
Senior Citizens Discounts
To find the local tourism office for nearly every city and
state in the U.S. on the web try www.SeeAmerica.org
The Seasoned Spender www.seasonedspender.com
is a free financial advocacy website for seniors. It's in the
process of building the Internet's largest database of age-based
discounts (often called "senior discounts") and other
financial information meaningful to people 50 and older
National Park Service Golden Age Passport:
-(5/17/07)-The National Park Service will be increasing entrance
fee schedules at national parks over the next three summers, but
if enough of us complain about the increase, the government may
reconsider the increase. The Park Service plans ot phase in
higher rates for park passes and vehicles at 131 of the 390
parks, monuments and other areas it manages.
This increase in fees was not linked to the $230 million increase
in the $2.1 billion parks budget that President Bush proposed in
February to help prepare for the park system's centennial in nine
years.
Under the new fee structure, annual park passed will generally
range from $10 to $40. Fees per person would range from about $5
to $12; per vehicle, they would be about $10 to $25. A $50 fee
for an annual pass has taken effect already at Grand Canyon and
Zion, and for a combined pass into Grand Teton and Yellowstone. Individual
park superintendents can however recommend to the National Park
Service that the increase be rescinded because of a large outcry
against it in the local community.
FINDING THE LOWEST ONLINE PRICE FOR AN
ITEM
- To remain competitive in the online price-comparison
field the newer sites are adding additional savings for
those who use their sites. MeziMedia Inc. includes
coupons and other retail discounts on its site. Vendio
Services Inc. introduced a toolbar that users can
download. If a person is on the Web page of a particular
product, the toolbar will flash an alert when it finds a
lower price for that same item somewhere else. BuySafe
Inc. lets consumer's search among 1.5 million products
that are backed by antifraud guarantees up to $25,000.
- Some of the other new comparison shopping sites are: www.become.com ; www.smarter.com ; www.buysafeshopping.com
; and www.brilliantshopper.com
.
AARP MEMBERSHIP
- For those 50 or older the membership dues is $10 per
year. This organization has numerous discounts available
for hotels, auto rentals, shopping, travel planning, etc.
BOOKS BOTH USED AND NEW
- One of the best sites for both new and used books, which
also compares shipping charges and delivery times is www.AddAll.com
- BooksPrice.com- http://www.booksprice.com
is a free innovative service of finding the best price on
a purchase of several books together. This service is
more useful than the standard services which perform one
book comparison at a time, and can save more money when
buying several books together. Both new and used books
are covered by this site.
BROADWAY AND OFF-BROADWAY SHOW
- A viewer sent us in this one for discount Broadway
theater tickets- www.BroadwayBox.com
- Playbill Online (www.playbill.com) and TheaterMania.com
(www.TheaterMania.com) are Web sites that provide news,
reviews, theater message boards and also let you sign up
for free theater discount offers. They will send you
e-mails informing you as to which shows are available. To
participate you print out the discount offer and take it
to the box-office; or phone Telecharge or Ticketmaster,
using the number provided, and mention the discount code.
- Broadway Plays: www.audiencerewards.com
This site lets theatregoers learn more about Broadway
shows playing in New York and touring the country.
Visitors to the site can buy tickets from authorzed
ticket sellers (such as Telecharge or Ticketmaster) and
order show merchandise.the site offers rewards to
frequent ticket-buyers in a program similar to
credit-card rewards including behind the scenes events,
cast albums, theater party invitations, merchandise or
special ticket offers. Every Broadway show is
participating in the new site.
BUSINESSES-RETAIL
- Go to any of the following Web sites: naughtycodes.com,
currentcodes.com, dealhunting.com, or discountcodes.com.
Scroll down the menu to find stores, then enter the
store's discount code to complete a purchase
.
- Here's one sent in by John Smith, a viewer of ours, for
which we want to thank him: Promotional-Offer.com lists
merchant's special promotional codes and coupons to save
on online purchases. http://www.promotional-offer.com
- Bargain-hunter sites include: DealHunting.com,
ShoppersResource.com, and QuickToClick.com
- Here it's a matter of asking and you could get some
pleasant surprises. Supermarkets may vary the day of the
week but most offer senior citizen discount days.
PearleVision offers discounts on eyewear that increase
with age. LensCrafter Glasses offers a 10% discount if 62
or older.
