Boomer/Retiree/Senior Discounts

Baby boomers earn senior status. Discounts for being old—we're finally earning them. If you remember the 1970s, you remember phrases like Senior Citizen Discounts and the now-fabled airline passes for retired people. (A couple of airlines still have plans, and a few more offer selected routes or dates.) Aging retirees actually discussed whether they would admit to being old enough to qualify for discounts. Today's aging boomers don't debate the topic. We race toward the discounts.

My confirmed happy discount from AT&T. An iPhone upgrade brought to light the availability of discount on my monthly charge from AT&T by way of membership in AARP. It is an outstanding 20% discount. If you are not quite old enough for AARP membership (50), you can still find AT&T discounts with many employers. I discovered just this week that I was eligible for a 15% discount through my university employer. (Wish I had known that for the past year.) These discounts are not easily located. But if you know to ask about the FAN list at AT&T, you can start saving within a billing cycle or two.

Scant research on the web. Even the AARP web site is lacking in information. A few informational sites present general lists. And a few offer to help you find discounts in exchange for a membership fee. Probably the most easily found discount is the lifetime pass for the National Park System. (It's the best discount, too, at $10 for access to all parks. Must be purchased at a park by the person who is 62.) Restaurants and movie theaters are common discounters. Some retail stores give a break, especially on certain days. Sometimes I am asked to show my AARP card at hotels (same with AAA card), but otherwise I have yet to be asked for proof of age.

Finding discounts: Be observant and read the fine print. And ask. That means settling on what words you want to use. Senior discounts? Retired discounts? I'm pretty comfortable with "Do you offer AARP or any other retirement discounts?" I haven't said golden, mature, or senior yet. That doesn't mean I never will. One blunt friend says this to young workers, "What are you giving us old people today?"

Stores and services like to find ways to stimulate business and so it's logical for us to be asking for discounts. But I'm expecting some of the perks to go the way of airline discounts: it will be too costly to give all boomers a break. There will be too many of us.

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

And It's a Mirror, Too

iPhone thickness and other characteristics. iGot the iPhone on the day that (apparently) lots of phones became available in Texas. Since then I have checked out the advertising claims. My purpose today was to give you a visual of the thickness but I could not get a good shot. You see, the backside of my G3 is very reflective. That's why the image above is more about the ceiling of my house than the iPhone. I have some artist friends who will praise me for letting go of the purpose and capturing a great shot of the dome. (We live in a geodesic dome and those blue spots are a couple of skylights amid the ceiling spines. I have no idea why they are blue here.)

Still pretty thick. The phone is not as light as I expected it to be. Post-air and -touch (Apple's very thin computer and iPod), I imagined a thinner iPhone. So, I had to return to the Apple website to see why I thought that. Aha... the ad for the iPhone G3 is "Twice as fast. Half the price." I do believe I invented a different "half" statement in my pre-purchase dreaming.

But very fast: This phone delivers on Internet speed. I haven't checked the stats; I'm just reacting to first impression. But I don't think I'm wrong about this part of the advertising.

Half the price: The half price status refers to the smallest of the G3s. That's the one I bought. Added cost-savings can come in the form of a FAN discount on service if you are part of a group that has an arrangement with AT&T. My local AT&T store was able to confirm that AARP is on the fan list and they promised to apply it to my account just as soon as they can find someone within AT&T to confirm the discount percentage. I'm a tad frustrated that a communications company could not dig up that factoid during the course of a 45-minute phone set-up. (Check out your employment and memberships to see if there's a FAN option for you, too.)

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.