The AFV CLUB: How Military Members Can Book $27/Night Resort Stays

This little-known program is truly amazing! We’ve booked week-long resort stays with 3 bedrooms and full kitchens in  New Hampshire, Florida and the Poconos for as little as $27/night.

The Armed Forces Vacations (AFV) Club is a free program for active duty and reserve military members, as well as DoD civilians like me (family of military and DoD employees are eligible, too).

The standard deal for the AFV Club is week-long stays all around the world (200,000+ resort options) for $349. However, twice a year they offer a BOGO (buy one week, get one free) promotional deal where you can book two separate weeks of vacations for the price of one.

What I really love about this program is that the vacations are priced per unit and not per person. For our three vacations using this program, I’ve invited my parents, my in-laws, and my family, which amounts to 8+ people (and 2-3 bedrooms needed).

What’s even better is that most units come with a fully outfitted kitchen, so we save money by cooking meals! We usually rotate cooking duties and contribute to a collective food budget, and we all go shopping together at the beginning of the week.

Also, depending on the resort, there are some great amenities: golf, skiing, pools, beaches, tennis courts, hot tubs, gyms, crafts, basketball courts, planned activities, excursions, etc.

General Info:

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? I thought so, too, until I actually used it, now three times! However, as with most good deals, you do have to work with some constraints.

Noteworthy information about this program:

• Only military members (active duty, guard, reserve and retired U.S. military, and civilian employees of the Department of Defense) and their direct family (spouses, parents, children) are eligible.
• These vacations are mostly available during off-peak seasons.
• There is no membership cost to use this program.
• Most bookings are for one full week.
• The AFV Club is part of Wyndham Worldwide, which offers condominium-style timeshare resorts.
• The inventory is from over 200,000 resort accommodations in over 100 countries.
• The $349 per week vacation stays are comprised of inventory that is unlikely to be used, due to high supply or low demand.
• This program is best for those who don’t mind traveling to popular locations in the off-season or with less than 10 days’ notice.
• The program states that you have to show your CAC card, but I’ve never been asked for one.
• Sometimes it may pay to book a whole week even if you only need a couple days.

Places We’ve Stayed:

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Lodging: Wyndham Smoky Mountain Resort
Cost: $332.64 ($48/night)
Occupancy: 8
Bedrooms: 3
Dates Stayed: 02/16/18 – 02/23/18 [7 days]

Lincoln, New Hampshire
Lodging: Innseason Resorts: Pollard Brook 
Cost: $190.20 ($27/night)
Occupancy: 8
Bedrooms: 3
Dates Stayed: 12/11/16 – 12/18/16 [7 days]

Poconos, Pennsylvania
Lodging: Shawnee on the Delaware: Ridge Top
Cost: $190.20 ($27/night)
Occupancy: 8
Bedrooms: 2
Dates Stayed: 10/23/16 – 10/30/16 [7 days]

Kissimmee, Florida
Lodging: Villas at Fortune Place
Cost: $360.47 ($52/day)
Occupancy: 8
Bedrooms: 2
Dates Stayed: 05/27/17 – 06/03/17 [7 days]

Outer Banks, North Carolina
Lodging: Beachwoods
Cost: $195.44 ($28/day) -BOGO
Occupancy: 6
Bedrooms: 2
Dates Stayed: 04/06/19 – 04/13/19 [7 days]

Haines City, Florida
Lodging: The Townhomes at Balmoral Resort
Cost: $195.44 ($28/day) -BOGO
Occupancy: 8
Bedrooms: 3
Dates Stayed: 12/6/19 – 12/13/19 [7 days]

How to Search for a Vacation

You can search through available inventory by destination, travel date, and price.

Then you can further filter by Trip Advisor rating, bedrooms/occupancy, kitchen availability, amenities, and activities.

Then you can search through the results via a list format…

…or based on the geographic location on a map.

How to Gift a Vacation to a Non-Military Member

So, perhaps you are a military member, but don’t have the time for a vacation and just want to gift a friend/family member a great trip at the exclusive AFV club rates.

These make great gifts, and AFV Club will allow you to do this through their “Resort Vacation Certificate” program, which you as a member can purchase for $409. The certificate must be redeemed within 1 year of purchase.

Making the Most of this Deal

So, as stated before, using this program is best for those who can be flexible. If you’re willing to work within the program’s constraints, you can enjoy extraordinary vacations for ridiculous prices.

I booked a week in the Poconos and a week in New Hampshire using the BOGO promotion; in total, it came out to 2 week-long vacations for $380.41 after taxes. During the Poconos trip, we were asked us if we wanted to sit in on a voluntary timeshare presentation, which would include a free breakfast and $99 Visa gift card regardless of whether we said yes or no.

We sat through the presentation and it was pretty easy to say no, as there was no deal they could give us that could beat $380.41 for two weeks! Factoring in the $99 Visa card, the total cost became $281.41. Divide that by 14 days and we only paid $20/day! And that was for 8 people!

Now that’s frugal vacationing, the best way to travel!

For the Poconos trip, I decided to do a working vacation to conserve my vacation days. Since it was only 35 miles from my work, I commuted there daily and let my family and extended family enjoy the amenities, and I joined them in the evenings.

I think for our next trip we will book an international vacation, maybe to the Tuscany region of Italy. We’ll book it a year in advance, hopefully a 3-bedroom with a full kitchen. We will use frequent flyer miles to get there and invite some friends to come along.