Senior Discounts from Sylvia Spade-Kershaw (syndicated
columnist): http://www.angelfire.com/tx/50plus
This site contains some excellent discount ideas for those over
50. Although it specializes on items in Texas, it contains many
helpful suggestions for all areas of the country. It covers
topics as varied as car rentals to department stores, arts and
crafts to vacation getaways etc.
CAR RENTALS:
- If you are an AAA member, Hertz offers customer
satisfaction which assures you that you will get the rate
and car class that you reserved the car for. Your will
also get free use of a child safety seat; a 50% discount
on SIRIUS satellite radion: and a 25% discount on the
Hertz NeverLost in-car navigational system. AAA members
get up to a 20% discount on daily, weekend, weekly and
monthly rates, plus special discounts on international
rates.
DENTAL DISCOUNTS FOR SENIORS:
- We include this site because we feel it may be helpful to
some of our viewers, but we make no recommendation about
the service since we do not know anyone who has taken
part in it- Avia Dental Plan-Avia Dental offers special
senior discounts in 17 states.
Below is a link to the senior discount rate information.
http://www.aviadental.com/avia_dental_plan.php#Dent_Cov_Seni
DRUGS
- www.DestinationRx.com
-Searches the major online pharmacies for the best deals
on prescription and OTC medications.
- www.theunadvertisedbrand.com
- Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's clearinghouse for
information on generic drugs, including a savings
calculator that compares popular brands to their generic
equivalents.
- www.aarp.org/wiseuse/oregon-table.html
-the AARP and State of Oregon teamed up to present this
useful comparison on the safety and effectiveness of
drugs that treat various conditions.
- www.rxexaminer.com
this is a free site that gives you both generic and brand
name alternatives, and explains how they differ from the
drug you are comparing it to
.
- Here's another one that was sent in by John Smith. Thanks
John. Drug Card America has a prescription card offering
up to a 50% discount . The card is free. http://www.drugcardamerica.com/
Eyeglasses
- You can save up to 30% on eye exams, sunglasses,
accessories and complete pairs (frame and Rx lens) at
Lenscrafters, Pearle Vision and Sears Optical stores by
showing your AAA membersip card. Members willl also
receive an additional $5 discount on all general public
offers that exceed the everyday AAA discount
FINANCIAL SERVICES
- Many banks waive or reduce fees for senior citizens.
Hartford Financial Services Group offers a 15% discount
on homeowner policies for those 50 or older and not
working.
FINDING THE LOWEST ONLINE PRICE FOR AN
ITEM
- American Express Blue Card- If you pay for a
product that you purchase with this card, and then find
the same product on the internet for a lower price,
American Express will pay for the difference. (Thanks to
our viewer S Shaffer)
- FOR WHATEVER DEALS YOU FIND ON THE WEB
THERE IS SOFTWARE AVAILABLE TO HELP YOU DETERMINE IF IT
IS THE BEST DEAL ON THE WEB: It is estimated
that consumers have already spent about $60 billion
through on-line shopping so far this year. Software tools
have been created that work with Web browser
software to help you find the best buy possible. These
agent companies scan various shopping sites for price and
delivery data comparisons.The one that stands out among
all of the is pricegrabber.(www.pricegrabber.com)
Its listings give pricing with and without shipping,
handling and taxes. Most products are pictured as well as
described. Shoppers describe their shopping experience on
the site and rate the vendors. It does not show price
listings from Amazon, the largest online retailer
.
- Barry Diller's company, IAC/InterActiveCorp has
introduced Pronto, a software application that can be
downloaded at www.Pronto.com
that has over 50,000 merchants in its database that does
comparative shopping. Once you find a price and a product
that you like, it can find the cheapest price at which
that product is available in its database. Smart-shopper,
Dealio, Active Shopper NextTag and WhenU are the names of
a couple of other companies that have entered this field.
- To help shoppers keep tabs on the increasing number of
e-commerce comparison sites, the new comparison-shopping
engines are adding secondary markets, niche categories
and in-browser search tools for more thorough bargain
hunting.SquareTrade Sidebar uses a program that hides in
Internet Explorer, and when it detects that a user is
shopping online, it displays a list of alternative prices
for the product being searched including prices from eBay
and Craigslist.
- Vendio's new toolbar located at www.dealio.com will
list the best price for an item when someone visits a
product page. LowerMyBills compares expenses like phone
services, car loans, credit cards and insurance
quotes.Simplyhired.com shows job hunters opportunities
from newspapers, job boards and corporate Web
sites.Grocery Saver's new feature at Cairo.com builds
custom shopping lists from sales at neighborhood shopping
lists from sales at neighborhood sales
.
