Members of the military are accustomed to traveling. Many service members have been stationed all over the country, and sometimes the world. So when it arrives time to travel for leisure it is a nice luxury for service members and their families.
As a result, when people hit the road they want to know if there is any type of military discount for travel expenses like lodging, airfare, and car rentals. Expedia is one travel website that offers a military discount.
In this article we will give you a brief overview of Expedia then expand to cover everything you need to know about the Expedia military discount and other ways you can save on travel.
Click Here to visit the official Expedia Military Discount offer.
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Expedia Rewards Gold Benefits
Expedia is the leading travel website in the industry. It ranked as the top grossing travel company in 2016, and is known for offering good deals on hotel reservations, airline tickets, car rentals, cruises, and vacation packages. The website has serviced over 31 million travelers.
It competes with other popular travel sites like Priceline, Travelocity, and Hotels.com for the best deals.
Travel websites like Expedia (www.Expedia.com) are known to excel at quality deals because they have a large inventory and thus can discount lodging and other travel expenses better than the little guys.
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Additionally, package deals can save you even more money by purchasing an airline ticket, booking a hotel room, and rental car all in one place through Expedia. The convenience is exceptional though it is important to note that travel sites do not always have the best prices. So shopping around is important.
What separates Expedia apart from other travel websites is that they have a discount specifically designed for U.S. Armed Forces. The Expedia military discount is provided through their gold benefits program.
Expedia Gold Benefits features a number of exclusive opportunities only available to members:
- Access to exclusive member rates that can save you an additional 10 percent.
- Access to premier travel offers not available to the general public.
- Complimentary room upgrades depending on availability.
- Exclusive amenities at over 2,000 VIP style hotels.
- 30% more bonus points earned for rewards whenever you book.
- 24/7 customer service agents available for questions and concerns.
U.S. Military members receive a discount on the gold benefits program. Active duty members and military veterans receive 10 percent off the gold status program.
You can sign up for a new, free account by entering some basic personal information. Then you can start enjoying the extra savings on airlines, lodging, cruises, and car rentals.
You can also receive up to 3 percent cashback at Expedia when you verify your identity through Shop.ID.
Military Hotel Deals at Top Destinations
It is a good idea to join the Expedia loyalty program. The gold benefits rewards provide more discounts for people that travel frequently.
Bonus points can stack up in a hurry and lead to even more savings. It is not too difficult to earn enough to start receiving free nights. The exclusive offerings work really well, especially for lodging.
Expedia has an extensive network of hotel options. It is known to feature competing prices with Travelocity and Priceline with a large selection that includes offerings throughout the world. Luxury resorts are available for reservations in places like India, China, Japan, Singapore, and England.
Expedia also has discounted hotels in major cities like San Francisco, New York City, Las Vegas, and Las Angeles. These places commonly have high rates so it is possible to find a much better deal.
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The travel website compares rates from over 321,000 hotels in the world. The network features everything from luxury resorts to airport hotels and budget friendly motels.
The search function on Expedia is fairly straightforward. Users can browse rooms by the hotel star rating, type of deal, availability, or by a specific hotel chain or brand. It is also possible to search for hotels in proximity to landmarks or airports, as well as by neighborhood or attractions like shopping and restaurants in the area.
Expedia also has what they define as “Big Daddy’s Big Deals” which are updated daily to offer the best bargains on the entire site. The Deal Hunter feature can potentially save you up to 70 percent off the standard rate. Expedia also hosts what they call “72 Hour Sales”.
Sometimes you can save money by waiting until the last minute to book a hotel through Expedia. Often when the deadline gets tight the travel site will substantially lower rates in order to book the place up to full vacancy. So being patient and waiting for the best deal is definitely good advice.
Lastly, Expedia provides a price match guarantee.
If you find the same hotel room on a competing site cheaper, they will match the lower rate. The company does not charge for changing your reservation or making an early cancellation.
Click Here to learn more about their price match guarantee.
Packaging Lodging & Car Rentals with a Travel Site
It serves you well to create a package deal through Expedia.
