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National Parks Senior Pass
04-13-2011, 04:59 PM
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#1
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,343
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National Parks Senior Pass
Now that the winter weather is finally starting to disappear, I thought it would be timely to remind everyone about one of my very favorite things for old farts seniors.
When you reach your 62nd birthday, you can buy a $10 pass that gives you access to over 2,000 locations in the U.S. National Park system.
This is a lifetime pass (yes, the $10 is a one time fee) that never expires. it covers everyone in your vehicle as well.
America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass
Seriously, this is an amazing deal.
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I thought growing old would take longer.
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04-13-2011, 05:14 PM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,608
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Thanks for the reminder. I plan to get one when I arrive at the magic age in a few more years.
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04-13-2011, 05:29 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,183
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Just used mine this past week to camp at the Army Corp of Eng campground at Rend Lake, an Army Corp impoundment in southern Illinois. The Senior Pass gave us 50% off and it was a very nice facility.
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"I wasn't born blue blood. I was born blue-collar." John Wort Hannam
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04-13-2011, 05:35 PM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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As a youngster, I got charged $80 for an annual NP pass.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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04-13-2011, 05:47 PM
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#5
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,183
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NW-Bound
As a youngster, I got charged $80 for an annual NP pass.
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And they are still $80 today, regardless of your age!
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"I wasn't born blue blood. I was born blue-collar." John Wort Hannam
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04-13-2011, 05:56 PM
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#6
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 143
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Does anybody else think this is just plain wrong?
I'm a big fan of the National Parks and think my $80 annual pass is itself a killer deal. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen retirees drive up in their $500,000 RV and wave their $10 lifetime pass to get into the park. That just gets me riled up. Most seniors who visit the parks can easily afford the regular annual pass. The ones who can't are not visiting the parks anyway, as far as i can tell. In this time of crunched budgets isn't it time to get rid of this give away?
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04-13-2011, 06:36 PM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,327
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trirod
Does anybody else think this is just plain wrong?
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I don't have any problem with it either way. If we want to give a senior discount fine. If not that is fine. Trying to distinguish between the needy seniors and the not needy seniors is not worth bothering with.
The bottom line is taxpayers support the parks. We could make all of these resources self supporting by charging much higher user fees but then we would have to close them. There are not enough users to pay fo things like National Parks. Same goes for libraries and a host of other things I think are worth supporting.
__________________
Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
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04-14-2011, 12:47 AM
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#8
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,183
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trirod
Does anybody else think this is just plain wrong?
I'm a big fan of the National Parks and think my $80 annual pass is itself a killer deal. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen retirees drive up in their $500,000 RV and wave their $10 lifetime pass to get into the park. That just gets me riled up. Most seniors who visit the parks can easily afford the regular annual pass. The ones who can't are not visiting the parks anyway, as far as i can tell. In this time of crunched budgets isn't it time to get rid of this give away?
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No. I think the number of retirees arriving at fed parks in $500,000 RV's is pretty limited.
__________________
"I wasn't born blue blood. I was born blue-collar." John Wort Hannam
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04-14-2011, 01:54 AM
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#9
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Administrator
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: N. Yorkshire
Posts: 34,122
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Quote:
Originally Posted by donheff
I don't have any problem with it either way. If we want to give a senior discount fine. If not that is fine. Trying to distinguish between the needy seniors and the not needy seniors is not worth bothering with.
The bottom line is taxpayers support the parks. We could make all of these resources self supporting by charging much higher user fees but then we would have to close them. There are not enough users to pay fo things like National Parks. Same goes for libraries and a host of other things I think are worth supporting.
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+1
High income folks pay higher taxes regardless of whether or not they are seniors. I see no problem in giving seniors an incentive to visit National Parks more often.
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Retired in Jan, 2010 at 55, moved to England in May 2016
Enough private pension and SS income to cover all needs
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04-14-2011, 12:55 PM
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#10
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by trirod
Does anybody else think this is just plain wrong?
I'm a big fan of the National Parks and think my $80 annual pass is itself a killer deal. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen retirees drive up in their $500,000 RV and wave their $10 lifetime pass to get into the park. That just gets me riled up. Most seniors who visit the parks can easily afford the regular annual pass. The ones who can't are not visiting the parks anyway, as far as i can tell. In this time of crunched budgets isn't it time to get rid of this give away?
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No, I think this is just plain RIGHT. If someone works for 40-50 years, pays state, federal and FICA taxes and manages to save up enough to enjoy the fruits of their labor, I see no problem in giving them a small perk like this.