- Flatlens.com offers comparison shopping for shows and
sporting events among traditional ticket agencies, online
brokers and individual auction sites.
- Several of the large internet search engine companies as
well as eBay and Amazon are entering this growing field
of helping the consumer with their shopping needs. Google
the largest of the search engines has started a site www.froogle.com but it
has far fewer features than the other sites. Froogle
unlike most of the other sites does not charge merchants
to be included in its search and it is not paid when
users click on a store's offering. Google will be making
a major effort to expand Froogle to become the leading
purveyor of this type of information for the shoppers.
- E.W.Scripps Co., which owns newspapers, television
stations and network properties such as Home & Garden
Television has agreed to buy the Internet comparison
shopping company Shopzilla for $525 million. Shopzilla
organizes information on more than 30 million products
from 55,000 retailers worldwide, and the site had more
than 14 million viewers in April. Shopzilla was founded
in 1996. Along with PriceGrabber.com and NexTag.com it
has become one of the leading comparison shopping Web
sites.
- There are several online services that rate the
merchants. Among them are BizRate www.bizrate.com which
has now adopted the name Shopzilla.com and Gomez www.gomez.com. BizRate
will keep the bizrate.com site for technology and
consumer survey services, but use the name www.shopzilla.com
for most of its comparison shopping items. Initially the
shopzilla site will let users view 360-degree images of
many consumer electronic products, with other categories
to follow. Shopzilla will include reviews of computers
and other products from Cnet, a company that reviews
consumer electronic products.
- For comparison shopping another good site is www.DealTime.com.
DealTime has agreed to buy Epinions, a Web site that lets
users write and read reviews about what products to buy.
Nielsen/NetRatings estimated that the combination of
DealTime and Epinions would make it the fifth-biggest
shopping site after Amazon, Ebay, Yahoo Shopping and MSN
Shopping.
- Thanks to Robert Skelton, Content Manager of
Searchenginez, we learned that DealPilot is no longer a
price comparison engine. Take a look at Mr. Skelton's
company site at http://searchenginez.com/secondhandbooksearch.html
if you are looking for an excellent site for comparison
shopping of second hand books.
- If you are looking to find off-price deals for everything
from clothing items to electronic equipment we suggest
the following site: www.bluefly.com
, www.overstock.com
, www.SmartBargains.com
, www.evalueville.com
and www.mySimon.com
(owned by CNET Networks)
.
- One of the newest sites in this field is www.coupons.dealnews.com.
This site offers daily tips abut where to find bargains
on-line. On http://www.amazing-bargains.com
you can find tips about which online retailers are
running sales, offering discounts or waiving shipping
fees. This site is also very good for finding the
cheapest price of an item you are looking to purchase.
Most of these sites are free to shoppers since the
retailers pay the service for every referral that
consummates in a purchase. Another site that helps you
find the best price for an item you are looking for is http://www.mysimon.com
which is owned by CNET's Shopper.com
HOTELS
- Marriott International Inc. has recently announced
that they would triple the number of their hotels that
offer airline miles and more than double the number of
miles patrons can earn. This was done as a competitive
measure to match similar increases from Starwood
Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. Marriott's
Chairman J.W. "Bill" Marriott Jr. stated that
further enhancements to the program might be forthcoming
this spring. Effective Oct.4 there will be 34 airlines
participating in the Marriott Rewards Program. In the
participating hotels all items charged at the hotel will
be included in the program. Not all of the Marriott
hotels will participate in the program so check with your
individual hotel beforehand.
- Hilton, Sheraton, Red Roof Inns, Howard
Johnson and Ramada all offer discounts,
although some of the above require membership.
MISCELLANEOUS
- National Park Service Golden Age Passport:
-(5/07)-The National Park Service will be increasing
entrance fee schedules at national parks over the next
three summers, but if enough of us complain about the
increase, the government may reconsider the increase. The
Park Service plans ot phase in higher rates for park
passes and vehicles at 131 of the 390 parks, monuments
and other areas it manages.
This increase in fees was not linked to the $230 million
increase in the $2.1 billion parks budget that President
Bush proposed in February to help prepare for the park
system's centennial in nine years.
Under the new fee structure, annual park passed will
generally range from $10 to $40. Fees per person would
range from about $5 to $12; per vehicle, they would be
about $10 to $25. A $50 fee for an annual pass has taken
effect already at Grand Canyon and Zion, and for a
combined pass into Grand Teton and Yellowstone. Individual
park superintendents can however recommend to the
National Park Service that the increase be rescinded
because of a large outcry against it in the local
community.
