Airlines
These days, the world’s airlines offer almost no status discounts. Although U.S. airlines once offered a variety of senior deals—some really attractive—today’s seniors are left out in the cold. Youth, too: Whether you’re 8, 18, or 80, you want a seat, you pay the full price. The only widely available senior discount I know is the AARP senior discount program on British Airways round-trips: $65 off economy fares, $200 off business class.Rail
In the U.S., Amtrak may be the status-discount champ. It offers 10 percent discounts to seniors 65 or over, disabled travelers, members of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, active military, and veterans. Most require advance purchase up to three days; most exclude sleeper services, business class, and many do not apply to promotional fares. Senior discounts up to 50 percent are currently available on some Downeaster runs, and seniors get 15 percent on some intra-California trains, but any-age promotional fares are sometimes better. One child, 2 to 12, accompanied by an adult, gets 50 percent off. You don’t have to suss out the details; enter your data and Amtrak’s website does the math.Brightline doesn’t have any senior details, but has run promotions for kids.
VIA Rail Canada offers 10 percent discounts to seniors 60 or over, through membership in the Canadian Automobile Association. But any-age weekly “discount Tuesday” promotions are often better bets.
Most European railways do not offer discounts on individual tickets, but they do have status deals:
Eurail Passes are available at discounted rates for youth 12 to 27 and seniors age 60 or over, in both first and second class; kids 4 to 11 travel free with accompanying adults. Single-country passes for Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Norway, Scandinavia, and the UK offer similar options; the German pass is not discounted for seniors.
Some individual countries also sell annual railcards giving discounts on all or most trains for status groups. Examples include UK Railcards that typically give one-third off any ticket and cost 30 euros (about $37) per year for youth 16 to 17, youth 16 to 25, young adults 30 to 36, seniors, and family groups; French Rail sells annual discount cards at 49 euro (about 53) for youth and seniors; other countries make similar deals.