When I saw a long list of senior discounts that began at age 50, I was intrigued. I am always on the hunt for opportunities to make your money work harder.
One of the best sources was the AARP discounts that are available to members. Many of the discounts are related to travel and entertainment. So if you pay the annual membership fee of $16, you too can appreciate the benefits of AARP membership:
- Need to rent a car? Get 25% discounts from Alamo, Hertz, National and Budget, up to 30% from Avis, and 5% off from Enterprise.
- Parking your car at the airport? Take a 10% discount off the bill at Park Ride FlyUSA.
- Booking a room at a hotel? Get as much as 20% at Sheratons & Ramada Inns, and many more establishments, some hotels offering just a 10% discount.
If you’re self-employed and travel a lot for business, that’s almost like giving yourself a raise if you take advantage of the special offers.
And if you don’t travel, you might like to pay less on regular ongoing basic expense suc as your cell phone. While you don’t need to be an AARP member, you do need to be over age 65. “Verizon offers customers age 65 and older a cell phone plan with fewer minutes than its regular nationwide plans for a lower price. The 65-plus plan offers 200 anytime minutes for $29.99, although a data plan for a smart phone is extra.” AT&T has a very similar plan.
And, while you might qualify for age for some of these discounts, they may be good indicators of how much you might be able to negotiate your rate down even if you aren’t fifty or sixty five.
Safe travels and happy savings!
Sources:
- http://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/slideshows/10-great-senior-discounts/2
- http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887324564704578626073439018976
- http://www.aarp.org/benefits-discounts/