(10/8/05)- Seventeen sites in the National Park Service's
intermountain region will raise entrance fees in 2006.
Under the new rate schedule, a weeklong vehicle pass at
Yellowstone would rise to $25 from $20. Other increases
range from as little as $1 for weeklong passes in places
like Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, to as
much as $50 for annual passes in other areas.
Seniors 62 or older can buy a $10 lifetime pass entitling
them to free admission to all National Parks, monuments,
forests and recreational areas. Anyone in the vehicle
gets in free also. The passport can be purchased at any
national park. The pass also entitles holders to a 50%
discount on use fees charged in park areas.
One of the editors of this site has been a worked as a
volunteer at the National Historical Park in Saratoga,
N.Y one week a year since July 1999. This fantastic park
is located at the site where the Battles of Saratoga took
place in September and October 1777. These battles are
considered the turning point of the Revolutionary War.
The park is over 9 miles long and the site contains both
hiking trails and/or auto tour stops that highlight where
the key battles took place.
To receive at no cost the following publications contact
the National Park Service, Office of Information, P.O.
Box 37127, Washington, D.C. 20013-7127 or call
202-208-4747: The National Park System Map and Guide,
the National Trails System Map and Guide, or an
Official Map and Guide of specific national parks.
The National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA)
was established in May 1919 to be the citizen's advocate
for the National Park System. You may write to them for
the following free brochure: The National Parks: How
to Have a Quality Experience and Visiting Battlefields:
The Civil War. Members of the NPCA can also receive
for free the following brochures: Park System Map and
Guide, The National Parks Index, The National Parks
Camping Guide, and Lesser Known Areas as part of
NPCA's PARK-PAK. Their address is National Parks and
Conservation Association (NPCA) 1776 Massachusetts Avenue
N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-1904 or by calling
202-223-6722 x 214
.
- Discount Phone Service: Bell Atlantic offers a
special discounted service called Life Line. It affords
those who are eligible for it a discount or reduced rate
on the cost of basic telephone service from Bell
Atlantic. It can cost as little as $1.00 per month for
basic telephone service from Bell Atlantic. Note:
regular phone rates apply for your local, regional and
long distance phone calls. To qualify you must be
eligible for any of the following programs: Aid to
Families with Dependent Children, Food Stamps, Home
Relief, Home Energy Assistance Program, Supplemental
Security Income, Medicaid, Veteran's Disability Pension
(non-service related) or Veteran's Surviving Spouse
Pension (non-service related). Applications are available
at most social services benefits offices or by writing
to: Bell Atlantic Comm. Affairs, Room 3410, 1095 Avenue
of Americas, New York, N.Y. 10036.
- Yankee Baseball Games: Senior Citizens (60 &
over) $5.00.Seating is limited. Dates for discounts are
indicated in the schedule with the abbreviation -SC-.
Tickets are sold at the Yankee Stadium two hours prior to
game time at the advance ticket window only. Seating is
limited to 4,000 admissions per SC date. There are 2
games in April, 1 in May, 1 in June, 1 in July, 1 in
August and none in September for which this promotion is
available.
- Met Baseball Games: Senior Citizens (60 &
over) can buy half-price tickets for 10 games that are
designated on the schedule. The seating area for Senior
Citizens and guests is limited to 5,000 admissions per
designated date. Dates available are designated with the
abbreviation-SC- on the schedule. Tickets are available
only on the date of the game, and are sold 2 1/2 hours
before game time.
- Jiffy Lube-Most of their garages offer a
10% discount to those 55 and older for a grease and oil
change job. Please check with the individual shop you
bring your car to have the job performed.
- Bally's Total Fitness-For those 62 and
older a discount of between $50 to $100 for membership is
offered.
- AMC Entertainment, Inc.- For those 55
and older a $2 off full price admission to their movie
theatres.
- Discounted New York City Theater Tickets- A
$20 annual membership fee enrolls you in Super Discount
NYC Theater Tickets whose site http://www.tdf.org gives
you access on-line to shows for which you can get a 65%
discount. (Thanks to our viewer S Shaffer)
Movies:
- For movie lovers in the New York City area, every
Thursday the New York Times lists a site for you to
enroll in, to become eligible to receive two free tickets
to a movie prevue showing at one of the Loew's theatres
in the area. The site is located at www.nytscreeningroom.com
PC PROBLEMS
- Many of us feel quite frustrated when we either can't
solve a PC problem, or have to wait a very long time
before getting, maybe, an adequate answer from a PC help
desk. The May, 1999 issue of PC World has an article
" Great Support at a Great Price". One of the free
e-mail-based technical help sites mentioned in the
article is http://www.ask-a-tech.org.
