Discount Travel

Reduced travel

How can I ask for a Senior Travel Discount? Becoming old has few advantages, but the casual discount for older travellers is one of them. Seniors can benefit from a large selection of discount offers, but both availabilities and value greatly varies between different travel areas and in different parts of the work. A typical start to seniorship is at the age of 65 in the USA and 60 in the remainder of the word.

Here is where you can look for a discount for older travellers and what you get. There are only two major carriers offering discount for older travellers: South West has older fare options on most routes for these 65s and over 65s - but some older fare options may still be much higher than the lowest available to travellers of all ages.

For example, on a model plane from Sacramento to Chicago two month in advance, for example, the cheapest tickets available to travellers of any ages is $169, versus the $287 STA. However, for planes only two and a half day in advanced, the seniors rate is still $287, while the lowest rate for other travellers is $348.

Southwest' Discount for Seniors is a good offer for flights farther from your point of origin. For AARP members booking through the AARP website, British Airways is offering a discount of $65 in Economics and Premier Economics and $200 in Business-Class. While the $60 discount on an economics fare is quite appealing, it is noteworthy that British Airways is known to have a worse performance in terms of its main competitors' air fares.

Amtrak provides older travellers with a 10 per cent discount on bus travel on most rail roads, but the discount does not cover sleeping travel, bus travel or most travel on Acela. Elderly people get larger rebates on some discount purchases and regularly get 50 per cent discount on Downeaster train services between Boston and Portland, Maine.

The VIA Rail Canada provides 10 per cent discount for travellers over 60 years of age on most rail services, as well as sleeping car services. Often, however, the best value for money is cheaper than the lower reduced rate for seniors. Only Belgium and Portugal in Europe appear to be offering reductions for seniors aged 60 and over on single fares for some services.

You can also get a discount for the elderly on first-class UK and France railway passports, but no matter what your level, they are less expensive. Railway companies in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are selling yearly train cards offering reductions of 15 to 50 per cent on single season fares for elderly people aged 60 and over.

Normally you can't buy tickets on-line in Europe in advance, therefore schedule the purchase on your day of departure. A lot of transportation in US towns offers retirement rebates for those over 65, but the amount varies. They can find many discount choices for about 50 per cent, and trips are free for the elderly in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

There are also a number of urban light railway companies in the region that are offering older dealerships. However, in recent years, major travel locations such as Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington no longer accepted Medicare cards as proof of entitlement and instead required the elderly to personally submit an older ID document from the transportation system to a nearby travel agency.

For more information, visit the Urban Transport System website. USA seems to be the only country in the world to provide a wide variety of high quality transactions: Australia seniors rebates are restricted to locals. Major US chain hoteliers and independents usually provide a small discount of about 10 per cent for seniors. The qualified years of age are between 50 years (for AARP members and sometimes others) and 65 years.

In order to take full benefit of discount for travel for senior citizens, most chain stores today demand that you make your booking directly from an on-line travel agent. As a matter of routine, cruises and travel agents do not provide seniors discount, although some work with AARP that may involve dollar rebates or extra. Avis families (Avis, Budget, Payless and Zipcar) provide AARP members with 10 to 25 per cent off rent.

Grayhound busses provide a humble five per cent discount for seniors. Ed Perkins has been a travel writer for more than three dozen years.

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