As an enlisted Servicemember in the United States Armed Forces makes a person eligible for a number of different types of benefits. One of these is qualification to become a member of the Army and Air Force Exchange program, or AAFES. AAFFES is a membership program that allows a variety of lucrative shopping and financial benefits that are not open to the public. Belonging to AAFES is possible not only for the Servicemember but also all of their immediate family and dependents. It is a service that has a long proud history of over 100 years of service as a wholesale and retail services operation benefiting Servicemembers and their families. It is available to all Servicemembers and their dependants who are on active duty around the world. Many of the benefits are accessible long distance using the Internet and their web based goods and services.
The AAFES services is very similar to other types of Commissary and Base Exchange services, but their services are meant to compliment and support other services, not replace them. The profits and financial windfall that AAFES realizes as an organization are channeled back into Morale and Recreation benefits programs. There are a couple of different benefit AAFES programs that can be assessed from anywhere around the world using the Internet and telephone.
Retail AAFES Card- This is a retail charge card that can be obtained as an AAFES debit card or as a full-blown AAFES credit card through Mastercard or Visa. The card is basically in either form a military sponsored purchasing department store card, the only exception being that the debit card option can only be used if the Servicemember has funds in the account it is attached to. This AAFES card in either form is restricted solely to military Servicemember and their dependents it is not available to civilians or the general public. For Servicemembers that have less than ideal credit the AAFES credit card option is sometimes more attractive because it being a military supported program it is sometimes possible to get such a card without having good credit.
Online AAFES- This is a program that is used for long distance purchasing, using the Internet. It gives personnel around the world access to AAFES services and products found at military commissaries and PX’s but at the same savings available to in store AAFES shoppers. It also is an advantage because shipping from military facilities is often inexpensive compared to normal shipping charges.