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04-14-2011, 01:41 PM
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#11
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Southeast USA
Posts: 548
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Within the past year we have used our Senior Pass at Acadia National Park in Maine and Big Bend National Park in Texas, among other national parks.
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04-14-2011, 01:52 PM
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#12
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Independence
Posts: 7,297
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Paid $15 to go through the Joshua Tree National Monument yesterday - pass is good for a week and I'm looking forward to getting the lifetime pass later this year. Well worth the money to go through the park yesterday and don't mind the waste of not waiting till later to see the park.
Coming down we stopped and helped a German tourist couple in a rented Mustang convertible - they had pulled off the road and buried the wheels in the sand. Good times - there was us, Oregon transplants; a Czech tourist couple; and a really effective local rock climber/hippy. The local boy dug a path with a garden trowel and wok (use the tools you've got), unearthed a good sized boulder from under the centerline, produced rope and hooked up his 4wd Toyota pu. We flattened some cardboard boxes and put them under the tires for floatation, offered up water and cheese, everybody pushed. Car came out without damage and nobody died, though the German driver had a real problem with revving the motor, leaving the car's emergency brake on, and starting the car while people were under it. Yoiks.
Dang I was proud of that young man. USA USA - I like it when I feel people from another country have met some good and representative Americans.
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04-14-2011, 03:37 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
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Quote:
Originally Posted by calmloki
Paid $15 to go through the Joshua Tree National Monument yesterday - pass is good for a week and I'm looking forward to getting the lifetime pass later this year..
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That was one of my favorite "escape from LA" places. Incredibly peaceful and calming. I believe it used to be free; or at least I do not remember paying.
Ha
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"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
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04-14-2011, 06:49 PM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Cooksburg,PA
Posts: 1,873
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Quote:
Originally Posted by haha
That was one of my favorite "escape from LA" places. Incredibly peaceful and calming. I believe it used to be free; or at least I do not remember paying.
Ha
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$15! Per person? It uesd to be free. I guess the 10 million people that live next door found out about it.
NP passes. Good stuff.
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Free to canoe
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04-14-2011, 07:19 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Independence
Posts: 7,297
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You two are oooold - maybe you are remembering when it used to be JT national monument - it's now JT National Park.
and it was $15/car yesterday and still a knockout place with all the open air you can handle.
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04-14-2011, 07:23 PM
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#16
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,224
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For those of us not yet eligible for the senior discount I highly recommend the "America the Beautiful" pass http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm. $80/yr and is good for the NP, NFS, BLM, F & W etc.
DD
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At 54% of FIRE target
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04-14-2011, 08:48 PM
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#17
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Desert SW
Posts: 358
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I will almost gauarntee that within a couple of years this deal with also be gone. It won't go unnoticed as they will look for ways to increase revenue everywhere they can - parks, taxes, you name it. I'm sure there will still be a discount, but not $10 for life.
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Retired in 2011 at 54
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04-14-2011, 10:12 PM
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#18
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Hooverville
Posts: 22,983
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Quote:
Originally Posted by calmloki
You two are oooold - maybe you are remembering when it used to be JT national monument - it's now JT National Park.
and it was $15/car yesterday and still a knockout place with all the open air you can handle.
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I am too old! Even worse, my woman friends are getting a bit old too!
And you are right, it was Joshua Tree National Monument.
Ha
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"As a general rule, the more dangerous or inappropriate a conversation, the more interesting it is."-Scott Adams
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04-15-2011, 06:01 AM
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#19
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 11,327
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Packman
I will almost gauarntee that within a couple of years this deal with also be gone. It won't go unnoticed as they will look for ways to increase revenue everywhere they can - parks, taxes, you name it. I'm sure there will still be a discount, but not $10 for life.
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I don't know. The $10 fee is down from $25 a few years ago. I think this is essentially viewed as free admission for seniors with a $10 registration and tracking fee. They probably get more from the concession fees than they would by trying to jack us up for admission fees. I suspect a lot of seniors would blow the Parks off if they chose to cancel their cards.
Edit: I doubt they would/could cancel existing cards - we have an implied or maybe actual contract for lifetime admission. If they cancelled it prospectively I don't know how many future seniors would even be aware of the change. But I still don't think it will get the axe. Not after the 2012 "stop-the-medicare-cutting-its-time-for-another-180-degree-backlash" election
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Idleness is fatal only to the mediocre -- Albert Camus
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04-15-2011, 11:58 AM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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Just saw this post by calmloki on another thread.
Quote:
Originally Posted by calmloki
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__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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