October and November 2011 and in September 2012, hotel per diem rates will increase by $17 to $190, a ten percent increase. Hotel per diems in the Washington, DC, area will increase $15, or seven percent, to $226 in October 2011 and September 2012. From April to June 2012, the nightly per diem will increase $13, or six percent, to $224. Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Denver will see per diem increases ranging from $1 to $8. Hotel per diem rates in San Antonio, TX, and Albuquerque, NM, will stay flat at $106 and $81, respectively. The St. Louis per diem rate will drop $1 to $104. The increases –– although small in some areas –– suggest a slight turnaround from last year when the General Services Administration dropped the lodging rate for 310 of the 378 nonstandard areas. The 2011 per diem rates were calculated partly using rates hotels offered in the heart of the recession, when the travel industry had cratered. Some travel industry representatives said those depressed rates were too low and didn't take into account the hotel industry's recovery. Meal and incidental expense rates in cities identified as the top ten destinations last year will remain unchanged in 2012, ranging from $56 to $71. The standard hotel rate will remain unchanged at $77, and the standard meal rate will also remain at $46.