The U.S. General Services Administration has raised standard allowable per diem rates for federal travelers in the 2025 fiscal year by $12, in large part due to the first increase in meal and incidental costs since 2022, according to an announcement.

The GSA’s standard lodging rate for the 2025 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1 and runs through Sept. 30, 2025, is $110, up $3 from the current $107. That is a smaller increase than last year’s $9 hike in the standard lodging allowance for the current fiscal year from the 2023 fiscal year.

The lodging rate, which covers federal government travelers as well as those traveling on government-contracted business, applies to everywhere in the US not designated as a “non-standard area,” which has a per diem higher than the standard rate. For the 2025 fiscal year, GSA has cut the number of non-standard areas to 296 from the 302 in the current fiscal year.

The GSA’s standard meals and incidentals allowance for the 2025 fiscal year is $68, an increase of $9 from the current rate of $59. It’s the first increase in the rate since it was revised for the 2022 fiscal year, according to the GSA. The range of meals and incidentals costs per diem for non-standard areas also increased for the 2025 fiscal year to $68-$92; the current range is $59-$79.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association estimates the per diem increase will result in $100 million in additional revenue to the hotel industry. Kevin Carey, interim CEO, said the increases are “an important victory for AHLA, which has made fair per diem rates a perennial federal advocacy priority on behalf of our members.”

“Government travel is a vital source of revenue for hotels,” said Carey, “and it’s critically important that the federal government’s per diem rates reflect market conditions and take into account the economic realities hotels are facing, including the lingering effects of inflation and the nationwide workforce shortage.”

Image: Shutterstock