To fill out DFAS Form 9098, the Claim for Temporary Lodging Expense, enter your identifying and PCS order information at the top, log each night of commercial lodging with its cost, list the meal days you’re claiming, sign and date the certification, and attach itemized hotel receipts before sending it to your servicing finance office. The form covers up to ten days of Temporary Lodging Expense during a PCS move within the continental United States, split however you need between your old and new duty stations.
Download the Form First
Get Form 9098 from the DFAS Travel Voucher Forms page at dfas.mil, under Military Members, then Travel Pay, then Forms. It’s a fillable PDF. Save it to your computer and open it from there rather than filling it out inside your browser, which can break the form fields or strip your entries when you print.
Complete the Form Section by Section
The form asks for three things: who you are and what orders you’re traveling on, what you spent on lodging and meals, and your signature certifying the claim.
Personal and Order Information
Enter your full name, grade, Social Security number, and the PCS order number authorizing the move. The order number is what ties your TLE claim to a specific authorization, so finance can confirm you were entitled to travel. If dependents traveled separately from you, note their information in the section provided.
Lodging
For each hotel or lodging facility, record the name and address, the dates of your stay, and the nightly rate. Every night you claim needs an itemized receipt from the lodging provider showing the room rate separately from taxes and fees. A credit card statement is not a substitute. Scan or photograph receipts clearly. Blurry images get rejected, and finance offices will hold the claim until you can produce a legible copy.
Meals
List the dates and number of meals for each day you’re claiming. Meals are reimbursed using the locality meal rate, so you don’t need to save every restaurant receipt, but the meal dates have to line up with the lodging dates on the same claim.
Signature
Sign and date the form. An unsigned 9098 will come back to you without being processed.
Match Your Dates Before You Submit
The most common reason claims bounce is a mismatch between the dates on the lodging receipts and the dates written on the form. Read them side by side before you send anything. It’s a two-minute check that saves weeks.
How to Submit It
Send the completed form and receipts to your servicing finance office, the same office that processes your DD Form 1351-2 travel voucher for PCS reimbursement. In many cases TLE is claimed as part of the overall PCS travel voucher rather than on its own, so ask your finance office whether they want Form 9098 attached to the 1351-2 or submitted separately.
If your installation supports electronic submission, you can scan the signed form and receipts into the DFAS travel pay system. Some installations also accept uploads through the askDFAS tool at dfas.mil. Either way, keep copies of the signed form, all receipts, and any confirmation you receive.
Mistakes That Get Claims Rejected
A few errors show up over and over:
- Claiming more than ten total TLE days. The cap is firm. Splitting them unevenly between your old and new station is fine; exceeding ten is an automatic rejection.
- Claiming nights when government quarters were available and offered to you. If on-base temporary lodging had space and you chose a commercial hotel anyway, reimbursement for those nights can be reduced or denied. If quarters were full, get a statement from the on-base lodging office confirming that and keep it with your claim.
- Claiming a hotel that isn’t near either duty station. TLE covers lodging in the vicinity of your old or new station. A hotel you picked for a personal detour along the route is your own expense, and folding it into a TLE claim creates problems finance will make you unwind.
Overseas Moves Use a Different Form
Form 9098 is for CONUS TLE only. If you’re PCSing overseas, you’re under Temporary Lodging Allowance (TLA), which has its own rules and longer authorized periods, handled through your installation’s housing or finance office rather than on this form.