Originally Posted by
breakthrough37
I have not had any problem booking flights with United. I have used at Footaction without any problems. Foot Locker was a little more difficult to use.
These are the instructions for booking a flight with United.
"Member Plan Benefit
United Discounts: Veterans Advantage Members Save 5% Online Now
Veterans Advantage Travel Discount Code Good For Savings at united.com
United military service discount for Veterans AdvantageUnited is proud to thank U.S. Active Duty and Retired Military, Veterans, National Guard and Reserve members, and their families for their service by offering Veterans Advantage® members a 5% discount on tickets for United- and United Express®-operated flights purchased on united.com. Members can also receive a 5% discount on tickets purchased on united.com for United codeshare flights operated by the following carriers and marketed by United: Air Canada, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa or Swiss International Airlines.* Flights must originate and be ticketed in the U.S. or Canada to be eligible.
Use your unique 10-digit Veterans Advantage Travel Discount Code to purchase discounted tickets on united.com. Your discount will automatically be applied to qualifying base fares, and all eligible flight segments will be marked with a blue star on united.com.
You can also accumulate MileagePlus® award miles with your Veterans Advantage card, so be sure to carry it with you when you are traveling. If you are not currently a member of MileagePlus, the award-winning loyalty program from United, join now for free and begin earning valuable miles toward award travel."
I do not have a problem using my 10-digit discount code, nor have I had a problem getting the 5% off domestic fares. The problem is the discount on international fares. I was wrong about it always being 2%. It ranges from 1.9% for an inexpensive fare to about 4% for an inflated fare, and always below 5%.
Obviously different formulas are being used on domestic versus international fares. It appears from other posts that an unpublished fuel surcharge on international flights is the culprit. If it exists at all on domestic fares, it is not figured in against the 5% discount for domestic fares. Check it out yourself - domestic fares are at 5% off (and sometimes better) and international fares are always below 5%. My next international trip is discounted only 1.9%.
I remember the discount making international fares even cheaper than 5% off the total when the taxes were recalculated for the new base fare. Apparently those days are gone.
My memory needs jogging - when did UA start using a diluted formula in figuring international fares for the Vet Adv discount?