No more Senior Airfare discounts?
 

Apparently most of the airlines have discontinued or will soon be discontinuing their Senior Citizen discounts. <BR><BR>Do they REALLY think this is the answer to their financial woes? Charging fat people for two seats and eliminating the little incentive that they had for seniors to fly? <BR><BR>Who the heck is running these airlines, anyway?????

The obvious answer to your questions, "Who the heck is running these airlines, anyway?????" is that they are being run by skinny young people.

I beleive that Senior Citizen discounts came into being when seniors were seen as living solely on Social Security.<BR><BR>I don't see why seniors should get a discount just because of age. Many seniors are very well off financially. Should Bill Gates get a discount when he becomes a senior citizen..should Warren Buffet?<BR><BR>Younger people are paying far more in Social Security taxes than most senior citizens ever did. They don't need more benefits at a private company's expense. <BR><BR>Senior discounts no longer serve the purpose for which they were intended.<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Senior discounts popped up about 15 years ago as a way to coax more people into flying. Now that the airlines are trimming all the fat from their budget and looking for ways to make more $$ , senior discounts were eliminated. Bottom line. I don't think this is the answer to their problems. CEO's are way overpaid--and their huge bonuses are ridiculous. I think Airlines need to cut back on perks they give their own employees--buddy passes for example. Competely mis-used. I know a FA who paid for her divorce with buddy passes. Limit the amount of free trips their own employees can take a year and limit to their own family--not their parents/ brotehrs/ sisters etc. This is where the airlines are losing money.

Calli, you have no idea what you're talking about. Most buddy passes are usually "stand by" passes...the user can't bump a revenue passenger. The airline's sole liability here is extra fuel used to haul the extra 200 or so pounds of person/luggage and maybe a Coke here and there.<BR><BR>The airlines are losing money because of screwed up revenue models which won't work anymore because biz travelers aren't paying the big bucks. You'll soon see higher leisure fares and lower walk-up fares.

Fathertime is correct. Many seniors are very well off financially. In fact, seniors are now the wealthiest segment of society so why should they get discounts? As Fathertime asked, should Bill Gates get a discount when he becomes a senior citizen..should Warren Buffet?<BR><BR>If Social Security was means-tested, so that only needy seniors received Social Security payments, then it would be reasonable for airlines to offer senior discounts to those seniors who are Social Security recipients, but not to other seniors who could easily pay full fare. <BR><BR>As Fathertime also said, younger working people are paying far more in Social Security taxes than most senior citizens ever did.

uh-uh---Buddy Passes are $50 with Continental. I don't know what airlines you are talking about that have free buddy passes (D3 is something totally different than a buddy pass with Continental). <BR><BR>But really---the perks the employees have is WAY too generous.I think we can both agree on that?

Senior discounts should be the least of your worries. Some airlines are on the verge of bankruptcy, and they may all fail if we have another domestic attack. The result could be government run airlines, which would come with a whole new set of problems.

Warning - terminal lack of logic nearby. Great discussion!

An FYI for all you seniors out there. Not all senior fares have been eliminated. Some airlines are still offering the discounts on certain routes. Others like Alaska and Southwest still offer them. One airline, I think in the midwest(not sure, I'm not in the midwest) lowered their senior age to 50.

I can see it now. Airline rep to customer: We have good news and bad news. The good news is that we've just lowered the senior age to 50. The bad news is that you now qualify!

Senior discounts are the REASON that seniors are well-off financially! I'd be well off financially TOO if I got ten or 15 percent off everything! <BR><BR>Besides, what does your financial status have to do with it? Should AAA members who are rich not be entitled to the 10 percent off at hotels??????

A lot of seniors may seem "well-off" now, but 65 and 75 year olds have a good chance of living to 85 or 95 these days. How well off will they be in 15 years with our economy the way that it is. <BR><BR>They deserve a break and I for one am going to email the airlines and tell them that they are stingy and mean to take away senior citizen discounts!!!

Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. Give the "discounts" to those paying social security taxes, and yes this includes some of my favorite senior citizens, the ones who keep their chins up and are still productive members of society.

Having sold airline tickets 8 hours a day I can tell you that seniors do not get the discounts you think they do. Often times the regular discounted prices are cheaper than senior rates.Also, if you have one adult and one senior,the adult fare can go up just because one is getting a "discount". You rarely see child fares available on domestic flights as well. The only time you will notice the best discounts for child/senior fares are international flights. Airlines are looking to eliminate anything they possibly can that won't make a huge impact on their desirability so they can save some money. Eliminating (and charging extra) for Paper tickets,cutting in-flight meals,eliminating discounts...The only thing I hope for these days is that the concept of customer service will come back. The more they elminate,the more they have to welcome you to get you to choose them over another airline. The only things I really care about are safety,relative comfort and polite service.

Where do you all of you live that all the Seniors you know are very well off? The normal ones I know are barely making it on a fixed income due to having to purchase supplemental health insurance and medications. If a Senior does have any savings account or savings in general, it supplements their Social Security benefits which are not much

It isn't just the "discount" that has been discontinued but the senior coupon books have also been. That was REALLY nice.

No one is saying that all seniors are rich...but many of them are quite comfortable.<BR><BR>The discussion should center on whether or not an age based discount should be the responsibility of the airlnes.<BR><BR>Hotels, airlines and others may offer senior discount at their discretion as part of a marketing plan. However, just like a store that has a sale, there should be no mandate to make them offer a discount.<BR><BR>The government acknowledges this by taxing Social Security Benefits for people beyond a modest income limit. I don't see the federal government eliminating the income tax on Social Security benefits.<BR>

i live in canada and they still have senior airline discounts here.

Thanks for all the senior bashing! Lets things get tough in the USA, and watch the hyenas gather and begin attacking somebody. You people are not very stylish, you know. But do keep on, if it makes you happy. The fodorite imbecile contingent.