Your golden years come with a gold rush of discounts. Looking to cater to seniors eager to stretch out their funds, businesses offer sweet deals to the older set.
Main Street rounds up some of the most attractive senior discounts. Bear in mind that these deals may not be honored at every location:
* Doughnuts. This month, Dunkin’ Donuts started offering a free doughnut with the purchase of a large coffee to AARP members. The offer is good until the end of February 2013.
* Cell phone service. Verizon offers 200 anytime minutes on one line for $30 a month for those aged 65 and up. The company is probably counting on older customers not using as many minutes as their younger counterparts.
* Train rides. If you’re 62 or older, you can save 15 percent off the lowest fares on most Amtrak rides. You can use them to visit those ungrateful children you raised who claim to be too busy to come and see you.
* Dining discounts. Just about every sit-down dining establishment offers a senior menu or flat discount. Denny’s hooks AARP members up with 20 percent off their entire checks from 4 to 10 p.m. Also, coffee is just $1 for members.
* Movie tickets. Some AMC theaters hold senior days on Tuesdays, charging as little as $6 admission for those 60 and older. Better still, the loudmouthed, text-happy fanboys are nowhere to be seen or heard.
13 Great Senior Discounts [Main Street] (Thanks, Kristin!)
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* Cell phone service. Verizon offers 200 anytime minutes on one line for $30 a month for those aged 65 and up. The company is probably counting on older customers not using as many minutes as their younger counterparts.
This is not that great of a deal. Virgin Mobile offers a no-contract plan for $25, which includes 200 minutes, plus unlimited text/web.
Verizon’s “discount” isn’t that great of a deal. On T-Mobile’s prepaid service, 200 minutes would only run $20…and there’s no contract.
I have 300 anytime minutes for $20.month thru Consumer Cellular. $25 after all the fees and taxes. It hasn’t increased in three years, but the minutes have been raised! Not complaining at all.
I believe Verizon includes free mobil to mobil (Verizon) and unlimited nights and weekends. I don’t know if other providers do the same.
So wait, if I have Verizon, they will pay for my costs to drive between gas stations? SWEET
Net10 — $15/mo and great service
As LCE167 pointed out, if you do a lot of Mobile to Mobile or Nights/Weekend calling, it’s a good deal. If not, it’s a poor one.
If you want to use the Verizon network, but want cheap minutes, PagePlus is the way to go. (Virgin uses Sprint, Net10, Straight Talk, and Trac usually use AT&T)
umm.. thats $35/mo for 300minutes and “unlimited” data/text.. it used to be $25/mo but they upped it about 6 months ago..
My cell phone costs $25 every 3 months. How much are folks talking, anyway?
“Your golden years come with a gold rush of discounts…too bad they can’t outweight the crushing cost of your healthcare and prescription drug needs, not to mention the dark cloud of mortality.”
Fixed that for you Phil.
you scare me…
i like that…
In the U.S., virtually all seniors get Medicare or Medicaid, meaning they pay less and get more healthcare than any other age group, drug costs notwithstanding.
So we go from paying twice as much as most of the rest of the world to close to what they pay…oooh, what a deal. /s
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/why-an-mri-costs-1080-in-america-and-280-in-france/2011/08/25/gIQAVHztoR_blog.html
That Verizon senior cell phone plan isn’t a good deal at all. Straight Talk offers a 1000 minutes, 1000 texts, and 30 mb data for $30. And many of Straight Talks phones piggy-back off of Verizon’s network anyway, so you get the same exact coverage. (Other ST phones use ATT’s network, Straight Talk is rather odd for an MVNO in that it has CDMA & GSM phones.)
Pagepluss Cellular, which also uses Verizon’s network, offers 250 min/250 text/10 mb data plan for a mere $12 a month. That is just two examples of phone plans that are far better for the senior who doesn’t use the phone much.
The 12 plan is a great deal, and if I used that much in a month I’d jump on it. As it is, I don’t even use all my minutes on my Tracfone @ less than $8 a month. The only drawback to the PagePlus plans is limited coverage in some areas of the west.
I am on Straight Talks Unlimited Android plan. $45 a month and unlimited everything, including 3g Internet. All on sprint network.
I paid $179 for the Lg Optimus Slider, which everyone else was selling for $99 so I lost $80 there, but Sprint Charges $99 a month for the same service. So I was $19 in the black the first month, and at 3 months in, Ive saved $119 already. Also ST screwed up my account on accident when we tried to add a line, so they are giving us the next two months for free On both lines. So that is another $200 saved, for a grand total of $319 in only 5 months!
You don’t have to be old to join AARP, it only costs about $16 a year, which may be worth it if you spend a lot at places that have an AARP discount.
