Having just returned from the states myself, I have every sympathy with those for whom LOA has been cut so dramatically from the rates at the start of their tour (or whenever they agreed to go out which was nearly 18 months before in my case).
Unfortunately, no amount of whinging on here will change things, so all we can do is brief potential applicants on the following:
1. LOA is x today but has been more than halved over the past 3 years, so budget accordingly. Also, expect other charges such as MQs and utilities to go up along with more pay freezes.
2. As we've seen here, overseas tours are seen as "Sunshine Tours" by the majority, so don't expect it to be taken seriously by promotion boards! (Yes, I know, in practice, some of our best people are posted on to these brand new, cutting edge programmes and many are working above their rank, long hours, representing the UK etc.)
3. Your spouse may not be able to get a job even if they want to.
4. Selling UK cars then buying/ leasing cars overseas, then buying back in the UK will cost you a lot of money!
Only when the MOD have significant problems in finding volunteers for overseas postings will anything be done IMHO.
And no, I don't think that this is the way we should be doing business but it seems to be the way we handle things now!