Dependent Travel

I’m trying to figure out the timing rules for dependent PCS travel. I’m USCG active duty.

I’m moving from Guam to Louisiana. My spouse has family in Japan, so the idea would be for her and the kids to leave Guam before I check out of my unit, stay in Japan for a while, and then fly to Louisiana later after I’ve arrived and gotten settled.

Part of the reason for doing it this way is that housing in Louisiana is difficult to find, and I’m planning to buy. We are currently in Navy housing in Guam, so once we check out, we have to be out. We obviously cannot just sit in a hotel that whole time while I try to find and close on a house. Having my spouse stay with family in Japan during that period is practical, and it would also save the government money that would otherwise be spent on TLA.

Assume cost of GTR is authorized. The ticket would be booked as one multi-city itinerary starting in Guam and ending in Louisiana, with Tokyo in the middle, and the total cost would still be below the constructed Guam-to-Louisiana cost.

So basically:

Guam → Tokyo

stay there for a while

Tokyo → Louisiana

I’m not really asking about whether stopping in Japan is allowed in general. My real question is about timing. Can a dependent leave the old PDS before the service member actually departs or checks out? If so, is there any rule on how early they can leave? And on the back end, how late can they arrive at the new PDS?

Also, if the itinerary still starts in Guam, ends in Louisiana, is on one reservation, and is under the constructed cost, does the fact that my spouse left before I did create any reimbursement problem by itself?

On my PCS to Guam, I personally did cost-of-GTR travel on a multi-city ticket with a stop in Tokyo. The difference there is that my spouse and I traveled together, stayed in Japan for a couple of weeks on leave, and then continued together to Guam. That travel was reimbursed because the trip still went from the authorized origin to the authorized destination and stayed under the cap. This time, the main difference is that my spouse would be traveling separately instead of with me.

I have an appointment with admin but sometimes these unicorn situations they don’t have experience with.