While you can just book a hotel, or decide to reserve a car rental through Expedia, you are more likely to get higher savings by packing lodging, airfare, and other travel expenses together.
If you are taking a trip far away from home you are probably going to need airline tickets, a hotel, and a car rental. Why not package all three for convenience and to potentially receive a better offer.
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Expedia has an entire section devoted to Hotel and Flight deals. The website claims that you can usually save at least 10 percent by packaging them together. Gold status members like U.S. military could receive an even higher percentage discount.
The search function lets you search flight and hotel deals by location, departing and arrival date, and number of passengers. You can also reserve the search for only direct flights. Or even reserve a hotel for a partial amount of time during the stay.
Flight search options include economy, premium economy, business, and first class. The advanced search scours over a million different flights and hotel opportunities.
When you search Today’s Top Deals, Last Minute Deals, or Seasonal Deals you might find the package right for you.
The Expedia app can produce even more savings in addition to standard package savings and gold benefits military discounts. The app earns you double rewards on all bookings done through it.
Users of the app can also quickly access real customer reviews unlike some other sites that have a lot of fake reviews to try and falsify a better or worse rating. While on your vacation you may also receive helpful advice and updates through the app.
There is no cancellation fee to change or cancel your reservation on nearly every hotel, or package featured on Expedia. Also, customer service reps are available 24 hours a day to help answer any questions or concerns.
Verify Your Military Status with Expedia
In order to receive the Expedia military discount on the gold status benefits reward program you need to first verify your military status.
The process is really straightforward and easy. You need to fill out a basic form that asks for some personal information, including:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Birth Date
- Email Address
- Status (active duty, veteran/retiree, reservist/guard, or spouse/dependent)
- Branch of Service (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, National Guard, etc)
Military verification is conducted through Sheer.ID.
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Once the military status is verified your eligibility for Expedia Rewards gold benefits is confirmed. You can now start taking advantage of exclusive benefits and rewards, including 10 percent off hotels or more.
FAQ
Here are some questions commonly asked about travel website discounts provided to U.S. active duty military, veterans, spouses, and dependents:
Does it cost anything to join Expedia gold rewards?
No. Expedia has a few different tiers of its loyalty program. The highest is the gold status rewards program which generally takes 15 qualifying bookings through Expedia to receive that status.
The lower status of silver benefits and blue benefits do not have as high of qualifications yet also do not feature as many benefits.
However, if you confirm military eligibility you can automatically get placed in the rewards program at the gold status level. It can give you savings of 10 percent or more off hotel bookings and other travel packages.
How does the Expedia military discount compare to other travel websites?
Expedia is better than most travel websites when it comes to a military discount. Travelocity does not currently feature any type of extra savings for U.S. Armed Forces, spouses, or dependents.
Hotels.com has a similar discount to Expedia. Military members receive 10 percent off on hotels. The same discount applies to members of the government. Meanwhile, Priceline supports Veterans Advantage where you can receive some savings through a membership.
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How does Expedia confirm military eligibility for the discount?
Expedia uses Sheer.ID for its third-party identification service. The safe and secure, reliable ID service confirms military status for digital orders like the ones done through Expedia.
You can learn more about the policies and how the company handles your personal information by visiting their official website.
Conclusion
The Expedia military discount is a fairly good deal. You do need to sign up for the gold status loyalty reward program in order to receive the discount, but it is minimal effort in order to receive 10 percent off or more.
The Expedia gold benefits military discount can also promise you other exclusive deals and savings. When you package a hotel reservation with airline tickets you are bound to save more money.
You will need to verify your military status before you begin to receive the military discount. However, it is well worth it if you are a frequent traveler.
Born and raised in Woodbridge, NJ, he graduated from the New Jersey Institute Of Technology with an MBA in eCommerce.His hobbies include beach volleyball, target shooting, and lifting.
Rob is also a Commercially rated pilot and Certified Flight Instructor (CFI), with over 1,500 hours of flight time.
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