Military Discounts and Veterans Day 2026

The best military discounts right now are 30% off at adidas, up to 30% at Samsung, 20% at Under Armour and 10% at Home Depot, Lowe's, Apple and Nike. Who qualifies is what people get wrong: some stores include spouses and family, others only service members and veterans. Every discount below was checked on the company's own website in October 2026, and Veterans Day 2026 falls on Wednesday, November 11. For more ways to save, see our money saving tips.

Quick answer: the best military discounts

The biggest military discounts we confirmed are adidas at 30% online and in store, Samsung at up to 30% through its Offer Program, AT&T at up to 20% on eligible unlimited plans, and Under Armour at 20%. Home Depot, Lowe's, Apple, Nike and Verizon each take 10%, and Kohl's takes 15% on Mondays in store.

A big percentage is not always the best deal. A 10% discount you use every month at Home Depot or on a phone bill can be worth more over a year than 30% off one pair of sneakers. Three rules hold almost everywhere:

1. Verify once, ahead of time. Most programs use ID.me or SheerID, and verifying at the register or at checkout is slower than doing it at home.
2. Read who qualifies. Spouses and dependents are covered at some stores and not at others.
3. Expect no stacking. Most military discounts cannot be combined with other percent-off codes, so compare the military price with the sale price.

Military discounts by store

This table lists every military discount we confirmed on the store's own site in October 2026, with the amount, who qualifies and how to verify. Stores change these programs without notice, so check the linked terms before a big purchase. The sections below the table give the full rules and exclusions for each store.

Home improvement: Home Depot and Lowe's

Home Depot gives a 10% discount on eligible purchases to veterans, active duty service members and their spouses, in stores and online. You verify your status once through a third-party service, and Home Depot's military page points to SheerID for help with registration. After that, scan the Virtual ID in the Home Depot app or enter your phone number at the register, or sign in to your account when you shop online. Home Depot's store pages say the 10% applies up to $400 each year. Its military moving page also offers active military and veterans 15% off moving truck rentals with valid military ID or proof of veteran status at pickup (Home Depot military, checked October 2026).

Lowe's takes 10% off eligible purchases for current and former members of the US armed forces with an honorable record, and for their spouses (Lowe's Everyday Military Discount, checked October 2026). The main rules:

• Enroll online: sign in or create a MyLowe's Rewards account at Lowes.com/military/validation and verify through ID.me. Spouses need their own account and their own verification.
• No yearly cap: Lowe's says there is no annual maximum on how much you can save.
• Exclusions: sale items, other discounts, services, major appliances and their parts, commodities such as dimensional lumber, plywood, OSB and electrical wire, gift cards and earlier purchases.
• In store: bring a valid photo ID. Verified members are also moved to Silver status in MyLowe's Rewards.

The practical difference: Lowe's has no cap but excludes lumber and appliances, while Home Depot caps the savings at $400 a year. For a kitchen remodel, price the big items both ways, because the military discount may not apply to the most expensive pieces at Lowe's. Our guide to Home Depot price match and ways to save covers its other savings, such as the 30-day price adjustment.

Tech and phones: Apple, Samsung, Dell and the carriers

Tech discounts are where the verification details matter most. Apple, Samsung and Dell all discount laptops and phones for service members, but each uses a different checker and a different purchase limit.

Apple offers 10% through its Apple Store for Veterans and Military to current and veteran members of the US military, National Guard and Reserve, and to immediate family members who live in the same household. You verify through ID.me, and you must buy through that dedicated store: purchases in an Apple Store location or the regular Apple Online Store do not get the discounted price. Apple Card Monthly Installments and Apple Upgrade are not available with this offer (Apple Store for Veterans and Military, checked October 2026).

Samsung lists savings of up to 30% across its product lines through the Samsung Offer Program. Active members can verify with a .mil email address, and active members, veterans and retirees can verify through ID.me, GovX or WeSalute after creating a Samsung account. Samsung limits purchases to two products per product category in a 12-month period (Samsung military discount, checked October 2026).

Dell gives verified active duty members, veterans and retirees up to 10% extra on Dell.com after a SheerID check in your Dell account. The limit is two eligible products per transaction and two transactions a year, and some PCs, electronics, accessories, warranties, gift cards, clearance and limited quantity deals are excluded (Dell member discounts, checked October 2026). Our Dell coupons page lists current codes, which sometimes beat the member discount.

