(6/4/09)- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said entrance fees at 147 national parks and monuments would be waived on three weekends this summer. The dates are June 20-21, July 18-19 and August 15-16..

Last year, national parks attracted more than 275 million visits, generating about $10.6 billion for local economies, and supporting more than 213,000 jobs. For the Park Service, the offer will mean a loss of an estimated half-million dollars a day.

To find the local tourism office for nearly every city and state in the U.S. on the web try www.SeeAmerica.org

COUPONS ONLINE (11/29/08)-- For discount coupons online try www.RetailMeNot.com ; www.CouponMom.com , which includes coupons for physical stores; and www.CouponCode.com

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

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 .

• 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.

• 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.

• Season of Savings- www.seasonofsavings.com- Broadway and Off Broadway producers advertise through their booklet with up to 55% off.
• The New York Theater Workshop- www.nytw.org - All Sunday tickets for $20
• The New York Philharmonic- www.nyphil.org sells tickets for $12 for students and has deals for people 65 and older.
• A viewer sent us in this one for discount Broadway and Off Broadway theater tickets- www.BroadwayBox.com or www.nytheatre.com .
• Dance Theater Workshop- www.dtw.org give 40% off to students and those 65 and older.
• 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.

• 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
  
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• 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.

COUPONS ONLINE- For discount coupons online try www.RetailMeNot.com ; www.CouponMom.com , which includes coupons for physical stores; and www.CouponCode.com

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

DISCOUNT COUPONS-ENGLAND:

• The site is http://www.promotionalcodes.org.uk and it lists merchant's special promotional codes and coupons to save on online purchases. The site is free to use..  

• 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
• www.pparx.org - to apply for free or low-cost medications from the drug companies' patient assistance programs, or call 1-888-477-2699.
• 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/

• 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

• 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.

• 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
  
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• 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
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• 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

• 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.

• 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
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• 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. To quote from the Yankee schedule: "Senior Citizen Games.-Senior Citizen (60 and older) can purchase $5 tickets for any Monday through Thursday game* in designated seating locations." The * indicates the fact that it excludes all premium games.It is available only on the day of the game at the Yankee Stadium Ticket Windows
• 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)

• 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

• 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.

• 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.
• Buzzillions- For comparing the quality of different products- www.buzillions.com

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.
• By rail:
  
  Amtrak (1-800-872-7245; www.amtrak.com) cuts 15% off most fares for riders who are at least 62.
  
  Via Rail Canada (1-888-842-7245; www.viarail.com) offers travelers over 60 a discount of 10% off the full adult fare. Via Rail Canada also offers a "Bring a Friend" program that lets you take a companion along for free except during winter holiday season
  
  North American Rail Pass, a one month ticket for travel to more than 900 destinations on both sides of the border (USA and Canada), offers, for those over 60, a 10% discount.
• . 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 4, 2009

http://www.therubins.com

e-mail: hrubin12@nyc.rr.com or rubin@brainlink.com

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