Originally Posted by
zski1
Emma dog, some of your info is right on, some if it is sort-of correct, and some if it is not accurate:
It's not always Carlson Wagonlit that has the contract at a particular base. I've had Winggate and SATO/Carlson Wagonlit.
I appreciate you bringing to my attention other contractors. In the 19 years I've dealt with official Army travel I only interacted with Carlson. SATO is an acronym for "Scheduled Air Transportation Office", hence SATO is the name for what Carlson is on a particular post.
Originally Posted by
zski1
So much in this paragraph is simply not correct. AA does offer Military fares, as do many other airlines. ...
Had you not been so quick to the punch and read the entire paragraph that you quoted above I also mentioned that the Military fares are similar to Bereavement fares in their usefulness. There are several categories of military fares beyond this one example you are pointing out here. There are some that are essentially consolidator fares that Carlson offers to military beneficiaries. There are also some like you describe.
Back in the "old days" of the early-mid 1990s you could get a "Military Fare" on many different airlines (I happened to fly US a lot) that was mileage based and EXTREMELY cheap. I think I paid maybe $50 for PIT-ATL and maybe $75 for PIT-TPA. Some time around 1998 these fares disappeared and became what I've experienced as "Military Fares" that you're talking about that are maybe 10%-15% below "Y" fares.
Originally Posted by
zski1
Once again, simply not correct. Military fares offered by AA have few restrictions and can be booked both through some CTOs and directly from the airline itself.
Depends on which bucket you're getting these fares from. An issue that is going on is that the term "Military Fares" is a phrase that means 3 different things:
-Official government travel on GSA contracted fares
-The discounted ticket that you are talking about
-Special rates/deals that are obtained through the MWR office or through Carlson or some other agency that only military beneficiaries can take advantage of.