The per diem rate for travel within CONUS covers lodging, meals, and incidental expenses , so anything outside those categories is not included. Most commonly, transportation costs (like airfare, rental cars, taxis, mileage, parking, and tolls) are not part of the per diem rate and are reimbursed separately under travel rules.

What per diem in CONUS includes

For federal and similar travel policies, CONUS per diem is designed to cover:

  • Lodging (hotel or other approved accommodations) up to the authorized lodging cap for that location.
  • Meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) as part of the Meals & Incidental Expenses (M&IE) rate.
  • Small incidentals such as tips to baggage handlers, housekeeping, and similar minor service-related expenses.

These amounts are set as daily maximums for each travel location in the continental U.S. and are used by agencies to reimburse travelers without requiring itemized tracking for every small cost.

What is not included in per diem

Typical items not included in the CONUS per diem rate (and therefore reimbursed or handled separately) include:

  • Transportation costs : airfare, train or bus tickets, personally owned vehicle mileage, rental cars, taxis, ride-shares, parking, and tolls.
  • Official fees paid for travel purposes (e.g., conference registration fees, some business-related service fees).
  • Large, non-routine expenses that are governed by separate travel or procurement rules.

So, if your question is phrased as “Which of the following is not included in the per diem rate when traveling in CONUS?”, the best general answer is: transportation-related expenses , such as airfare or mileage, are not part of the per diem rate.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.