Senior Special Section: For the past three weeks, we have reviewed the various senior discounts offered by the major hotel chains. Visit our newsletter archives to read these newsletters, click here. This week we begin our annual review of airline discounts available to seniors. Read on for more information.

SeniorDiscounts News: SeniorDiscounts now has low cost vision, dental and other medical services. These services are now available to you. For more information, click here.

Over 5,200 business locations now offer exclusive discounts for members of the SeniorDiscounts Card. For more information on becoming a member of the SeniorDiscounts Card program, click here.

Senior Discounts Section: We highlight SeniorDiscounts Card Member discounts available on cruises, exercise equipment, restaurants and we include a hotel discount we missed in our recent review.

Challenge Section: SeniorDiscounts announces a new winner for the Add A Discount Challenge and Weekly Newsletter Challenge every week. Do you know what is the Largest Living Organism ever discovered? Find out below.

If you would like to tell others about
SeniorDiscounts and this Newsletter, click here.

Airline Discounts

While some airlines have dropped their senior discount programs, there are still quite a few that extend an extra discount to their older clientele. You just have to know where to look and how to ask for them.

In the age of the Internet and online ticket sales, airlines have become very competitive in their ticket pricing. This is probably the main reason that there are fewer senior discounts now than there were five years ago. This also means that the senior discount may not always be the best price available. While most airlines now guarantee that the best fare can be found on its web site, many still do not provide an online option for searching for the senior rate.

Start with some of the travel sites that enable you to search many of the airlines at the same time. This will provide a good price base from which to work from. Orbitz.com, Sidestep.com, Travelocity.com, or Cheapflights.com are some great sites to begin with. Search the dates and destination you wish to travel and find out what the best prices are and for which airlines. Be sure to check the time of the flights as well as the airport the flight originates and departs from. Long layovers, early or late flights and smaller airports may be the reason for the less expensive tickets.

Once you have established the airlines with the best rates and the times that work for you, compare the prices against those published on the airline's web site. As we said earlier, many airlines now claim that their lowest prices available can only be found on their web site. Now that you have done your research and established the lowest fare, call the airline and ask about its senior discount and its price. This will ensure you are receiving the best deal. Southwest, Continental, and United will allow you to search for the senior fare online.

Typically the senior discount will be the best rate when traveling at the last minute or during a busy time of the year. Some airlines may also have blackout dates for their senior fares, so check the web site or ask an agent for all of the restrictions. If you are not traveling alone, the senior fare can be a good choice as some airlines will extend the senior fare to a companion regardless of age.

Here other tips for finding the least expensive price. Most airlines will post their lowest fares Tuesday through Thursday, so it is best to search for pricing during these days. If you have some time before your trip, many airlines and other travel web sites have the ability to e-mail you when the price you would like for a particular trip becomes available. You can also try web sites like Priceline.com. If the day and time you leave and return are flexible, you can place a price bid for that trip. Be careful though, once you place the bid, you can not get a refund for the trip and you are stuck with the airline and times they provide to you.

Next week we will discuss the airline discounts in detail for the various carriers. Happy travels.

Do you know of a senior discount that we don't? Tell us and you could win: $100.
Click Here.

Body Basics helps people achieve their optimum health, fitness, and weight management by providing quality exercise equipment. This includes treadmills, exercise bikes, elliptical trainers, and weight equipment. SeniorDiscounts Card Members receive 50% off delivery and assembly of any exercise equipment with purchase. Can be shipped nationwide.

Add a Discount Challenge

Each week in this newsletter we announce a new winner in the Add A Discount Challenge. Let your fellow senior discounters know about any new discounts you find and keep those discounts coming.

We are looking for any and all NEW Senior Discounts. This means discounts that we don't already have on our web site. Ask at your favorite place of business and find out if it offers a senior discount. If it does, simply submit it on our web site. Click here.

You can also tell us about businesses you think would be interested in offering a senior discount. Provide us with the businesses' information and we will contact that business and invite it to offer a senior discount. The more discounts you enter, the better your chances of winning. Click here.

As always, we greatly appreciate your participation in adding value to our service.

Our winner this week, Jesse Jackson of Auburn Hills, MI will receive a one year SeniorDiscounts Card membership. Jesse, please e-mail us at: newsletter@seniordiscounts.com to claim your prize.

Weekly Internet Challenge

Answer the trivia question and you will be entered to WIN a complimentary SeniorDiscounts Card Membership with included SeniorDiscounts Guide Book.

This Week's Challenge:
What is the longest Suspension Bridge in the United States?

To answer: Click Here and tell us your answer to the Weekly Challenge. Good luck.

Last Week's Challenge Question:
What is the Largest Living Organism ever discovered?
Last Week's Challenge Answer:
We accepted a couple of answers:
1. The fungus Armillaria ostoyae, covers 2,200 acres in the Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon and is estimated to be 2,400 years old.
2. Pando, a clonal colony of a single male Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) tree located in the US state of Utah, all determined to be part of a single living organism and one massive underground root system. The plant is estimated to weigh collectively 6,000 tonnes (six million kilograms), placing it as the heaviest known organism in existence. The root system of Pando is estimated to be the oldest known living being in existence at 80,000 years of age.
3. In 2006 a huge sea plant (Posidonia oceanica), which at up to 100,000 years of age and 8 km may be the largest and oldest living thing on earth, was discovered to surround the island of Ibiza.

Our winner this week, Tom Watson of Fort Worth, TX will receive a one year SeniorDiscounts Card membership. Tom, please e-mail us at: newsletter@seniordiscounts.com to claim your prize.

Corrections Challenge

We can always use help keeping our database of discounts current and our web site free of errors. If you find a discount that is not correct, no longer valid, or an error on our web site, let us know and we will send you a gift. Just e-mail us at: mistakes@seniordiscounts.com with the mistake you have found and please include a correction if applicable. We appreciate your help.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you have a comment, quote, or joke for us, please E-mail us at: newsletter@seniordiscounts.com.

This newsletter provides information on senior discounts, and tips on how seniors can save money at no cost to our readers.

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