Phone carriers give the largest savings over a year, because the discount repeats on every bill:

Verizon verifies through ID.me (Verizon military discounts, checked October 2026). AT&T applies its military discount after the AutoPay, paperless and multi-line discounts and requires yearly recertification. T-Mobile gives you 45 days after activation to verify your status, or the account moves to a standard plan. Plan prices change often, so compare the full monthly bill rather than the percentage.

Clothes and shoes: Nike, Under Armour, adidas, Kohl's and Target

Clothing brands give some of the deepest military discounts, and adidas leads at 30%. These programs work both online and in store at most brands, but the in-store rules differ, so read each one before you go to the register.

adidas takes 30% off online and in store, and 20% at factory outlets, for verified military members, first responders, medical workers and teachers. Military eligibility covers active duty, veterans, retirees, spouses and dependents. You verify with ID.me at checkout by choosing "Verify with ID.me" under the promo code box, and in store you use a unique code from the verification link (adidas discount programs, checked October 2026).

Under Armour gives 20% off on UA.com, the UA App and at UA Brand House stores, and 10% at UA Factory House, to active duty members, retirees, veterans, military spouses and military family members. It verifies through ID.me, and the discount cannot be combined with other promo codes, sitewide promotions or gift card purchases (Under Armour military FAQ, checked October 2026).

Nike takes 10% off most items for active, reserve, veteran and retired US military, plus spouses and dependents of active personnel. Online, Nike verifies through SheerID and sends a single-use code that expires after two weeks; you can get a new one every seven days, and it covers the first $500 of a purchase. In US Nike stores you show a valid military ID instead. The discount does not work at Nike Company Stores, on Nike By You, gift cards, select SNKRS launches or Apple products (Nike military discount, checked October 2026). Our guide to Nike and adidas sneaker deals shows how to time a purchase, and our Nike coupons and adidas coupons pages list current offers.

Kohl's runs Military Mondays: 15% off qualifying purchases in store for active military, veterans, retirees and their immediate family. Bring a military ID, a state ID that shows veteran status, or a DD 214. It cannot be combined with other percent-off coupons, including the senior discount, and it excludes gift cards, Kohl's Cares items and Sephora at Kohl's. Dollar-off coupons and Kohl's Cash are applied first (Kohl's servicemember discount, checked October 2026). Our Kohl's coupons page lists current codes.

Target ties its military discount to Target Circle. Active or veteran service members, and one dependent, verify through SheerID in the Target app or on Target.com, and a Target Circle bonus appears in the account when a campaign is live. In June 2026, verified members got 20% off one qualifying purchase from June 21 to July 4 (Target military verification, checked October 2026). Verify before November, when Target has run Veterans Day campaigns in past years.

Travel, hotels and car rental

Travel military discounts are usually smaller percentages, but they apply to large bills, so they add up. Airlines, hotels, rental cars and theme parks each set their own rules, and many require you to book by phone or show ID at check-in, so plan ahead before you book.

The Southwest fares come from its military travel page (Southwest military travel, checked October 2026). Hilton's rate is for leisure stays only, not official travel, and excludes rates not open to the general public (Hilton Military Family Rate). Disney's Salute tickets have blockout dates from March 29 to April 11 and from November 22 to November 28, 2026, and need a park reservation. Enterprise's leisure discount applies at its locations worldwide (Enterprise military discount).

Veterans Day 2026: free meals and deals

Veterans Day 2026 is Wednesday, November 11, and it is a federal holiday every year on that date. Restaurants announce their free meals for veterans close to the day, so most 2026 offers were not posted yet when we checked in mid October 2026. Below is what is confirmed for 2026 and what the big chains offered in 2025.

The Chili's terms come from its Veterans Day page (Chili's Veterans Day, checked October 2026). The offer is valid only on 11/11/2026 at participating restaurants, with no substitutions, and it cannot be combined with other offers. Applebee's 2025 offer accepted proof such as a Uniformed Services ID card, a Leave and Earnings Statement, a veterans organization card, a DD 214, or a photo of yourself in uniform (Applebee's 2025 announcement).