It may take several days before you receive an answer but
the wait might be worth it.
- For PC Tech Support to directly to an operator:
Apple 800 275 2273-Zero three times; if virtual rep
answers, say "operator"
Dell 888 560 8324-Hit zero twice
Gateway 800 846 2301-Hit zero, pound
HP ( Compaq Products) 800 652 6672-No easy answer
HP (Hewlett Products) 800 474 6836-Say agent
IBM 800 IBM 4YOU You go into hold queue immediately.
RESTAURANTS
- Senior Discount Specials: Many thanks to our
viewer BB for this one. The New York City Department of
Consumer Affairs has a list called " Discount Deals
for Fifty Plus Diners". You can obtain the list by
calling the Department at (212) 487-4444, or by writing
the Department of Consumer Affairs, 42 Broadway, New
York, N.Y. and requesting the list. The restaurants on
the list are all located on the East Side of Manhattan.
The Department hopes to have other restaurants outside of
Manhattan added to the list sometime during the summer.
To view the list: http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dca/html/fiftyguide.html.
Thanks to Miriam B.who emailed us to report that this
site is no longer operational, we suggest that you call
the NYC # 311 and ask to be sent the Senior Guide to
Restaurant dining or you can write to NYC Dept. of Aging,
2 Lafayette Street, NY 10007. Incidentally you can go
from this site to many of the NYC agencies including the
Office of the Aging that is quite helpful for all
purposes.
- For reservations-OpenTable.com is the
largest restaurant reservation online company serving
over 3,200 restaurants in over 50 major cities. OpenTable
gives you frequent-diner points when you reserve online,
which can be redeemed later for discounts on meals.
- For restaurant discount coupons go to DinnerBroker.com or
RewardsNetwork.com which was formerly known as iDine.com
SHOPPING OFF LINE-Where
to look for an item on sale at your local mall or department
store. These sites tell you where there is a sale that is going
on in your neighborhood or even Zip code on a given day.
- www.cairo.com ; www.ShopLocal.com
and www.StepUp.com
-These offline Web sites cull the data from the Web
sites, ads and circulars distributed by local
brick-and-mortar stores to give you sales information
about many different items that they have on sale right
now. Gannett, Knight Ridder and Tribune have purchased
Cross Media Services, a Chicago company that helps
retailers put their sales circulars online under the name
of www.SalesHound.com
to allow consumers to compare sale items at offline
stores.
SPORTING GOODS
- Modell's Sporting Goods: A 10% discount is
available every day of the week, at any of their stores,
upon presentation of proof of age.
TEXAS
- http://www.seniorsguide.net.
This site targets businesses and presents their
services to the senior community via Seniorsguide.net and
the Austin Seniors' Guide, a free book mailed to senior
citizens in Austin, Texas. The book highlights
senior-friendly businesses, includes buyers' tips,
coupons, a medical diary, and includes special sections
on arts and entertainment, and opportunities for senior
involvement in the community.
TRAVEL
- New York City Transit Authority: Half-fare.
Medicare identification card can be used to obtain a half
fare ride. To acquire a Reduced Fare Metro Card
application call 1-718-243-2499, or ask for an
application at any police precinct house, Department of
Aging office, subway toll booth or public library. In
order to be able to get $1.50 added on to your Metro Card
you must pay $15 in order to be able to get the
additional credit. The Metro Card also enables you to
transfer for free from a subway to a bus or conversely
from a bus to a subway.
- Metro-North: 50% off regular one-way fare. Not
valid on inbound morning peak hour trains. Required ID
Medicare card, drivers license or birth certificate
indicating 65 years of age or older.
- Amtrak: 15% discount if 62 or older.
- Airlines: See our article Discounted Airline Fares
for Seniors
FOR AN INFORMATIVE AND PERSONAL ARTICLE ON PRACTICAL
SUGGESTIONS WHEN SELECTING A NURSING HOME SEE OUR ARTICLE "HOW TO SELECT A NURSING HOME".
By Allan Rubin
updated June 23, 2008
http://www.therubins.com
e-mail: hrubin12@nyc.rr.com
or rubin@brainlink.com
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