How much TLA will I get at Ramstein Air Base?

Your ceiling is a percentage of the Ramstein locality rate, and that rate is currently $229.00 lodging plus $133.00 M&IE per day (DTMO OCONUS per diem, Change 727). The percentage is not the same for both. A service member arriving alone draws 100 percent of the lodging rate but only 65 percent of M&IE. With one dependent it is 100 percent of lodging and 100 percent of M&IE, and each further dependent adds 35 percent aged 12 and over or 25 percent under 12. Those figures are DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 68, Table 68-11. Lodging is reimbursed against your receipts up to that ceiling and unused ceiling is forfeited; M&IE is paid without a receipt, so what you do not spend is yours. Put your own family into the calculator above for your figure.

Do two service members married to each other get a different rate?

Yes, and it is the single most common misunderstanding about TLA. Table 68-11 pays a percentage to each service member, not one percentage to the couple, so a mil-to-mil couple files two separate TLA claims - 65 percent of the lodging rate and 65 percent of M&IE each when you lodge together. Under FMR 2.2.1 neither of you is the other's civilian spouse, so nobody fills the 100 percent dependent slot. If you share one apartment you still need itemised receipts that support both claims - a single invoice in one name leaves the other claim unpaid (FMR 6.2.3.2.1). We issue split invoices for mil-to-mil couples as a matter of course.

What happens if KMCC Lodging will not give me a Non-Availability letter?

Your TLA does not stop. Under FMR 4.4.2 your lodging reimbursement is capped at what government quarters on base would have cost, instead of at the percentage of the locality rate - so the ceiling drops, but the entitlement continues and M&IE is untouched. The calculator above shows both figures: switch the Non-Availability letter off and you see exactly what the cap costs you. Ask the lodging desk for the denial in writing either way; Finance will want it in the file.

Does a kitchen reduce my meals allowance?

It can, on paper. FMR 6.3.4.1 permits the approving official to reduce the M&IE portion when kitchen facilities are available. In fifteen years of KMC practice we have not seen it applied to a TLA claim here - every one of our apartments has a full kitchen and our guests have been paid the full M&IE rate. But the decision belongs to your Finance office, not to us, and we will not promise you an outcome they control. If yours raises it, ask for the reduction in writing and bring it to us.

How many VAT forms does my stay need?

One NF-1 form covers up to 2,499.99 EUR net per transaction, so a normal TLA stay needs several of them, issued in blocks. The first form has to be with us within 7 days of check-in, and every further invoice needs its own form before the invoice is written - a VAT form handed over afterwards cannot be applied to an invoice that already exists. The form fee itself is a reimbursable TLA expense. The calculator works out how many forms your stay needs.

How long do I have to find a house?

DoD allows TLA for up to 60 days at a permanent duty station. In the KMC, Housing works with an initial 30-day period and then extends in 10-day increments, each one applied for and approved separately. Apply before the current period runs out - a lapsed period is a gap you will not be paid for, even if the extension is later approved. Bring your house-hunting log to every extension appointment.

Can I turn down a house I do not like?

No - turning down suitable housing ends your TLA. Pets, furniture that will not fit, the school district and the size of the home are explicitly not grounds for an extension, and Housing records the refusal. That is why we keep our own permanent rentals in Bruchmuehlbach-Miesau and Lambsborn, with a Housing-approved lease ready to sign: it puts you in a position to accept a home rather than refuse one, and your TLA runs to its natural end instead of being cut short.

The Non-Availability Letter at Ramstein: What It Is and What It Costs

Every family arriving at Ramstein on PCS orders hears about the Non-Availability letter sooner or later. Most hear about it too late — after they have booked lodging off base and found out what the letter would have been worth.

What the Non-Availability letter is

A written certification from KMCC Lodging that no room was available for you on base. The DoD Financial Management Regulation, Volume 7A, Chapter 68, paragraph 4.4.2 puts it plainly: when Government quarters are available and you use other lodging anyway, your lodging reimbursement is limited to the cost of Government quarters. If they are not available, you need written certification to support your claim.

