Baby Boomers and Senior Discounts

As we creep up in age, there is at least one good thing to look forward to -- some places give discounts to senior citizens.  For example, the play series we go to gives about a 15% discount to people over 62.  (Which seems somewhat backward in this case, as easily 3/4 of their audience looks to be over 60, so it might be in their better interest to give discounts to those under, say, 40. But don't tell them I said this.)

We've just come back from a ski trip to Alta, Utah, and I'm coming to the conclusion that the age for senior discount ski lift tickets is a moving target that is going to move upward faster than we baby boomers can become eligible.  It used to be that there were quite a few ski areas that offered free lift tickets, at least on week days, to those over 65 (I suspect on the assumption that the number of 65+ skiers was so small that this was great PR and of very little cost).  Well, now that 65 is the new 45 (or whatever it is this year), either the senior discount has shrunk to about 10-15% of the adult ticket cost, or the free or very low cost tickets have moved to age 70, or in one area I looked up, to age 82.  At this rate, I'm never going to get low enough rates to fulfill my dream of becoming a superannuated ski bum.

At Alta, while the discount on the day rate was about $10, you can get a senior season ticket for $40 if you are over 70.  And I must have ridden up on the lifts with about 5-6 people who retired to the Salt Lake area (Alta is less than an hour from downtown Salt Lake), and who ski Alta regularly.  It costs them little more than gas to head up to the area for 2-3 hours on a day with new snow (which is most winter days in that part of the world).  Not that I'm thinking of moving to Salt Lake, but what are the odds that this deal will be available when I am 70?  I am not holding my breath.