New sign of the times: More senior discounts[SIZE=-1]Senior discounts are becoming ?much more common and diversified because businesses, especially retailers and service providers, are desperate to drum up sales,? according to Joan Rattner Heilman, author of ?Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can?t Get Unless You?re Over 50,? now out in a 2008-2009 edition.
?More and more restaurants, both chains and individual establishments, for example, have started to offer them, mostly 10 percent,? she says.
Other businesses trying to court the senior set, Heilman tells us, are drug and grocery stores, clothing stores, fitness clubs, hardware stores, auto repair shops, and insurance companies. ?Some of the more surprising enterprises to do it today are plumbers, contractors, barbershops, car washes, even piano teachers, veterinarians, and car dealers,? she adds.
Senior discounts often begin at age 60, 62, or 65, though some start as early as age 50. And Heilman notes that some companies are so eager to deal that won?t even ask for proof of age.
Generosity has its limits, however. ?All but one of the reduced fares and flat-fee coupons the major airlines once offered to anyone over the age of 62 have gone down the drain,? Heilman reports. (The exception is Southwest Airlines, which still has a discount for passengers 65 and over.) ?And some hotel chains have reduced the percentages they take off your bill.?
Personally, I?ve also noticed that Amtrak still offers 15 percent off its lowest fares on most trains for anyone 62 and over.
Bear in mind that senior discounts aren?t always the best deal, so compare them against any other inducements the business may be offering. ?Greg Daugherty
Greg writes the ?Retirement Guy? column each month in the Consumer Reports Money Adviser newsletter.
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