Cost of Senior (former Golden Age) Pass Is About to Skyrocket!

RonBoyd

RonBoyd

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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http://www.daysenddirectory.com/senior.pdf


If you or a family member or friend are age 62 or older and have not purchased your federal Senior Pass that gets you free entry into National Parks and other recreation sites, and 1/2 off on camping, you should consider doing so very soon, within the week.


The House of Representatives just passed HR4680 ttp://tinyurl.com/zo2hl6f that will, if the Senate passes it, change the $10 lifetime Senior Pass to cost the same as the annual America the Beautiful Pass, which is currently $80 for a year. The companion bill in the Senate is S2257 - http://tinyurl.com/h582fdb .
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Good catch, RonBoyd!

Even at 8X the current price, it's still a good deal.

Remember, it not only gets the pass holder in, but also everyone in their vehicle.
 
Dang, DH doesn't turn 62 until May. And all these perks going away!
 
Got mine a few months ago.
For anyone that wants to get a pass right now before the law changes: The pass is $10 in person or $20 by mail. The NPS has a page that shows every office in the US that sells them. In addition to selling them at National Park visitor centers, there are some other agencies that carry them. I got my pass at a US Forest Service administrative office that was in a convenient location.

Update: Here's the link to the locations page. https://store.usgs.gov/pass/PassIssuanceList.pdf
 
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audreyh1 said:
But you can't actually buy this until you our 62, right?

Texas state parks dropped the cheap senior lifetime pass a few years ago.

But it's still a lifetime pass? You just have to pay the existing annual fee $80 instead of $10?

Well - that's not nearly as bad. I thought it was going away completely. URGENT NEWS FOR SENIORS
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Yes, sadly, that is the case... must submit proof of age and citizenship. Such an amazing deal - if you qualify, that is :(
 
audreyh1 said:
Well - that's not nearly as bad. I thought it was going away completely.
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Baby steps. It will still be targeted until it is eliminated... Baby Boomers are such a drag on the economy.
 
RonBoyd said:
Baby steps. It will still be targeted until it is eliminated... Baby Boomers are such a drag on the economy.
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Well, so many 60+ baby boomers that we know are quite well off. I always thought some of the senior benefits were a little much. But I still hoped to get my turn.

As long as we can get a lifetime pass for a single fee, that will be quite nice.

With Texas State Parks they changed it so that you had to be born before Sept 1, 1930, to get the Senior lifetime pass with free admission. After that, Senior pass is good for half price admission rounded up to the nearest dollar. So. A $3 daily charge becomes $2. Well, for us, living next to a park, we would still pay for the pricey annual pass because DH visits so much.
 
It looks like you can get a one-year pass for $20 as a senior. That might be a good option for people who plan to visit a bunch in one year and none the next year or two, etc. We got the $10 deal this fall and have visited none of the covered sites yet on our own (a couple were included on a group bike tour that were prepaid), but hey, we could! :) I wonder how many people are like us. I know we wouldn't have paid $80 for a lifetime pass--not a lot of sites close to us, but maybe we would if there were.
 
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Bestwifeever said:
I know we wouldn't have paid $80--not a lot of sites close to us, but maybe would if there were.
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A couple of years ago, DW and I visited a park and we had another couple with us. Entrance fee was $8/person or $28/carful. Total cost for the 4 of us: $0

In the years since I bought my $10 pass (actually very soon after my 62nd birthday), I've saved at least a couple of hundred bucks that way. There are also sometimes discounts on things like camping fees, etc.

Also, the pass is not only good at national parks, but also most facilities that charge admission fees managed by:
 
Made me look: The "Geezer Pass" saved me over $1,300 in NP and COE camping fees over the past 8 years. Not a bad return on a $10 investment.
 
REWahoo said:
Made me look: The "Geezer Pass" saved me over $1,300 in NP and COE camping fees over the past 8 years. Not a bad return on a $10 investment.
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Which is the point Congress is making -- it isn't "your" saving, it is "their" loss.

(As we have learned in the past few months, perception is much more powerful than truth. Not a political statement.)
 
audreyh1 said:
Well, so many 60+ baby boomers that we know are quite well off..
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I am not quite well off, but I do have a lot of money left at the end of every month. But...I am the only one that I know that is 'quite well off'. All of my friends, family and acquaintances are watching their pennys. Most do not have their house paid off and are still paycheck to paycheck (retirement check).
 
Even if the one-time fee goes up to $80, I think the senior pass is still a very good deal.
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+1
 
Effective immediately, I'm not so sure about that..these things usually take time to put in place and I'm guessing maybe Jan 1 would be the quickest this is the government we're talking about.
 
Thanks. I'm going to look into this today. There is an office just 15 minutes away from me.

Edit: Just called local office and they still sell Sr passes for $10. Convenient location for me as the office is right by a walking trail I take my dog on. Glad to get this tip as I have been planning to buy one....just haven't looked into it.
 
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braumeister said:
A couple of years ago, DW and I visited a park and we had another couple with us. Entrance fee was $8/person or $28/carful. Total cost for the 4 of us: $0

In the years since I bought my $10 pass (actually very soon after my 62nd birthday), I've saved at least a couple of hundred bucks that way. There are also sometimes discounts on things like camping fees, etc.

Also, the pass is not only good at national parks, but also most facilities that charge admission fees managed by:
Click to expand...

Thanks--that is a helpful list. Not many sites near us (stupid Illinois). We keep our pass with our National Parks Passport, which we just got stamped with Hoover Dam (we were on a group tour from Las Vegas, so again, our senior pass wasn't used), which isn't a national park of course but still offers its own stamp. You have inspired me to get stamped more often in 2017 and to actually use that pass!

We went to a national prairie about an hour south of us to get our pass and had to make two trips as the only person authorized to sell the passes was not in the office that day. That made us wonder if the program is a PITA for the individual sites to administer.
 
I don't qualify for the senior rate on this national parks pass yet and pay the $80. I do get value from the pass as it can be used in place if the NW Forest pass required at most trailhead in WA state. That pass costs $40/year. So the combined use makes this a good value for me.
 
Thanks for this information. I recently joined the 'eligible' club for this pass so need to move quickly and get one.
 
I'm all for charges for admission to parks and for these types of passes to be adequate to fully fund superior maintenance and even expansion. Our parks are so wonderful and useful to us, I'm far beyond the "I'm for it if someone else pays" and well into the "I'll pay my share without hesitation" stage.

We're long time users of the ten buck pass but also give generously to the National Park Foundation. Our National Parks are a good place to loosen up on the FIRE frugality for just a moment!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Park_Foundation
 
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I have been waiting since I was a kid to get me one of these, thanks for reminding me. I just ordered it on line!
 
This thread reminds me of a post by redduck in another thread, except that this current thread is not about jokes.



image001.jpg
 
Yes, there are definitely seniors who are not well off, and traditionally discounts were available, I assume, because these folks were no longer working and on a "fixed income" (which is no longer fixed). But I always find the blanket senior discounts rather ironic as the wealthiest group by age in the US is the 65-74 group, followed by the 55-64 group according to a Federal Reserve report that covers 2010-2013. And the 74+ group is still better off than all the groups below 54. This article charts the age distribution by age and links to the more comprehensive Fed report which covers multiple topics.Wealth Is Distributed Extremely Unevenly Within Every Age Group | Demos
 
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