If you get really excited when you see an ‘On Sale’ sign outside a shop, raise your hands! If getting discounts in a retail shop makes you that happy, imagine how happy you would be if someone tells you that you can save a sizable amount of money on your moves.

Once you anticipate that you might have to move, the first thing that gains importance in your life is getting your finances in order. Moving is an expensive affair, no one can argue against that. But what if we told you that cutting costs is possible because most of the container companies offer you some great discounts? Surprised? Don’t be! Have a look at the various deals and discounts you can score with moving container companies.

Ways to Get Discounts from Container Companies

You need to be quite alert and aware in order to get good discounts while you make a reservation. Before we tell you about all the wonderful discounts that are available for you, let us give you an insight into the ways to get a profitable bargain from these companies.

1. No Room for Hesitation

A lot of times, moving companies do not advertise the available discount offers openly. You might get some information about what is offered by a company on their website, but you should know that there are some offers you can avail of only when you ask them for discounts.

Many people get very embarrassed when they have to ask for discounts. Look at it this way, what is the worst that can happen? The company will say no and tell you that they aren’t offering any discounts. There is no harm in asking for discounts, in fact, it is a good practice that will help you to cut costs during a move.

2. Play it Smart

When people tell you to inquire about discounts and get quotes from multiple container companies, listen to them. Whenever a company offers you some kind of discount, you can use that offer to get a cheaper deal from some other company. Never forget that you can score better discounts from a moving company of your preference based on the discounts offered by some other moving company.

3. Keep Yourself Updated

There are several apps that keep you updated about the discount offers or promo codes that are currently available for you. Coupons.com is one of those apps that has all the information about the various deals and discounts that you can benefit from during your moves. Using these apps also means that you don’t have to get into the hassle of searching for discounts online.

4. Do you Qualify for it?

If you want to avail of certain discounts, the company requires you to meet a set of criteria. For instance, you must be a military member to avail of a military discount. If you run behind a company and ask them to let you avail of the discounts despite not meeting the criteria that they have set forth, you are simply wasting your time. Always check whether you qualify for a certain discount before asking for it.

5. Talk to the Manager

Whenever a customer service representative is not providing you with any discounts or good deals, you can request to speak to their managers. Managers often have the authority to offer you discounts but this will only happen if you persist politely. Don’t give up unless and until you have tried everything that you could do to get a discount.

6. Stay Away from Scammers

If a discount offer seems to be too good to be true, you might want to drop the idea of hiring that company. Many scam companies first lure in their customers with extravagant deals and then harass the customers by holding their things hostage. The customers are then forced to pay an exorbitant amount of money to get their stuff back.

Always check whether a company is registered with the FMCSA and accredited by organizations like the BBB and AMSA. All this lets you rest assured that the company is legitimate and not trying to scam you.

Also See: How To know If A Moving Company is a Scam

Best Moving Container Deals and Discounts

Whenever you hire a container company, always ask for the following discounts (if you qualify for them). At the same time, you can ask your company if they are willing to provide you with any additional discounts.

1. Teacher’s Discounts

Teachers provide us with an invaluable service and each one of us will forever remain indebted to our teachers. Because of this, container companies offer a lot of discounts for teachers. After all, this is their way of saying thank you to the ones that taught countless valuable lessons to them. If you are a teacher, don’t forget to ask for this particular discount. Let us look at what the container companies have to offer when it comes to this category of discounts.

  • 1-800-Pack-Rat honors teachers by offering a 10% discount on all their containers.
  • SmartBox offers a $20 discount for all faculty members and staff of a college.

2. Student Discounts

It is a well-known fact that students are generally broke as they don’t necessarily start earning while they are attending school/college. They are also the ones who move quite frequently for educational purposes. Container companies want to be of some aid to these students because of which they have some great discount offers in store for them. Let’s see what offers are available for students.

  • PODS offers a 10% discount to students through its Student Rate. All you have to do is use the promo code SRATE2 to avail of this discount.
  • SmartBox offers $20 off for all college students.
  • Zippy Shell doesn’t offer an explicit discount for college students. But they do design moving and storage packages that fit the needs of students. Moreover, you can get storage free for one month if you use their promo code: COLLEGE.
  • U-Haul also offers some great discounts for college students (for instance, one-month free rental). All you have to do is ask them for their ongoing offers.
  • U-Pack generally offers student discounts but you will have to personally inquire about these discounts when you move. You should know that the percentage of the student discount offered by U-Pack varies from place to place.

