new WEA cards in the mail

Just got the new WEA membership card. Spiffy. Feels like a credit card, looks like a library card, with a mysterious barcode. What's the barcode for? I mean, I know that WEA membership (and, by extension, NEA membership) gets me scads of savings, but which one requires a barcode scan? Are there discounts I've never heard of? Will it get me into all the cool clubs?