How TLA & TQSA Per Diem Actually Works

TLA (Temporary Lodging Allowance) is for active-duty service members on PCS orders to or from an overseas station like Ramstein or LRMC. It's generally paid as a flat daily rate covering lodging plus meals & incidentals (M&IE).

TQSA (Temporary Quarters Subsistence Allowance) is the equivalent for GS/WG DoD civilian employees on PCS orders. Instead of a flat rate, TQSA reimburses your actual lodging cost up to the local ceiling, plus a declining share of the M&IE rate over the length of your stay. TQSA is non-taxable.

Both figures are derived from the same DoD-published locality rates for the Kaiserslautern Military Community area — they're just calculated differently depending on whether your orders authorize TLA or TQSA.

TLA is commonly authorized for around 10 days on arrival and up to 10 days on departure, with extensions possible depending on your orders and housing situation under the current Joint Travel Regulations (JTR).

TQSA is commonly authorized for up to 90 days, occasionally extended in exceptional circumstances with agency approval.

These are the general patterns we see most often — your actual authorized duration is set by your specific orders. Confirm the exact number of days with your finance or housing office before you plan a checkout date around it.

Both allowances are built from two components:

• Lodging — your nightly rate, up to the published local ceiling
• M&IE — a meals & incidentals allowance, which can be affected by whether your lodging has cooking facilities

Because Mumo's Inn is a full apartment with a kitchen, your M&IE may be calculated differently than a hotel stay — some finance offices ask directly, though none has ever asked us for a written confirmation. Check with your office what they actually need before you file.

We intentionally don't publish a specific dollar figure on this page — DoD per diem rates change, and an outdated number does you no favors when you're building a budget. Look up the current Landstuhl/Ramstein rate directly:

What we can promise: our nightly rate is designed to align with those published ceilings, and every stay comes with an itemized, VAT-friendly invoice formatted the way U.S. Government finance offices expect it.