Also See: U-Box vs PODs

3. Military Discounts

Members of the military lay down their lives for the nation because of which they receive several honors. When it comes to moving, container companies realize that these members have to move regularly because of which they end up spending a lot of money. In order to make the lives of military members a tad bit easier, the following companies offer military discounts.

  • 1-800-Pack-Rat offers a 10% discount for military members regardless of the fact whether their moves are booked online or in-person.
  • PODS asks all types of military members (active, retired, veterans) to use the code SERV10 to get a 10% off on their moves.
  • Although Zippy Shell offers a military discount, the percentage of discount offered differs from location to location.
  • U-Pack offers a $50 discount for the members of the military. To avail of this discount, all you have to do is use the following code: MIL50.
  • Smartbox also has some discount offers in place for the members of the military. Don’t forget to ask about them when you book a move with SmartBox.

4. First Responders (Includes Doctors and Nurses)

The citizens of the country are always grateful for the services offered by first responders. First responders include EMTs, paramedics, firefighters, police, nurses, doctors, etc. The people practicing the aforementioned professions should ask for discounts from moving container companies without any hesitation. The following company openly advertises discount deals for customers who fall under this category.

  • 1-800-Pack-Rat lets customers who are first responders along with doctors and nurses can avail themselves of a 10% discount on their moves.

5. Senior Discounts

Older adults generally get tired during a move. They tend to incur a lot of expenditure during their moves because they find it difficult to pack and load their stuff by themselves. Because of this, container companies will mostly comply with your request for a senior discount. Although many companies might not openly advertise discounts in this category, don’t forget to ask your companies for them. The following companies offer a discount for seniors.

  • 1-800-Pack-Rat offers 10% off to all the seniors who choose to move with them.
  • U-Pack offers a seniors discount, but the percentage for the same has to be discussed with the company rep when you book your moves.

6. Union Member Discounts

Union members can often avail themselves of discounts offered by container companies. But let us tell you that you most probably won’t find these offers online on the company’s website. If you really need to cut down your costs, do read up on your union benefits in order to determine whether you qualify for discounts that are offered by moving container companies.

We found information regarding union membership discounts only for PODS. If you are a member of the AFGE, you can get 10% off your quote whenever you decide to move with PODS.

7. Additional Discounts

The offers we already spoke about are targeted specifically towards a special category of people. But this doesn’t mean that you won’t get discounts if you don’t fall under those particular categories. Container companies have several deals and discounts available for all their customers.

Customers can find discount offers for themselves either through a coupon website, the company’s official website or through the company’s customer service representative. Have a look at what the following container companies have in store for all their customers.

U-Pack:

Although U-Pack doesn’t have any discount offers specially targeted for any category of people (except military members), they have some great discount offers which any customers can avail of to reduce the price of their moves.

You can save $25 when you book your move online. Similarly, U-Pack also encourages you to save an additional $25 by using the following code: BLOG25. To add that, U-Pack ships anything you order from their Box Store for free. U-Pack offers many more deals and discounts but you will have to ask about them when you talk to their representative.

1-800-Pack-Rat

If you use the code: GETMOVINGAMERICA, you will end up getting a 10% off on moving and storage services while moving with 1-800-Pack-Rat. Sometimes, the company also offers a discount of $25 when it comes to local moves.

The best part about PackRat is that it will beat the prices offered by its competitors and give you a cheaper deal. If you get a good deal from a container company, you can show it to PackRat and it will offer you a better deal in return.

PODS

The pickup and delivery of PODS containers is completely free of charge. But this happens only if you rent a container from them for 3 months. In addition to that, PODS also offers you 10% off on your monthly rate when you rent a container for 3 months from a PODS Storage Center.

Also Read: Deals and Discounts on Moving

Final Thoughts

There are many discounts and deals out there that are waiting to be availed of by you. While moving, grab the opportunity to save as much as money you can because every penny counts. You will realize that these discounts are a lifesaver because they reduce the financial stress of a move. All we want to say here is that don’t be too embarrassed to ask for discounts. Conduct your research and get quotes from as many container companies as you can. Based on this you can easily choose the best deal that’s available in the market.

See Also: Best Moving Container Companies | How to Pack A Storage POD