What the cap actually costs you

The 86 FSS publishes its room rates. A Temporary Lodging Facility — the only realistic option for a family, since Visiting Quarters have a single bed — runs $196.00 a night. So without the letter:

Household	Your TLA ceiling with a Non-A letter	Without one
Member alone	$229.00	$178.00 (VQ rate)
Member + spouse	$229.00	$196.00 (TLF rate)
Member + spouse + 1 child under 12	$286.25	$196.00
Member + 3 dependents	$343.50	$196.00

For a family of four, the letter is worth $147.50 a night — over $4,400 across a 30-day stay.

What the cap does not do

It does not end your TLA. Paragraph 4.4.2 limits the lodging portion of the reimbursement, nothing more. Your M&IE — $133 a day at 100 %, more with dependents — is untouched. What actually terminates TLA is something else entirely: refusing available housing, or missing a scheduled furniture delivery. Different rule, different paragraph — we cover it in TLA extensions at Ramstein.

When the letter is easy to get, and when it is not

Ramstein Inn fills up between May and September. In that window a Non-A letter is routine. In November it is not — rooms are open, and the housing office knows it. If you arrive off-season and want to stay off base, plan for the $196 cap rather than around it.

How our pricing handles it

Our nightly rate is set at your reimbursement ceiling — with a letter, that is your Table 68-11 percentage; without one, the quarters rate. Either way your out-of-pocket cost for lodging is zero. The calculator below shows both cases side by side: untick the Non-Availability box and watch the ceiling move.

What brings you here? I am in no-cost Government quartersDSSR 122.3 caps your ceiling at 50% of the maximums then. Arriving or finally departing?On final departure, days 31 and beyond need agency approval. Where are you reporting? My spouse is also active duty (mil-to-mil)Table 68-11 pays couples a percentage each, not per couple. We keep separate households Spouse travelling with me Children 12 and over Children under 12

They draw no per diem of their own, so these two do not change your figures - they stay free with us, and we need the number for the size of the apartment.

My dependents are command-sponsoredOnly command-sponsored dependents count toward your percentage. KMCC Lodging issued a Non-Availability letterWithout it, your lodging reimbursement is capped at what quarters on base would have cost. I have a certificate of non-availability (CNA) numberWithout one, JTR Table 2-14 limits your lodging to what Government quarters would have cost. Nights Your nightly rate, if you already have a quoteLeave this empty and we will show the ceiling instead. Travel days at 75%Your arrival day counts at 75% of the M&IE rate. Full days count in full. Report date (optional) Used for your deadline calendar on the worksheet.

Lodging is reimbursed against receipts, up to a ceiling, and any unused ceiling is forfeited. What you actually keep is below.

Meals & incidental expenses per day

$86.45

65% of the locality M&IE rate, paid without a receipt. Whatever you do not spend on food and incidentals is yours to keep.

Your TLA lodging ceiling 100% of the locality lodging rate: $229.00
What we charge: set at your ceiling - you pay nothing on top
Out of pocket: $0.00

Rental car included, handed over at your apartment – a €50–€100/day cost you skip (our own estimate)
Weekly cleaning included
Pets free – the pet-friendly TLF on base charges $10.00 a day
Final cleaning free
Housing assistance & landlord worksheet – the paper trail your extension request needs

VAT forms for this stay: 3. One NF-1 covers up to 2.499,99 € net, which at this rate is about 12 nights (exchange rate 1 EUR = 1.08 USD, 2026-09-27). The first VAT form has to be with us within 7 days of check-in. Every further invoice needs its own form before that invoice is issued - VAT cannot be taken off afterwards. The cost of the form itself is a reimbursable lodging expense.

Locality rate: unchanged since 2026-09-01. Source: DTMO Maximum Per Diem Rates Outside CONUS, Change 727 (effective 2026-10-01). Percentages: DoD Financial Management Regulation, Volume 7A, Chapter 68, Table 68-11. Last verified 2026-09-29. This is an estimate. Your housing office and your finance office decide what is actually paid.

