Veterans Advantage Card – Part 2
Alright, so I am trying a few more of the discounts. Let’s see how they do with rental cars. I need a rental car for about a week when I go to my daughter’s graduation from Johns-Hopkins in May. I need full week because I’ve got to help her buy a car and move to her new job location. What can I say, I try to be a good Dad.
So I normally check on Travelocity to find the rates for all the car companies and then go to individual sites to shop with discount codes. I got rates for Alamo, Dollar, Thrifty, Enterprise, and Hertz and then applied the Veterans’ Advantage discount at each of their websites to compare. Here are the results:
Company Traveocity Veterans Advantage
Alamo $376 $403
Dollar $205 $195
Thrifty $205 $222
Enterprise $214 Couldn’t make it work
Hertz $440 $344
I tried the Enterprise site, but it wanted a corporate code in addition to the published discount code. I probably could have called the Veterans Advantage number for help, but decided to skip it in this case. Too bad as I expected a good military discount since Enterprise was founded by a carrier pilot – hence the name!
So the only result that was less was Dollar, but that was good enough for me. I saved $10. That almost pays for the gas I use to get to the gas station to fill up the car.
Here are some other discounts advertised that I have not taken advantage of:
Verizon – 15% discount on your monthly bill if you have a plan costing $35+ with a data plan of $25+. Pretty good since that is a savings for every month. Unfortunately, I’ve got AT&T, but let me know if any of you take advantage of this one.
Wendy’s – Dave Thomas (Wendy’s founder) was an Army cook who made the rank of Staff Sergeant. They have a special program that you sign up for and then they e-mail you discounts for different things and for special holidays like Veterans’ Day and Memorial Day. Probably a good deal for a lot of people, but it wouldn’t help my waistline to go there too often!
I’ll keep working it and let you know what else I find out. Savings to date: $48
You should throw in the USAA discount rates for these as another comparison. There is a lot of overlap in qualifying for both the Veterans Advantage and USAA rates. I have found USAA discount codes to actually be worth using.
As far as the cellphone discount, you don’t need veterans advantage for it. Call ATT and tell them that you would like to be added to the military FAN account. They’ll ask for proof of so,resort and apply a discount (anywhere from 15%-19%) Verizon has a link on their site where you enter your .mil email address and they should send you a link to set up your discount. Speaking of discounts, those discounts for the rental cars are pretty disappointing. Costcotravel.com and kayak.com usually have better rates, but hey, savings is savings. Thanks for the update and let us know if you find anything else to be useful!
Oh, and congrats on your daughters graduation! And enjoy the area, its the perfect time of year!
Congrats on your daughter’s upcoming graduation!
I have found that USAA has pretty fair car rental rates with Avis. Don’t have Vet’s Advantatge so I can’t do an analysis between the two.
I am examining this card and find, thus far, that a lot of companies/corporations/ institutions are not on board. Apparently, the word isn’t getting out correctly because I know, deep down in those hearts of big businesses, that they appreciate all the sacrifices that we veterans beared (some even gave up their families), that they would show their gratitude for having the opportunities that this country has afforded them, due to the strength and sheer will of our military servicemen and servicewomen.
But, I digress. What happened to Hertz? Your figures showed a greater savings with Advantage than with travelocity. Is there a typo?
Respectfully submitted.