; Your Money Save a Buck
; Lowdown
On Senior Fares
Senior airfare discounts aren’t
extinct, but they certainly can
be hard to find. Each carrier
has its own rules, minimum
ages and restrictions. You may
have to phone to get the sav-
ings. Here’s a quick rundown:
; Southwest has discounts for
65-plus on all domestic routes.
; American, Continental and
United offer discounts on se-
lect routes for 65-plus.
; Delta discounts vary by age
and apply only to flights from
three Latin American nations.
; US Airways provides no se-
nior discounts. —Cathie Gandel
Busting your budget on eyeglasses? Consider buying your
next pair online. Web-based
opticians may offer substantial discounts over real-world
shops. And some sites let you
do virtual try-ons: You up-load a photo of yourself, and
the site simulates what you’d
look like in different frames.
You’ll need your prescription
and pupillary distance (PD)
from an exam, plus frame size
(check the inside of an old
pair). Online opticians include:
FramesDirect, JustEyewear
and WarbyParker. —Macy Freeman
; Glasses for Less
Need a sofa? Think twice about “rent-to-own” offers. Consumer Reports determined that after you make the required rental payments,
you can end up paying two to three times the purchase price. For instance, a washing machine and dryer retailing for $966 would cost
nearly $2,699 after 135 weekly payments. Miss a payment and you
could lose what you’ve invested. However hard it may
be, it’s better to save enough to buy the sofa.
—Joan Rattner Heilman
; ‘Rent Me ... and Pay More’
