Presumably the others faced disciplinary action for not doing as you did? Probably not, which begs the question: Why did you choose to pay your own way back?
People spend enough time away from home and family without having to put up with further delays!
One thing that really grips my sh*t is when advances of rates are not paid in full. The advice from Command Accts seems to be that advances should not be more than 90% of the anticipated rates. Given they have direct access to your pay for recovery of overissues or the whole lot if you don't fill in the paperwork on return, what is the problem? Granted most of us could find the 10% from our own pockets, but what about the troops?
This was an embuggerance - I was fortunate enough to have a "corporate" credit card which I used for accommodation. This was in breach of the rules but so what? I was abroad for the best part of a tour on a monthly basis for at least a week at a time and I would have been inconveniently out of pocket even with 10% of the total!
What really annoys me is the 1771 process - getting countersignatures etc. Civil servants (on less pay with more incentive to fiddle) can apply for refund of actuals so, why can't we? Particularly when there is a "bed and breakfast and dinner" and an "actuals" rate and the B&B&D one is supposed to be claimed. I made sure everyone for whom I was responsible knew about (and claimed for) the actuals rate as the B&B one tended not to cover the cost of an evening meal.