Vrbo, the Expedia Group’s vacation rental platform (formerly VRBO and HomeAway), does not publish a public military discount on individual property listings — but service members access exclusive military rates and waived booking fees through two channels: American Forces Travel (run by Priceline for the DoD, surfacing Vrbo inventory) and Vrbo’s own Boost program for properties marked as military-friendly. Together they typically save 10-15% on US vacation rentals and waive Vrbo’s standard service fee (which runs $50-150 per booking on most stays).
Vrbo military discount: what you actually get
The headline savings are two separate things: a discounted nightly rate (typically 10-15% off the owner’s standard rate) and a waived service fee (Vrbo’s per-booking fee that ranges from $50 on a $1,000 stay to $150+ on a $3,000+ rental). The combination means a week-long $2,500 vacation rental booked through the military channel typically lands $300-500 below the same property booked direct on vrbo.com.
The military rate is not stackable with Vrbo’s own promo codes (NEWUSER, SPRING25, etc.) — Vrbo treats it as a closed-rate program. It does, however, stack with individual owner discounts that some property owners offer directly through the listing (long-stay discounts, off-season rates, last-minute deals). Always check the owner’s “Property Discounts” section before booking — owner-applied discounts ride on top of the military rate.
Who qualifies for Vrbo military savings
- Active duty — all branches, including National Guard and Reserve on active orders
- Military retirees — including medically retired and disabled veterans
- Veterans with DD-214 (honorable or general under honorable conditions)
- Department of Defense civilian employees — including NAF employees
- Military spouses and dependents under 21 — covered when traveling with the verified sponsor
- Gold Star families — surviving spouses and children of fallen service members
How to verify and redeem (2026 step-by-step)
- For the deepest military savings on Vrbo inventory, do not start at vrbo.com. Instead, go to americanforcestravel.com — the DoD-affiliated portal that surfaces Vrbo’s military-eligible properties alongside Hotels.com and Booking.com inventory.
- Verify with your CAC, VA card, retiree ID, or military spouse ID. American Forces Travel handles verification in ~5 minutes for active duty (DoD database lookup) and 1-2 business days for DD-214 manual review.
- Search by destination and dates as normal. Vrbo properties appear with a military-rate badge; click into any listing to see the full breakdown — nightly rate, taxes, and the waived service fee, all compared to vrbo.com retail.
- Book through American Forces Travel directly — payment, confirmation, and check-in instructions come from Vrbo via the AFT portal. The owner sees you as a Vrbo guest, not as a military booking, so there’s no awkward verification at check-in.
- For properties not in the AFT inventory (especially international vacation rentals), check vrbo.com directly with a Vrbo loyalty account — Vrbo runs occasional “thank you” credits for verified military members through targeted email campaigns, redeemable on any property.
- If you need to cancel, American Forces Travel cancellation policies follow the underlying property owner’s rules but with one extra benefit: AFT typically waives the service-fee portion on cancellation (unlike retail Vrbo, where service fees are non-refundable on most stays).
Pro tips before you check out
- Always price both portals. American Forces Travel wins on most beach and lake destinations in the continental US; vrbo.com direct often wins on international rentals (Mexico, Costa Rica, Caribbean) where AFT inventory is thin.
- Long-stay discounts stack. Many Vrbo owners offer weekly (10-15% off) and monthly (20-30% off) discounts directly on their listings. These apply on top of the military rate when booked through AFT — a 30-day rental can land 40%+ below the public nightly rate.
- Book during owner-set off-peak windows. Vacation rental pricing varies more by date than chain hotel pricing. Shoulder seasons (May, late September, early November in most US destinations) can drop nightly rates 30-50% below peak, before the military rate even applies.
- Use AFT for PCS-related travel. Permanent Change of Station moves often need 2-4 weeks of temporary housing while finding permanent quarters. Vrbo rentals through AFT beat extended-stay hotels by $40-80/night and qualify for partial reimbursement under DLA (Dislocation Allowance).
Vrbo’s military savings story is less visible than the chain hotels’ published military rate buttons, but routing through American Forces Travel routinely beats direct vrbo.com bookings by $200-500 on week-long vacation rentals once the waived service fee is factored in. Discount terms last reviewed 2026; price the same property on both vrbo.com and americanforcestravel.com before committing.
Looking for more savings? Browse all military discounts on Military Markdown →