In The Military And Family Visiting While On Reserve? Save Money By Choosing The Right Accommodations
If you are in the military and between assignments, you may have to wait a day or longer to get your next one. This is a great time for your family to visit with you. You may not have access to stay on base, and may choose a hotel. This can be very expensive, however, and there are other accommodations you can make to help you save money.
Military Housing
The military does have family housing on base, but in most cases, it is hard to find vacancies, and there may be a long waiting list for this type of housing. If this is true for you, you may be able to stay in temporary housing for you and your family. This is much like a hotel on base. You should call ahead of time and make reservations if possible to ensure that you get a room. When you do this, you are assigned a sponsor, who will send you a letter with their name and phone number.
As soon as you find out your arrival date, call your sponsor and let him or her know so they can set up the reservation. There are usually a maximum number of days you can stay in this temporary housing, and the costs are usually very low. Your sponsor can give you all of this information.
Off-Base Housing
If you choose not to stay on base or there is no room available, you can still save money by staying in off base housing, as long as you do not have a long stay. There is a special allowance the military will give you called Temporary Lodging Expense (TLE). For a set number of days you will be reimbursed for things like lodging and meals at a set amount per day. After the set number of days is up, you will have to pay for lodging and meals on your own. Talk with a sponsor on the military base to find more information about TLE.
Crash Pad
Staying at a crash bad is another option for you. Crash pads are much like hotels and some facilities have temporary homes you can stay in with all of the amenities. This works great for a family, and it works well if you live in one state but your base is in another. To save even more money, the crash pad likely offers something like a hostel.
This is where you share the pad with other people and split the price. You may share the kitchen and bathroom, and the beds are set up much like a dormitory. You may be able to pay more money to have a separate bedroom, depending on the hostel you chose. To learn more, try contacting a company with information about all types of crash pads including altus afb crash pads.
How large the bedrooms are and how many you need may affect the price, but it is still much less expensive than a hotel.
Spending time with your spouse while he or she is between assignments is a special time for you and your family. Choose these options so you do not have to worry about spending too much money on a hotel, and instead focus on time with your family.
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