Many travel discounts still exist for senior citizens
Los Angeles Times, July 26th, 2007
The sun has set on fare discounts for hundreds of thousands of senior fliers. Blame airline cutbacks.
But travelers 62 and older, and sometimes as young as 50, can still
land special deals for hotel rooms, rental cars, meals and even a few
plane seats.
Here's a quick survey of where the senior savings are -- or aren't -- and tips to ensure that you get a deal:
Airlines: Once common, discounted airfares for seniors are getting scarce.
United Airlines, www.united.com,
on July 1 stopped accepting new members for its Silver Wings program,
which offers double mileage, flight vouchers and special zoned fares
for customers 55 and older. (Some current members can still access
certain benefits.) In a statement on the program's website, www.silverwingsplus.com, United said it took the action to "control costs, optimize revenue and respond to customer feedback."
Among the savings for the airline is the cost of paying vendors to operate the program, spokesman Jeff Kovick said.
Fewer than 1% of the nearly 50 million frequent fliers in United's
Mileage Plus program belong to Silver Wings, Kovick said, although he
declined to provide an exact number or to say whether membership had
been increasing or falling.
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