First and last day of travel: the 75% rule
On the day you leave and the day you come back, the meals-and-incidentals allowance is 75% of the full daily rate. GSA prints the exact amounts in its M&IE breakdown table: $51 on the $68 tier up to $69 on the $92 tier. Lodging is paid per night, so the last day has M&IE but no lodging.
The breakdown table
Each of the five tiers splits into breakfast, lunch, dinner and incidental expenses. Incidentals are $5 on every tier; the rest of the difference between tiers sits in the three meals, with dinner always the largest share.
| M&IE | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | Incidentals | First / last day | Areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $68 | $16 | $19 | $28 | $5 | $51 | 17 |
| $74 | $18 | $20 | $31 | $5 | $55.50 | 70 |
| $80 | $20 | $22 | $33 | $5 | $60 | 104 |
| $86 | $22 | $23 | $36 | $5 | $64.50 | 71 |
| $92 | $23 | $26 | $38 | $5 | $69 | 33 |
The site reads these figures from GSA’s breakdown file and checks every row: the four parts add up to the total, and the travel-day amount is exactly three quarters of it. All 295 non-standard areas use one of these tiers, as does the standard rate ($68).
How much the rule takes off a short trip
Because two days of every trip are travel days, the 75% rule weighs most on short trips. A one-night trip has two days of M&IE, both at 75%. Over ten nights, the two reduced days barely move the total.
| Trip length | Days with M&IE | M&IE total | Share of full days |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 night | 2 | $138 | 75% |
| 2 nights | 3 | $230 | 83.3% |
| 3 nights | 4 | $322 | 87.5% |
| 4 nights | 5 | $414 | 90% |
| 5 nights | 6 | $506 | 91.7% |
| 7 nights | 8 | $690 | 93.8% |
| 10 nights | 11 | $966 | 95.5% |
The same trip on each tier
For a Monday-to-Thursday trip (three nights, two full days and two travel days), the M&IE part of the allowance on each tier is:
| M&IE tier | Two full days | Two travel days | Trip M&IE |
|---|---|---|---|
| $68 | $136 | $102 | $238 |
| $74 | $148 | $111 | $259 |
| $80 | $160 | $120 | $280 |
| $86 | $172 | $129 | $301 |
| $92 | $184 | $138 | $322 |
The step between neighboring tiers is $6 a day, which adds $21 to this trip; from the lowest to the highest tier the difference is $84. Lodging is not in this table because it depends on the area and the month, not on the tier.
At the $92 tier a three-night trip earns $322 in M&IE rather than $368. The gap is always half a day’s rate, $46 here, whatever the trip length, which is why the share in the last column climbs toward 100%.
Which day is a travel day
The rule follows the calendar day of departure and the calendar day of return. A trip that leaves on Monday and returns on Thursday has two travel days (Monday and Thursday) and two full days (Tuesday and Wednesday). Which area’s rate applies on a travel day is set by the Federal Travel Regulation and agency rules; the calculator on this site applies the destination’s M&IE rate to both ends.
Meals you did not pay for
GSA publishes the breakdown so that agencies can deduct meals provided by the government or included in a conference registration fee from the M&IE allowance, as Federal Travel Regulation 301-11.18 describes. A provided lunch on a full day at the $80 tier, for instance, removes that tier’s lunch amount, $22. GSA’s note to the table adds that meals from a common carrier or a complimentary hotel breakfast do not reduce per diem. How a deduction is applied on a travel day is set by agency rules, so the calculator on this site does not attempt it.
Trips shorter than a day
The breakdown table says nothing about same-day trips, and neither does this site’s calculator; eligibility for M&IE on travel of less than a day depends on duration and agency policy. The calculator needs at least one night.
Long trips and the standard rate
On a 30-night assignment at the $92 tier, the two reduced days still cost half a day’s rate, but the M&IE total reaches 98.4% of what thirty-one full days would pay. Length, not the tier, decides how much the rule matters.
The rule is the same at the standard rate. A two-night trip to a county GSA does not list earns $226 of lodging at most and $170 of M&IE: one full day at $68 and two travel days at $51. Because the standard M&IE is also the lowest tier, the travel-day amount there, $51, is the smallest in the breakdown table.
Half a day, tier by tier
Because the two travel days together lose exactly half of one day’s rate, the cost of the rule in dollars depends only on the tier: $34 at $68, $37 at $74, $40 at $80, $43 at $86 and $46 at $92. On a Monday-to-Thursday trip that half day is always 12.5% of what four full days would pay, whatever the tier. The 33 areas on the top tier therefore give up $46 per trip to the rule, the 17 areas paying the standard meal rate $34.
For a worked example with real dates, see adding up a trip day by day, or open the trip calculator.
Sources: U.S. General Services Administration, per diem rate files FY 2021 to FY 2027, and GSA M&IE breakdown table (FY 2025 to present); figures computed by Per Diem Rates. See reading the rates for how each measure is defined.