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What you pay yourself, and what you get for it
What you compare	DODSC apartment	TLF on base	Hotel in the area
Nightly rate	$229.00set at your ceiling, so nothing lands on you	$192.00Temporary Lodging Facility (all sizes)	$76.00–$140.00houses near the base
Out of pocket on lodgingmeasured against your ceiling of $229.00	$0.00	$0.00per night	$0.00per night at the top of the range
Rental car, 30 days	Included – $0.00handed over at your apartment	€50–€100 a dayour own estimate, see below	€50–€100 a dayour own estimate, see below
Pets	Free	$10.00 a day$300.00 over 30 days	Often refused
Weekly cleaning	Included	Room cleaning to their schedule	Room cleaning to their schedule
Final cleaning	Free	Not charged as standardbut their $150.00 "In-room smoking / excessive cleaning fee" can apply	Usually charged
Kitchen	Full kitchen	Kitchenette or none	None
Washer and dryer in the unit	Yes	Coin laundry	No
Parking	Free	Free	usually chargedno sourced figure, see below
Housing assistance and landlord worksheet	Yes, both	No	No
Minimum stay	No minimum stayyou check out the day your lease starts	Their booking terms apply	Their booking terms apply
What happens to your M&IE	Full kitchen and a car, so most of it stays with you	A kitchenette at best, so part of it goes on meals out	No kitchen, so most of it goes on meals out

Rental car: €50–€100 a day is our own estimate, published in our own FAQ (retrieved 2026-09-27). It is not a market survey: on the same day, small cars in Ramstein started at €38 a day (Stress Free Car Rental, Ramstein pick-up). Hotel rates: $76.00–$140.00 a night, read on 2026-09-27 from hotels.com, Booking.com and Tripadvisor, houses in Ramstein-Miesenbach and Kaiserslautern. Those are the published nightly rates of individual houses, not an average - four rates do not make one. Hotel rates move daily and with the season, so this is a snapshot of the date above and not a quote. Hotel parking: usually charged, but we have no sourced figure for the Ramstein area, so we give none. On-base rates: 86 FSS Air Force Inns - Room Rates, Ramstein, checked 2026-09-29. Everything above is what the rate covers, not what your finance office will pay. Your housing office and your finance office decide.

Leave the day your lease starts. No minimum stay, no penalty. Your TLA ends when your permanent housing is ready – with us, so does your bill.

Your ceiling is set by regulation. Your apartment is not.

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May-September fills up early - if you have orders, write us now.

Keeping a record for the housing office? Our printable TLA worksheet has the landlord contact rows they ask for at each review.

Common questions about the Non-Availability letter

Do I need the Non-A letter before I book, or before I file?

Before you file. But get it at check-in with lodging, not weeks later — the certification documents that no room was available at the time, and reconstructing that after the fact is exactly the argument you do not want to have with finance.

Does the cap apply to TDY as well?

Yes, under a different rule with a different name. For TDY it is the certificate of non-availability under JTR Table 2-14, and the cap is the Visiting Quarters rate of $178.00. Air Force personnel get the certificate through Ramstein Lodging (86 FSS); Army personnel through the USAG Rheinland-Pfalz lodging office.

Is there anywhere the cap does not apply?

Landstuhl, arguably. JTR Table 2-14 paragraph D says per diem cannot be limited to the Government quarters rate if the installation you are assigned to has no Government quarters — even if a nearby installation does. LRMC has no visiting quarters of its own. Whether that reading holds for your orders is decided by your travel authorization, so ask before you rely on it.

Sources

DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 68, paragraph 4.4.2 and Table 68-11 (January 2025 edition) · Joint Travel Regulations, 1 September 2026 edition, Table 2-14 · DTMO Maximum Per Diem Rates Outside CONUS, Change 727 · 86 FSS Air Force Inns room rates. Rates last verified 27 September 2026. This is an estimate and general information, not a determination — your housing office and your finance office decide what is actually paid.

More on the numbers: mil-to-mil couples draw 65 % each, and a 30-night stay needs three VAT forms, not one.

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The Non-Availability Letter at Ramstein: What It Is, and What It Costs You Not to Have One