Lucie Holloway who is a talented photographer,(you have to see her photos) shared her knowledge on some military entitlements when a fellow military spouse was asking about them.  There is a lot that can be said, but I think Lucie has pretty much covered everything:

You are  allowed TLE (temporary lodging expense) for up to 10 days. This means you can stay at on post hotel (or off post in certain cases) before heading out to your new duty station or when you are waiting/hunting for a house once you arrive to your new duty station. So for example, you can use 5 days of TLE at your old duty station and 5 day of TLE at your new duty station: http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/faqtle.cfm#Q1

The lodging rate may vary post to post, I believe. Susanna says: Yes, it does . Find the information on the website mentioned above. Then there are percentages of which I think the most important numbers you need to know are: 1 member and 1 dependent = 100% , each dependent 12 and over receive 35% and dependents 12 and younger receive 25%. ( there are exceptions for this as well, but going through all that would be too much now) Your reimbursements will not exceed $290. If you want to know how to budget read here. Your 2011 allowances are here. And if you want to avoid the 10 biggest PCSing mistakes read this.

If you spend more than what the daily rates are (for per-diem or for TLE), you will NOT get reimbursed, so plan accordingly and wisely. Don’t book a 5-star luxury hotel for $500 a night. You will still be receiving your BAH as you travel to your new duty station, so if you do spend more than what the military will pay you back, don’t forget you have your BAH coming in too.

For TLE, a statement/certificate on non-availability is necessary (to be presented to finance when filling out reimbursement forms) if staying off post. In order to get this statement, the family must first check with the on-post lodging to see if rooms are available there. If not, then they can proceed to find a hotel off-post and be sure to receive this certificate.

Many on-post lodgings do not allow pets or have limited availability of pet-friendly rooms, thus the family is forced to stay in an off-post hotel. In this case, they may not get the certificate of non-availability (it may depend on the on post lodging and its staff) and may not get reimbursed for the expenses while staying off post. Even some hotels off post do not allow pets. The pet fees (on or off post) are quite high at some places and most of the time, non-refundable. Families will more than likely lose money, if they have pets, but as I said – the BAH should cover any additional expenses.

Speaking from experience and our recent PCS move: When we arrived to our new duty station, we checked with the lodging on post only to find out no rooms are available. Finding a hotel off post was a long process as all the hotels off post did not seem to be in a nice/safe area and 90% of the hotels near the post did not allow pets. Our options were limited and we had to search in a different area (about 15 -20 min drive to post), where daily rates were much higher and pet fees were $150 per stay, non-refundable. However, even if we did not have a pet, we would choose this hotel anyway as it was in a safe and nice area and provided comfort and everything we needed. The daily TLE rate for lodging ($77 for our new duty station – rates vary post to post, I believe) did not cover the whole amount of daily rate of the hotel off post that we stayed in.

We were also given many mixed information regarding the TLE rate for our new duty station. One person said this, the other said that. We got no straight answer until we were filling out our reimbursement paperwork and realized we made a few mistakes. I advise the spouses to attend briefings with the sponsor to learn and ask questions. The briefings I attended were with the finance/travel office (they talked about per-diem rates, MALT, POVs, TLE). Transportation office briefing was another one I attended with my husband (they talked about PPM (dity) moves, weight tickets, etc.)

The TLE covers food and lodging. If someone stays with family/friends, they are allowed to write it down on the paperwork and will get reimbursed for the food portion of it if and ONLY if the family and friends live within a certain mileage from the post (50miles or so). We stayed with a friend that lives about 70 miles away from post thinking we will at least get money reimbursed for food, but no such thing happened as we did not know the friend lived too far away!).

Before turning any paperwork to finance/transportation for reimbursemet after the PCS move, I would advise it is critical to make copies of everything from the move (hotel bills, gas receipts, toll tickets, etc.) The only thing we did not make copies of were food receipts. Turn it originals and keep the copies for your records to verify you got paid for everything you should when the money goes through.

We do not collect advance pay prior to moving. It is easier for us to keep track of our expenses using money out of our pocket. It seemed as an extra hassle and trouble for some to fill out more information on their paperwork prior to PCSing. However, some families do not have the finances to proceed with their PCS move without advance pay.

Mariotts, Best Westerns, Holiday Inns, and Homewood Suites offer government rates. Of course, some of these discounted rates may not apply to all properties during holidays, etc., but for the most part, I have always seen government rates available.

I ALWAYS make sure I do a very extensive re-search about any hotels we are planning on staying at. We travel often and so I know what to look for in hotels and what suits us the best. I use www.tripadvisor.com to read hotel reviews. It’s an excellent website. My iPhone was also my best friend during our PCS move. I was thankful for its internet capability and found/researched about each hotel that way since we decided to “play it by ear” during our drive to our new duty station.

I never book hotels through Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, etc. I ALWAYS go directly through the hotel itself as I get one-on-one personal attention on the phone, always ask for military discounts, and it’s much easier to cancel/change a reservation, if necessary. So far, about 90% of the time, our hotel rooms have been upgraded upon check-in (and we travel a lot!). Whether it is because we booked directly through the hotel or not, I’m not sure, but I am still determined to never book anywhere but through the hotel directly. I sometimes use the travel websites mentioned above to look up hotels by their star rating and what’s available in certain areas around the property.I see one that I like, I go directly to the hotel’s website for pricing, etc. I found my technique extremely helpful and it works every time. Same goes from plane tickets. These days, all the websites seem to have the same pricing when it comes to plane tickets. It may vary by a few dollars, but I always think, “what happens if I need to make changes/cancellations?”

As always, I visit the Army Community Service upon arrival to our new duty station. This is where I get lots of information which helps me get to know the post/base better before I start exploring it on my own. I love the support and classes they offer.

Your husband should attend a briefing with the transportation/finance office prior to moving to get more info on rates and how it works. Good luck.

I would add the links to DLA and MALT :

http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/otherratesDLA.cfm
http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/otherratesMile.cfm