Veterans Advantage? hoax?
 

Just heard about a club called discount advantage for military. Supposedly Delta give a discount if you subscribe to this organization. It is for all active, retired and those who served. The cost is about $5/month. Is this a scam? I have tried to look it up elsewhere and the few reports I found makes me think it is not worth the money.
Thanks

Never heard of it, but I don't see Delta on the list:

http://www.veteransadvantage.com/cms...-entertainment

Never heard of it either... Military fares only apply to active duty et all, so it's either a travel agency or....

It is part of a large travel agency. There is Travelers Advantage, Military Advantage, Student Advantage, etc. They have negotiated airfare discounts (not military fares), rental car discounts, and hotel discounts. I used Travelers Advantage back in the mid to late 90's and was generally happy with them. However, airfares were a lot higher then and the discounts were 10% back then.

Now, I'm not sure that I would use them -- it's probably not worth all the hassle of mailing in receipts to get discounts, etc.

It's not a hoax. I have it and have used it many times for 5% off Continental Tickets. I didn't think Delta was a partner.

There is no voucher or form. All you have to do is enter in your unique travel id in the promotion field and it takes 5% off.

Very interesting. I'm gonna have to look into this. Thanks for the info.

Absolutely correct. I used it when I flew Continental (when they were still Skyteam) and all I did was enter my code. I stopped though because the rental car discounts aren't that great and other than a very nice Boston Market discount (present your card at register and they take 20% off) the overall value isn't really there for me anymore. The benefits never really improve - its been the same thing in their email spam forever now. Dell discount. Apple discount (on select stuff). And Continental - never any other airlines in the 5 years that I had it. So I let my membership lapse. But it IS real - not hoax.

Only other minor gripe was that apparently anybody can sign up. They never asked to see my DD214. So in theory if you want to pretend you are a vet and sign up, you can.

I use this 5% discount all the time on Co tickets. Well I did at least until United destroyed Continental, so I doubt if the discount is still possible.

Veterans Advantage response
 

Thanks to Veterans Advantage members who have posted additional background to correct misinformation that was posted earlier. We are a national membership program, offering special benefits to Active Duty Military, Veterans, National Guard and Reserve and their families, and have been doing this for over 10 years. We are not affiliated with other programs using the “Advantage” name, as suggested in an earlier post. Our partnership direct with Continental Airlines dates back to 2004, and you can see more about that on continental.com. Discounts on United flights are now included. Learn more about our program, including all our other discounts and benefits for our members, at www.veteransadvantage.com.

Thread Alert
 

The new home for this thread is now the TravelBuzz! forum, as this topic is not specific to Delta Air Lines or the SkyMiles frequent flier loyalty program.

Regards,

Canarsie
Co-Moderator, Delta SkyMiles forum

Veterans Advantage
 

How does the companion ticket discount work?

Veteran advantages discount
 

The airline discount is good on United, and Lufthansa. I think there were a couple Star Alliance carriers may have been added recently. You receive an authorization code when you enrolled. You received a 5% discount on a maximum of three tickets traveling together at the time of purchase. There are discounts. The Foot Action 20% worked without any problems. There were some problems with Foot Locker but a manager was able to make the adjustment.

You will have check the web pages for a list of vendors. On balance they discount are fair.

The pharmacy discount were very limited for patients that do not have any insurance.

UA online fares are a total of the base price added to the taxes and fees. The Veterans Advantage allowed me to enter my personal code for 5% off the base fare which has been the formula I have enjoyed for many years. While this formula still works on domestic flights including Canada, Mexico, and U.S. territories - it is now only 2% off the published base price for all other international fares.

Thinking it a computer glitch, I called the 1K desk. To my surprise I was told that the base price is not really the base price at all. The real base price is privy only to UA and includes taxes IN ADDITION to the published taxes and fees.

Aren't airlines legally obligated to itemize and publish the make-up of their fares? Aren't base fares supposed to be base fares? I have gotten 5% off international base fares for years - what is going on at UA now?

The 1K desk informed me that the same applies to domestic fares. I told her that I ran many flight searches all of which confirmed that domestic flights are still at 5% off and that international flights are now 2%. She disagreed even though I told her it could be easily confirmed.

I read in other posts that a hidden fuel surcharge is credited for the discrepancy. Wouldn't this be listed outside the base price? Even so, why does the Veterans Advantage discount for international fares always equal 2% off the base fare?

Veteran advantages discount
 

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?