Almost every hotel "government rate" is priced against one number: GSA's lodging per diem. Here is how that number works for FY2026, and what it does — and doesn't — guarantee you at a hotel.
For federal fiscal year 2026 — travel between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026 — GSA's standard CONUS rates are:
Both figures are unchanged from FY2025, per GSA's Per Diem Bulletin FTR 26-01. The standard rate applies to most of the continental U.S.; about 300 non-standard areas (typically a key city plus its surrounding county) carry higher locality rates, and M&IE tiers run $68–$92 by locality. GSA typically announces the next fiscal year's rates in mid-August, effective October 1 — as of our last check GSA had not published FY2027 figures, so we don't quote one.
Per diem is a reimbursement ceiling, not a hotel price. It has two separate components: lodging (reimburses your actual room cost up to the locality's ceiling, receipts required) and M&IE (a flat daily allowance for meals and incidentals, no receipts). You cannot shift unused dollars from one to the other — GSA's FAQ is explicit that the caps apply per category.
If compliant lodging genuinely isn't available, the Federal Travel Regulation lets an agency authorize actual-expense reimbursement up to 300% of the locality per diem — but that takes prior agency approval, not a decision you make at the front desk.
Chains price their government rates to be bookable by federal travelers, which means at or near the locality per diem — that is the whole point of the rate. But two honest caveats, both straight from GSA:
Whether your stay is state-tax-exempt depends on how it's paid, not on the rate you booked. Per GSA SmartPay's own guidance: centrally billed accounts (CBA) — where the agency pays the hotel directly — should be exempt from state sales tax, while individually billed accounts (IBA) — your government travel card, reimbursed later — are generally not exempt, though a minority of states exempt those too. Exemption forms and rules vary state by state; GSA maintains a per-state tax page, and hotels may ask for the form at check-in.
State employees are covered by state travel policy, and the models differ genuinely: California has adopted GSA's federal rate tables outright (with its own excess-lodging escalation path), New York reimburses against GSA's CONUS rates with its own M&IE quirks, Texas runs its own negotiated contract-hotel program where you ask for the "State of Texas contract rate" by name, and Florida statute sets a flat daily subsistence allowance instead of a lodging table. If you travel for a state, your comptroller or HR travel page — not gsa.gov — is the authority. More in who qualifies for government hotel rates.
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The standard CONUS lodging rate is $110 per night, with M&IE at $68 per day, effective October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, per GSA Per Diem Bulletin FTR 26-01. About 300 non-standard areas carry higher locality rates.
No. GSA's own FAQ states hotels are not required to honor federal per diem rates. Offering a government rate is each hotel's voluntary commercial decision, which is why eligibility differs by chain.
Your agency can authorize actual-expense reimbursement up to 300% of the locality per diem under the FTR — but that requires prior agency approval, not a front-desk decision.
No. Chains price government rates against per diem, but in high-demand markets a GOV rate can exceed the locality ceiling. FedRooms rates are the ones contractually capped at per diem.
Only sometimes. Per GSA SmartPay, centrally billed (CBA) stays should be exempt from state sales tax; individually billed (IBA) travel-card stays generally are not, with state-by-state exceptions and forms.
GSA typically announces the coming fiscal year's rates in mid-August, effective October 1. As of our last check GSA had not published FY2027 figures, so we don't quote one.