01/08/09, 00:30:21 UTC

  e-mail this article

Senior travelers will find little help on airline fares

thenewstribune.com

Airlines keep cutting back on their deals for senior travelers.

I’ve been reporting on this trend for several years, and I confirmed it again on two recent tests. These days, only a few senior travelers will find that their status provides any air travel benefits – instead, they should use the same tools as travelers of any age to find the best deals.
The AARP still promotes senior airfare deals, but as far as I can tell, few if any beat the best any-age prices you can find. The AARP touts that it offers “Web fares” that are a “great way to save money,” but notes later that those Web fares are the “same low fares you’ll often see listed” on the airline’s Web site for travelers of any age. So what benefit do you get in booking through the AARP? It’s hard to see.

The AARP does offer a few real discounts: 10 percent to 12 percent off regular fares on Mexicana, through next June, and a fall promotion of 10 percent discounts on “selected” SAS flights to Europe. Beyond those, I couldn’t find any deals that were better than any-age fares available through just about any major site, or directly from airlines. Given such promotions, looking at the AARP program isn’t a bad idea. For the most part, however, stick to the best any-age deals you can find from the lowest-prices sources.

The AARP still offers hotel discounts – pretty modest these days, and usually the same deals offered to AAA members and other organizations for travelers of any age. It also offers rental car discounts – again, often available through other sources – but at least the AARP’s deals offer an important ancillary benefit. Most rental car base rates provide limited liability insurance or none at all; with AARP rates, you get $10,000, $25,000 or $50,000 on rentals from Alamo, Budget, Enterprise, Hertz or National; and $25,000, $100,000, $300,000 from Avis. You also get caps on damage liability of $3,000 to $5,000 if you don’t buy expensive Collision Damage Waiver insurance.

For seniors who still belong to United’s Silver Wings Plus senior program – by now, that’s probably dwindled mainly to “lifetime” members – United recently posted its domestic zone fares for 2008. They apply to travel from Nov. 1, 2007, to Oct. 31, 2008. The biggest change is a modest (7 percent or so) increase over 2007 levels. For example, intrazone round-trip rates start at $204 for either the three-state Northwest zone or the four-state Southwest zone. Transcontinental round trips between the Northeast and Southwest are $500. And travel from the Southwest to Hawaii is $770. As before, those fares are limited to travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; add $40 round-trip for flights on other days. All require a 14-day advance purchase, and most require a Saturday night stay.

In earlier checks, I found those zone fares modestly attractive for seniors traveling to or from many smaller airports where fares are usually high, but even that advantage is disappearing. I often use trips from my home airport at Medford, Ore., as examples of high-fare routes (all prices round trips, without taxes added).

• To San Francisco, the new zone fare will be $278 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, $318 on other days. The lowest any-age fare on a United nonstop is $570, but United sells the trip via Portland (connecting flights, more than double the mileage) for $276.

• To Los Angeles, the new zone fare will be the same $278 to $318, but United sells the same trip to travelers of any age for $248. (Yes, that itinerary uses the same nonstops to San Francisco for Los Angeles connection than United sells, alone, for more than twice the price – go figure.)

• To Boston, the zone fare will be $475, compared with United’s any-age fares of $224 for a two-connection itinerary and $324 for one connection.

I found similar results on other, busier routes.

• Los Angeles-New York: Zone fare $500/$540; any-age fare, $258.

• San Francisco-Honolulu: Zone fare $770/$810; any-age fare $312.

United obviously wants to lose the few remaining Silver Wings Plus customers as quickly as it can. These new zone fares should help do the trick.

 Printable Version  | published Sep 24, 2007