Memorial Day and Veterans Day represent significant moments in the United States calendar for honoring military service members, veterans, and their families. During these periods, numerous brands, retailers, and service providers extend special offers, including free meals, discounted products, and complimentary admissions. These promotions are typically available to active duty personnel, reservists, veterans, and sometimes their immediate families, often requiring valid proof of service such as a military ID. The following guide details the specific freebies and discounts available during these holidays based on promotional data from 2017.
Memorial Day Weekend Offers
May is designated as Military Appreciation Month, featuring several observances including Loyalty Day, Public Service Recognition Week, Victory in Europe Day, Military Spouse Appreciation Day, Armed Forces Day, and Memorial Day. During Memorial Day weekend specifically, a variety of dining, entertainment, and retail offers are made available to service members.
Dining and Restaurant Freebies
Several restaurant chains offer complimentary meals or significant discounts to military personnel on Memorial Day. These offers generally require the presentation of a valid military ID at participating locations.
- Applebee’s: Offers up to 10% off with a valid military ID.
- Cinnabon: Provides a 15% discount at participating locations daily with a military ID.
- Dunkin’ Donuts: Allows a 10% discount on all online orders every day for members of the Veterans Advantage program.
- Firebirds Wood Fired Grill: Offers a free lunch or dinner entrée on Memorial Day.
- Hooters: Provides a free entrée (such as a burger, buffalo chicken salad, or 10-piece wings) to patrons presenting a military ID on Memorial Day.
- IHOP: Offers 10% off for retired military and veterans.
- Lone Star Steakhouse: Provides a 20% discount on Mondays and a 10% discount on all other days of the week with a valid military ID.
- McCormick & Schmick’s: Participating locations offer a complimentary lunch or dinner to active-duty servicemembers, National Guard members, and veterans on Memorial Day.
- McCallister’s Deli: Provides a free meal to all active-duty military personnel.
- Pie Five Pizza: Offers a free personalized pizza upon presentation of a military ID on Memorial Day.
- Shoney’s: Offers a free All-American Burger to all active-duty military and veterans on Memorial Day.
- Twin Peaks: Offers a free menu item from their Military Appreciation Menu to all military personnel on Memorial Day.
Entertainment and Activities
For recreational activities, specific venues offer free admission or access to military members and their dependents during the Memorial Day period.
- Blue Star Museums: From Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend, Blue Star Museums are available for free to active-duty military members and their families.
- King’s Dominion/Kings Island/Knotts Berry Farm: These parks offered free park admission to any active, veteran, or retired servicemember from May 27-29, 2017.
- National Park Service: Active-duty military members, most members of the US Reserves and National Guard, and their dependents are eligible for a free military annual pass to any national park that usually charges a fee.
Veterans Day Offers
Veterans Day, observed on November 11, sees a broad range of freebies and discounts across dining, retail, healthcare, and entertainment sectors. These offers typically extend to veterans, active duty military, and in some cases, their immediate families.
Dining and Restaurant Freebies
Restaurants frequently offer free meals, appetizers, or desserts to veterans on Veterans Day, often requiring proof of service.
- Applebee’s: Offers free meals for military personnel on Veterans Day.
- California Pizza Kitchen: Offers a free entrée from a curated Veterans Day Menu on Saturday, November 11.
- Chuck E. Cheese: Offers a free personal-sized one-topping pizza to veterans on Veterans Day. A coupon must be printed or shown on a mobile device to redeem.
- Dunkin’ Donuts: Offers a free doughnut to all military and veterans on Veterans Day.
- IHOP: Offers a free stack of three red, white, and blue pancakes to retired and active duty military members between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Veterans Day.
- Patsy’s Irish Pub: Offers a free meal to veterans on Veterans Day.
- Red Robin: Offers a free Red’s Tavern Double Burger with a side of bottomless steak fries to veterans and active duty military members on Veterans Day.
- Ruby Tuesday: Offers a free appetizer to all former and active duty service members on Veterans Day.
- TGI Fridays: Offers a free lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Veterans Day.
- The Yard House: Offers a free appetizer to veterans and active duty military with ID on Veterans Day (dine-in only).
Retail, Services, and Healthcare Discounts
Various retailers and service providers offer percentage-based discounts or complimentary services to veterans and military members.
- Great Clips: Veterans can visit any U.S. Great Clips salon on November 11 to get either a free haircut that day or pick up a free haircut card to use later. Haircuts are redeemable until December 31.
- Home Depot: Offers a 10% discount to all military veterans on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, and Veterans Day.
- Lowes Home Improvement: Offers 10% off to all veterans and active duty service members every day by signing up for a MyLowes card.
- Onessimo Fine Art: Offers 10% off purchases.
- Polished Nail Spa: Offers 10% off the bill.
- Revolution Dating: Offers 25% off membership packages for veterans and first responders.
- SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment: Veterans and active duty military receive location-based discounts or free admission. The promotion includes SeaWorld Orlando, SeaWorld San Antonio, SeaWorld San Diego, Busch Gardens Tampa, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and Sesame Place Langhorne. It does not include Discovery Cove in Orlando or Aquatica.
- Southeastern Grocers: BI-LO, Fresco y Más, Harveys, and Winn-Dixie grocery stores offer a 10% discount to active military and veterans on qualifying grocery purchases on Veterans Day.
- Sports Clips: Many locations offer free haircuts to active-duty U.S. service members and veterans on Veterans Day with valid proof of service.
- Studio E Gallery: Offers 10% off purchases.
- Super 8: Offers a 20% discount on reservations for current and retired military personnel, their spouses, veterans, and their families for stays booked between October 11, 2017, and December 4, 2017, and completed by July 31, 2018.
- Target: A Veterans Day military discount is available at Target stores and Target.com from November 7-11, 2017.
- Under Armour: Offers 10% off plus free shipping for Military, Veterans, and First Responders.
- Walgreens: Offers a 20% discount to all Veterans, Active duty military, and their immediate families on Veterans Day. A Walgreens Rewards card and valid Military ID or proof of service are required to receive the discount on eligible items.
Entertainment and Activities
Museums and parks offer free admission or special entry programs for veterans and active duty military.
- Aerospace Museum of California: Offers free admission to all guests on Veterans Day.
- Lyon Air Museum: Offers free admission to U.S. military veterans on Veterans Day and enters them into a drawing to win a flight in a T-6 Texan.
- National Parks and Monuments: All national parks and monuments are free to visit for all visitors on Veterans Day weekend (November 11-12, 2017).
- New York City’s 9/11 Memorial and Museum: Offers veterans free admission from Wednesday, November 8, through Sunday, November 12.
- SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment: See Retail section for details on free admission or discounts.
Conclusion
The provided data highlights a wide array of complimentary offers and discounts available to U.S. military personnel, veterans, and their families during the Memorial Day and Veterans Day holidays. These promotions span multiple sectors, including food and beverage, retail, healthcare, and entertainment. While many offers are specific to the holiday dates, some retailers, such as Lowes and Dunkin’ Donuts, provide year-round benefits upon registration or membership. Eligibility for these offers typically requires valid proof of military service, and availability is often limited to participating locations.