Maybe they are ashamed of their age. Or be unaware of the numerous discount programs for seniors. Or just thinking about something else.
All are reasons why seniors may not ask for or receive the discounts they qualify for at countless retailers. After all, a Walgreens cashier can’t be expected to automatically deduct the 20 percent senior discount the chain offers on certain Tuesdays. And many shoppers (especially those in their early 50s, for whom there are fewer deals) aren’t in the habit of asking if a discount is an option.
But for coupon clippers of a certain age who have nothing against technology, the world can easily become a less expensive place. Websites like Senior List and Retired Brains publish and update compendiums of companies that offer breaks to clients who have reached milestone birthdays.
The Senior List, for example, lists dozens of restaurants where seniors can qualify for discounts of 10 percent or more, including major chains such as Applebee’s, Ben & Jerry’s, Burger King and Chili’s.
Retired Brains offers more discount categories, such as clothing, travel, groceries, and entertainment. Who knew baby boomers and others over 62 could get 10 percent off clothing at Banana Republic and 5 percent off at Greyhound? Or that turning 55 qualifies buyers to receive a 10 percent discount on Best Western hotels and Midas car services? (Discounts and offers may vary by individual store or franchise.)
Apps have also started making it easier to search for deals based on age. The Senior Discounts app available in the Apple App Store ($1.99) allows users to enter their year of birth to display offers they qualify for: up to 30 percent off AMC Theaters for ages 60 and up, and a 10 percent discount on purchases at Goodwill on certain days of the week for those 55 and older. Boston Market offers a discount to those over 60 years old.
A rival app, Senior Savings, 99 cents on the App Store, displays lists of companies offering discounts, scrollable alphabetically or by age. Turning 55, for example, will get you a discount at Piggly Wiggly once a week, while turning 65 reduces the suggested admission fee at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The nonprofit advocacy group AARP, whose cardholders over 50 are eligible for a variety of member-only discounts, has its own free app that alerts members to places where they can save money, including 30 per percent off at Budget Rent a Car. or the up to 60 percent discount they are eligible for on eye exams at LensCrafters.
But it’s a newer app on the senior discount scene, Sciddy, that may be the most ambitious yet. For $7.99 on the App Store or Google Play, find discounts for people 50 and older, and they don’t even have to remember which store offers what. Sciddy uses GPS technology to alert its users when they enter a business that will offer them a discount.
Happily ever after is beside the point.
The goal, said Steve Mitchener, who developed Sciddy as a website in 2011 and turned it into an app last year, is to eliminate the “out of sight, out of mind” nature of senior discounts.
Although there is significant overlap between all the senior discount lists (Sciddy also includes Ben & Jerry’s and Banana Republic and others already mentioned here), the difference is the automatic reminder.
For example, “if you go to Applebee’s, they’ll say, ‘Hey, don’t forget to ask for your senior discount,'” Mitchener said. Phones that are not on silent get a ka-ching! notification in addition to a visual signal.
Mitchener, who is 59 and lives in St. Louis, said he chose the name Sciddy because it is catchy, but that some of his clients have made up their own acronyms. “The best one so far is ‘Instant Daily Senior Discount,'” he said.