Yeah, isn’t there membership available to anyone 50 and older? That’s not old for someone who is almost 50. Ancient if you are 20.
You can join at any age. I’m in my 20s and I’m a a member.
Yes, they mail you an invitation when you turn 50. (There’s something to look forward to, youngsters!)
Your spouse gets a free membership when you join, regardless of age.
So, if I decide to marry some 20 year old when I’m 50 she starts to get discounts?
I’ll add that to my selling points on the power point I’m making for the future.
Don’t forget the “Free handicap parking tag” bullet…
Already had that one, but I’m trying to figure out if ED medication is a plus or minus for the lass.
If you need ED medication to get it up for a 20 year old, you’ve got a very serious ED problem. Or you date some pretty ugly 20 year olds.
(Hot 20 year olds ARE the best ED medication)
You want young AND hot? Picky for an old guy (unless you are rich or famous).
YAY only 13 more years.
I got my invite in the mail 3 days after my 42nd birthday. I don’t think they’re aiming for the 50+ crowd any more….
Can I get discounts for feeling old?
Get off my lawn!
Um….how about health insurance? I pay about ninety bagillion bucks (estimated) per month for mine which I thankfully rarely use. My grandma, who unfortunately has had 3 major surgeries in the past 5 years, is on Medicare. (She is doing just fine, thanks for asking.)
Certainly, I would not wish to be old just so I could get medicare…however free health care is really the only discount that matters. The rest of this is just counting coins in the couch.
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“failure to proofread”
the irony is palpable…
Perhaps even…intentional!
Completely serious question: Do senior discounts actually help a brand or increase revenue?
We seniors get a lot of breaks. We can opt out of jury duty. We can avoid taking our cars through emissions inspection. We can ride the county bus during non-rush hours for free. We can get a cup of coffee at McD’s for 59 cents. We get a break on our state property taxes and our state and federal income taxes. We qualify for special shopping days at some major department stores. We get specials at restaurants.
I’d give it all up and pay full fare if it would make me feel and look 40 years younger.
Me too.
You don;t have be old. I started using AARP discounts at 50. I look 35, so it really confuses clerks. And I’ve won more than a few bets with it – especially when my little kid is with me.
Mrs. Cat gets free membership in AARP along with my paid membership. And that causes some problems, because she actually is under 35.
Would you rather be young or be old and get a free donut?
I just came back from skiing at Alta, in Utah, & there, if you’re over 70, you ski for free! A savings
of $72 for a day lift ticket. FREeeeeeE!!!! Can’t wait to make to 70!
(& yes, there were plenty of senior citizens skiing. Never seen so many elderly people who can still put on a pair of boots & ski down a huge mountain !)
Many fast food joints also offer a 10% discount for seniors. I seldom ask for it, but since I look older than I am, I get it often without asking.
When my dad was in his 50′s he started asking for the senior discount everywhere he went. He said as far as he knew there was no official age for being senior and few places had the guts to ask for his id to check his age.
That’s true … it’s up to the retailer to decide when/where they offer the discount (just like a student discount).
The sandwich place I worked for in CA had a senior discount, and we were NOT allowed to ask people if they wanted it in case they got offended. We did have a sign up in a really obvious place near the register that said “If you are eligible for our senior discount, please ask for it at the register!”
We had one lady who had no qualms about asking for it. “I WANT MY SENIOR DISCOUNT!” She was crabby and carried a big cane. We always pointed her out to new people– “That’s Kay. Always give her the senior discount.” Sometimes we would mess with them and add, “…or she’ll whack you with her cane.”
Kids in restaurants, theaters, and stores can’t tell how old you are. Just ask for the Seniors discount and you’ll get it. They won’t card you.
Seniors days? Around here, movie theatres (including the one AMC in the province and all the Cineplexes) always charge less for seniors, and Cheapy Tuesdays are cheaper for everyone.
I have a no contract phone, and get cards $25 for 750 minutes..per month.
Forget the phones LOOK at the cards.
Amtrack?
Discount air fair is Cheaper and 2 days faster(s. cali to PDX)…UNLESS you want to see the sites..(trees)…By air you can get there in 4-6 hours, by train its a few days, AS WELL as food costs..
But nobody tries to touch your junk on Amtrak. Well, nobody working for government agency, anyway.
Seniors get better rates at golf courses. Can’t wait until I’m 55.
Can I get twenty percent off the transmission rebuild in my Cadillac? Didn’t think so.
We added our elderly parents to our Verizon family plan – for just 9.99 a month they got a free phone, pretty near unlimited minutes (all our family are on verizon so it’s all in-plan) and no hassle. Much better than $30 a month.