Every major chain's government & military rate: eligibility, the booking path, per-diem alignment and the ID the front desk asks for — read from each chain's own published policy, checked and dated.
Per-diem rate with valid ID, plus the leisure-only Military Family Rate — veterans included.
Checked 2026-09-04The only big-4 chain naming contractors (CRCs) — and nearly half its hotels are in FedRooms.
Checked 2026-09-04No canonical program page exists — and the “FOSEE” code isn’t Marriott’s. We say exactly that.
Checked 2026-09-04Government dropdown rate, plus the one real big-4 typed code — MILVET, for military leisure stays.
Checked 2026-09-04One combined discount — veterans and cost-reimbursable contractors explicitly eligible.
Checked 2026-09-04Federal per-diem rate auto-applied, plus a 12% military rate — 15% at Super 8 and Days Inn.
Checked 2026-09-04The most granular publisher: five VP codes by purpose — official, leisure, contractors, family, PCS.
Checked 2026-09-04No chain-wide program at all — documented as a finding, so you don’t argue at a front desk.
Checked 2026-09-04| Chain | Gov rate | Published code | Leisure OK? | Veterans | Contractors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IHG | Yes | None — select in engine | Varies | Via military rate | Yes |
| Hilton | Yes | None — select in engine | Varies | Via military rate | Not published |
| Omni | Yes | None — select in engine | Not published | Yes | Yes |
| Sonesta | Yes | GOVCH | Not published | Via military rate | Not published |
| Motel 6 / Studio 6 | None | — | — | Via military rate | No |
Three different things get called "the government rate," and mixing them up is what gets a rate refused at the front desk. This site keeps them apart.
A chain's own government rate is a voluntary commercial rate each hotel company sets for itself. GSA's own guidance is blunt about it: hotels are not required to honor the federal per-diem rate, so every chain writes its own eligibility fine print and its own ID rules. That is why the same question — "do state employees qualify?" — can get a different answer at Marriott than at Hilton, and why each chain page here quotes the chain's own terms with the date we checked them.
FedRooms is the one program the government itself runs. GSA operates it for U.S. government and military personnel on official travel, its rooms are contractually capped at or below per diem, and since the public booking site was retired you reach it through your agency's travel system — not a website. The full mechanics are in what is FedRooms.
Per diem is the ceiling both are measured against: for FY2026 the standard federal lodging rate is $110 a night ($68/day for meals and incidentals), and most "GOV" rates are priced to sit near it. It is a reimbursement cap, not a hotel price — the per-diem guide explains what it does and doesn't guarantee.
Two facts hold across every chain we track. There is no universal code — most chains don't use a typed code at all, just a rate you select in their booking engine, so any "secret government rate code" circulating on a forum is unofficial by definition. And eligibility is enforced at check-in, not at booking: a booking engine will let anyone pick the rate, but the desk can ask for a valid government or military ID and re-price the stay if you can't show it. Who qualifies breaks the ID rules down group by group.
Chain's own pages only. Rate terms, booking engines and help pages — never blogs or forums, which is where dead codes come from.
Dated on every page. Each fact carries its source link and the day we read it, so you know exactly how fresh a claim is.
"Not published" is an answer. Where a chain doesn't say, we print that — because the front desk decides, and you deserve to know before you book.
No. Each hotel company runs its own program, and most don't use a typed code at all — you select the government or "GOV" rate in the chain's booking engine, not by entering a secret code. Where a chain does publish an actual code or booking link, our chain page shows it; where it doesn't, we say so instead of inventing one. The one government-run program, FedRooms, is booked through your agency's travel system, not with a public code.
Federal civilian employees and active-duty military qualify essentially everywhere a program exists. State and local employees, government contractors, veterans, retirees and military spouses vary genuinely chain by chain — some chains include them, some exclude them, many don't say. Our checker applies each chain's own published terms to your situation.
It depends on the chain. Some restrict the government rate to official business; others let eligible travelers use it for personal stays. Dedicated military rates are generally leisure-friendly by design. Each chain page records that chain's own leisure wording, because a rate whose terms say "official travel only" can be refused on a vacation booking.
A valid government-issued employee or military ID: an agency PIV or federal employee ID for civilians, a CAC or DoD ID for military and retirees, a state employee ID for state programs, and a VA Veteran ID Card or veteran-designated license for veterans. Booking the rate proves nothing on its own — eligibility is checked at the desk, which can re-price the stay if you can't show the right ID.
Not necessarily. Government rates are typically pegged near GSA per diem — the FY2026 standard is $110 a night — which in a cheap market can sit above an advance-purchase deal and in an expensive market far below rack rate. They usually carry flexible cancellation, but it's worth comparing against AAA, AARP and non-refundable rates before assuming.