Retailers add extra discounts around the holiday too. Kohl's gave veterans, active military and their families an extra discount on November 10 and 11, 2025, on top of its regular Military Mondays. Target has run Veterans Day bonuses for verified Target Circle members in past years. Tips for the day:

• Bring proof. Not every restaurant asks, but a military ID, veteran ID card or DD 214 saves an awkward moment.
• Go early or late. Free meal days are busy at lunch and dinner peaks.
• Dine in. Most offers exclude takeout and delivery.
• Tip on the full value. Servers work the busiest shift of the year.

We will update this section as chains post their 2026 offers. Black Friday follows on November 27, so see our Black Friday shopping plan if you are buying gifts the same month.

Who qualifies: active duty vs veterans vs spouses

Active duty members qualify almost everywhere, and most stores now include veterans too. Spouses and children are where the rules split: Lowe's, Home Depot, Under Armour, adidas and Kohl's include spouses, Nike covers only spouses and dependents of active members, and Apple covers family living in the same household.

ID.me, which many of these stores use, defines its military groups this way (ID.me eligibility, checked October 2026):

• Active duty: currently serving, including the National Guard and Reserves.
• Veterans: discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
• Retirees: 20 or more years of service, or a 100% medical retirement.
• Military spouses and surviving spouses of service members, veterans and retirees.
• Immediate family members over 18.

The store's own terms always win. ID.me notes that some offers are only for active duty or for specific groups, so a spouse who verifies with ID.me can still be turned down by a store that only covers service members.

How to verify with ID.me or SheerID

Most military discounts are checked by ID.me or SheerID, two services that confirm your status so you never hand your military ID to the store. ID.me works like an account you reuse at many stores, while SheerID usually checks you once per store. Both are free, and both can ask you to upload a document.

What to have ready:

1. Active duty, Guard and Reserve: a .mil email address is the fastest route where the store accepts it, such as Samsung. Otherwise a Leave and Earnings Statement works at most stores.
2. Veterans: a DD 214, a VA disability letter, a Veteran Health Identification Card, or a state ID with a veteran endorsement. Target lists all of these.
3. Spouses and family: usually a dependent ID card, and at ID.me a link to the service member's record.

Document checks can take time. Dell says manual reviews usually take about 20 minutes, and Target says its bonus can take up to an hour to show after you verify. Do it a few days before a sale, not at the register, and remember that some programs, such as AT&T, ask you to recertify every year.

Military discount rules: what stacks and what does not

Most military discounts do not stack with other percent-off codes, but many do combine with dollar-off rewards or with free shipping. Knowing the rule at each store tells you whether the military discount or the sale price is the better deal on any given day. Here are the stacking rules we found:

The pattern is simple: when a store runs a big sale, compare the sale price with the regular price minus your military discount and take the lower one. At Kohl's, the order matters, because dollar-off coupons come off before the 15%. Our Old Navy coupons page lists codes for a store where we found no military discount.

Stores where we could not confirm a military discount

Some stores that people search for often have no standing military discount on their own site. We checked Harbor Freight, Old Navy and Academy Sports in October 2026. Harbor Freight and Old Navy listed no military discount, and Academy runs its program only a few times a year.

• Harbor Freight: its veterans pages are about hiring, not customer discounts. It has run one-off Veterans Day sales in the past, so watch its coupons in November.
• Old Navy: we found no military discount on Old Navy's site. Ask at your local store, and use its rewards and coupons instead.
• Academy Sports and Outdoors: a 10% military and first responder discount on the whole purchase, online or in store, offered a few times a year. In October 2026 its site said the discount was not running. You can verify through ID.me in your myAcademy account ahead of time so it applies automatically during the next promotion.

If a store is not on our list, check its own help pages or ask at customer service before you buy. Third-party lists often repeat programs that have ended.

First responder, nurse and teacher discounts at the same stores

Many brands with a military discount also cover first responders, nurses and teachers through the same ID.me or SheerID check. adidas gives the same 30% to all of these groups, Under Armour gives 20%, and Nike gives 10% online to first responders and medical professionals, including nurses.

Nike's first responder and medical discount works only on Nike.com and in the Nike App, not in stores, and follows the same seven-day code and $500 limits as the military discount (Nike first responder discount, checked October 2026). For older shoppers, our senior discounts list covers age-based deals at stores and restaurants. Teachers have their own list of teacher discounts, and several brands, including adidas, use the same ID.me check for both. Students can use our list of student discounts, which covers many of the same brands.

Military discounts FAQ