Help for military travelers
Priceline creates custom website.
The United States Department of Defense has enlisted the online travel agency Priceline to create a new leisure travel site for current and retired U.S. military personnel.
The new website, American Forces Travel, will give the military community access to hotel, flight, car rental and cruise deals. There will also be negotiated prices on vacation homes, apartments and packages for savings up to 60 percent.
More than 1 million hotel deals will be available in more than 71,000 destinations around the world.
The Department of Defense has about 1.3 million people in active service around the world.
But at launch, American Forces Travel will be open to more than 6.5 million active and retired members of the U.S. military community.
All five branches of the U.S. armed forces – including the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard – will be part of the program.
Others who are eligible to become users are Medal of Honor recipients and American Red Cross and USO paid personnel serving outside of the USA.
Department of Defense civilians serving within and outside of the USA will also be able to sign up. Family members of all of these groups will be able to use the site. First-time users will have to verify their eligibility with the Department of Defense through a secure process. Previously, employees could use travel agents on military bases to book their leisure travel.
The Department of Defense says it wanted to create an online platform that would be more modern, fast and accessible.
Priceline, which is part of Booking Holdings, was selected after a competitive bidding process among many of the largest online travel agencies.
All travel suppliers on American Forces Travel will be fully disclosed, Priceline says.