Military Discount Air Travel
Military discount air travel is also afforded to members of the service in addition to the discounts that military personnel receive on items purchased in the base commissary.
This is one of the many special discounts that companies extend to the military. The number of companies that provide these discounts is quite large and involves many consumer categories. These discounts are widely known and commonly used and are not an official extension of Department of Defense benefits.
| For travelling on regularly scheduled commercial flights, a military discount air travel can be received by booking a flight online and searching for “military passenger” when requesting the fare type. Airline travel can be discounted as much as 40 to 60 percent off regular adult flights and any change or cancellation fees are waived as well. |  |
Military personnel are not charged for their baggage but must present a valid military ID in order to receive these discounts. For travelling on official business, the GSA offers the City Pair program which covers over 5,000 city pairs.
The military discount air travel for this program averages a 74 percent discount over comparable commercial fares. There are many features to this program that offer the military a great deal of flexibility in planning their airline travel and save the government billions of dollars annually. Fares for these flights are priced on one-way routes so agencies are afforded the flexibility to plan multiple destinations.
There is no requirement for an advanced purchase and no minimum or maximum length of stay required. There is also no charge for changes or cancellations and tickets are fully refundable. Another air travel discount available for the military, retirees and their families is Space Available Travel, better known as Space A or military hops.
| Airfare is virtually free and passengers can fill unused seats on aircraft owned by the Department of Defense once accommodations have been made for all the on-duty passengers and cargo. One’s eligibility for this travel is based on one’s category which is comprised of one’s status and situation and there are six categories. |  |
The status might be active duty Uniformed Services member and the situation, emergency leave or ordinary leave. The higher numbered categories, such as I or II, have a higher priority than lower numbered categories, such as V and VI. Once an easy and economical way to travel, since 9/11 Space A travel is now more difficult to access, with mission schedules having been removed from the Internet except for the Joint Operational Support Airlift Center (JOSAC) site which can only be accessed from government installations.
The number of seats available is also diminishing due to planned reductions in Space A gateways yet this type of travel offers exceptional discounts for those with the time and flexibility to fly this way.
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