https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/vail-resorts-rolls-out-99-passes-for-active-retired-military-for-10th-anniversary

Boom! take that Ikon!

Great deal if you can use it! 

oldensign wrote:

Great deal if you can use it! 

WOW!  If that included Veterans for $99 we'd buy 3 passes on day one - but I see it's 499 for Vets which is still damn good..

 

I know I may get some flack for this but I'm always disappointed with private companies offering military discounts to ONLY the military.  What about employees in the rest of the Federal Government that has the same drive to serve their country?!  My family is in the Foreign Service and we deal with the same realities as the Military.  We go where the government tells us, we deal with unaccompanied tours, we have friends and colleagues who have died in the line of service.  In war zones, we have to go out without the aid of armor or ammunition (and we're huge targets to the enemy because we don't have any firearms!).  Our children are uprooted every time our tour ends and have to make new friends after each and every move.  

This deal is amazing for our military friends and I'm glad they have this opportunity to continue their passion for skiing.  I'm almost to the point of contacting Vail and complaining that this discount is not available to other groups that serve their country in the exact same way as the military.  

/end rant

nakedskier wrote:

I know I may get some flack for this but I'm always disappointed with private companies offering military discounts to ONLY the military.  What about employees in the rest of the Federal Government that has the same drive to serve their country?!  My family is in the Foreign Service and we deal with the same realities as the Military.  We go where the government tells us, we deal with unaccompanied tours, we have friends and colleagues who have died in the line of service.  In war zones, we have to go out without the aid of armor or ammunition (and we're huge targets to the enemy because we don't have any firearms!).  Our children are uprooted every time our tour ends and have to make new friends after each and every move.  

This deal is amazing for our military friends and I'm glad they have this opportunity to continue their passion for skiing.  I'm almost to the point of contacting Vail and complaining that this discount is not available to other groups that serve their country in the exact same way as the military.  

/end rant

I'm with you.  We're in a similar situation (and don't qualify for the discounts).  I think the question is where do you draw the line?

- Military

- Federal, state, and local law enforcement (including DOJ)

- Secret Service

- Foreign Service

- Bureau of Prisons

- DHS, Intelligence, NRA/NRO, etc

- Civilian DOD employees

- Fire, rescue, EMT

- National Park Service

- CDC, doing stuff like fighting Ebola

- Private contractors working for any of the above agencies.

There is both a question of who should be eligible, and how do you verify eligibility.  Military CAC cards are pretty straightforward, but a lot of other government employees are not nearly as easy.

 

There's also a question of the goal of the program.  While officers get access to the discount too, I see the main goal as making skiing affordable for enlisted troops, who we all know don't make a ton of money.  A DOJ attorney, or attorneys at any of the above agencies probably don't need the discount as much.  Heck, there is probably a very large percentage of the employees in the agencies I listed above making 6 figures.

I grew up living that overseas Govt life..starting off in the back bush of West Africa and all over the place from there...I do remember that when we were posted in Morroco N. Africa we used to travel all over on Military transport...My father who was USAID had a military rank equivilent and actually could boot lower rank real Military personel off the plane if it was too full..he never did that but my point is that there is a good argument for that discount...