Military discount airfare is a great way to say thank you

All commercial carriers extend special fares and privileges to members of the defense services. The fare that is known as military discount airfare can be availed by soldiers, sailors, marines, air force personnel, and members of the Coast Guard. It can also be availed by families and dependents of the military personnel.

Some airlines limit the discount fares to active duty personnel but most provide it to even those who have retired from the services. This is the airline industry‘s way of extending a big thank you to the men and women who make the country safe.

The discounts are not fixed and vary from airline to airline. On some they can be as large as 70 per cent, and can be availed after showing proper documentation. Once they have established their identity, military personnel can also buy tickets online.

The airlines are very large-hearted when it comes to extending facilities to both past and serving military personnel. They do not discontinue or limit these facilities during peak season. Even at that time any army man can avail the same discounts. However, there is no special quota for the military personnel. To avail the discount, they have to buy the ticket like any other traveler. That is why it is important to buy the ticket early.

The good thing about this discount is that it is not limited to official duty. Military personnel can avail it even when they are making private trips or are traveling with their families on vacation. The discount is also available on international travel. But in this case it is lower than domestic travel.

Military personnel are also extended special boarding privileges, especially if they are on active duty and traveling on a mission. This is yet another goodwill gesture from the airlines to the men in uniform.

How to get the best discount airfare

There is a fare war out there with airlines, travel sites and travel agents offering discounted airfares. All that you need is patience and some search skills to locate the site that is offering the best discount airfare.

You can always start with the sites of airlines. Most airlines offer discounts if you buy tickets directly from their sites. Sometimes, these may be the best discounts, but not always. However, it makes sense to note down the discounted fares being offered by them before logging on to search sites.

These sites like Kayak.com or Sidestep.com search the databases of all travel sites, including airline sites that allow them, and display the best fares. They save you the trouble of visiting each site individually and searching for best fares.

However, some big travel sites like Travelocity.com have started closing their databases to these search engines because they don’t want to loose traffic or revenue to other sites. So, you need to visit the big travel sites like Expedia or Orbitz to learn their discounted airfares.

If you are not in a hurry, then you should spend a couple of days checking airfares at random hours; say 8 in the morning, 4 p.m. in the evening or 10 p.m. in the night. You may find a flight that is offering a discount of almost 50% on the rates it was quoting in the morning. However, you have to be lucky and persistent to be able to get such fares. They get sold out very quickly.

You can also try the flexible fare searches, if your dates are not final. This gives you the airfare on different possible dates. Locate the date when the fare is the lowest and make the booking.

Another way of getting discounted fares is to book two or three weeks in advance or to travel during the lean season. You will find that most airlines give you big discounts on such bookings.