Home  »  Save Time and Money   »   Student Travel Benefits For Military Dependents

Student Travel Benefits For Military Dependents

Updated | Julie Provost and Michelle Nati
dependent travel benefits

Dependent Travel Benefits For Military Dependent Students and Their Parents

If you are a military family with college-age dependent children, you may qualify for military travel benefits so the student can return to the family over college breaks in cases where the student is enrolled “in colleges away from their active-duty parents’ OCONUS duty station,” according to the DoD.

The program is sometimes referred to officially as Student Dependent Travel. According to Military OneSource, “The government will pay for one round trip each fiscal year for college students” if they meet requirements, including, but not limited to the following:

  • The military parent is on an accompanied tour, and the family is living overseas with the parent. In these cases, the student is “sponsored” to travel by the command.
  • The service member is the custodial parent of the college student.
  • The student is unmarried and 23 or younger.
  • The student is enrolled in 12 or more credit hours.
  • The student has already traveled to the parents’ home on PCS orders.

This travel benefit is authorized through the gaining command. It must be arranged using an official military travel office.

Related: Travel Discounts on American Forces Travel

What To Know

Students attending U.S. Service Academies (like West Point or Annapolis) are generally not eligible for this travel benefit. Why? Because they are considered active-duty service members themselves and have their own travel entitlements.

The benefit typically cannot be used for the initial trip to college or the final trip home after graduation, as those are often covered under the service member’s PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders or other relocation entitlements. The benefit can apply to graduate students, provided they still meet the age and dependency requirements set by the Joint Travel Regulations.

When using this program, some may be placed on Space-A flights; others may be placed on military aircraft on a mission without Space-A seats available; or the command may choose to reimburse the traveler for a commercially booked ticket.

Your experience may vary.

Military OneSource reminds military travelers that they can use their military ID to get around long airport security lines. “Service members and their families can take advantage of TSA Precheck to expedite waiting time at the airport when flying commercial.”

Show your Defense Department ID as your Known Traveler Number, and you may be permitted to go through security “without removing your shoes or jacket or having to take your laptop out of your bag.

RELATED:

 

These Travel Discount articles appear at our sister site, MyMilitaryBenefits.com.

 

 

About the author

Julie Provost is a freelance writer, and blogger. She lives in Tennessee with her National Guard husband and three boys.

Michelle Nati is a contributing writer to CollegeRecon who has written about higher education and finance for Granita Media/Big Edition site Work and Money. She's also written law content for Leaf Group's Legal Beagle site and is a ghostwriter of non-fiction books. She lives in Los Angeles and spends her spare time combing flea markets for vintage photos and decor and playing with her dogs, Jellybean and Jukebox.

Tagged: