GSA increases per diems for some cities

The General Services Administration on Friday announced per diem rate adjustments for fiscal 2009.

Starting Oct. 1, federal employees traveling to about 400 locations in the continental United States will receive a per diem that is higher than the national standard rate, which is $70 for lodging and $39 for meals and incidental expenses. The standard rate will remain unchanged from this year.

The announcement was posted in the Federal Register Friday and the rates are available on GSA's per diem Web site.

Federal employees traveling to Washington will see lodging per diems ranging from $165 to $233, depending on the season. That's significantly higher than the fiscal 2008 per diem rate for the area, which ranged from $154 to $201 per night. Rates for meals and incidentals will remain unchanged from this year, at $64.

Rates also will increase for other major cities, including Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

GSA added two towns -- Fayetteville, N.C., and Fredericksburg, Va. -- to the list of nonstandard areas, meaning they get their own rates. The per diem for Fayetteville will be $85 per night for lodging, and $49 for meals and incidentals. The rate for Fredericksburg will be $74 per night, and $54 for meals and incidentals.

The agency used the average daily rate, a widely accepted lodging industry performance measure, to determine the nonstandard hotel per diems. Smith Travel Research calculates the average daily rate based on industry data.

"Setting fair and cost-conscious hotel rates for federal travelers is an important part of the federal government's operation," said Kevin Messner, acting associate administrator for GSA's Office of Governmentwide Policy. "GSA has improved this process so much that requests for changes have dropped precipitously to just a handful."