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Post by oxfordsimon on Sept 19, 2017 21:07:13 GMT
I am doing a quick bit of research to see which of your local theatres regularly offer discounts to the over 60s.
One of my local venues is stopping them completely shortly and I wondered how common this sort of discount still is and whether stopping them is a trend I haven't noticed as I am still more than a decade away from needing them.
Will be very interested to see if there is a pattern.
Thanks
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Post by showgirl on Sept 20, 2017 4:44:56 GMT
A subject close to my heart! Not sure my "local" theatres would interest many others here (nearest are probably Guildford, Brighton, both Richmond venues and Kingston, all of which currently do offer concessions) but I notice that some give 60 as the qualifying age and some 65, neither of which makes sense, as state pension age is currently way beyond both. On the other hand, I wouldn't want the age ceiling to be raised any further, let alone for concessions to be abolished.
So far as Guildford is concerned, the Yvonne Arnaud's core audience appears to consist of seniors so the theatre would be seriously stuffed, or have to change its business model and programming, without this silver income stream.
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Post by Jan on Sept 20, 2017 6:02:25 GMT
A subject close to my heart! Not sure my "local" theatres would interest many others here (nearest are probably Guildford, Brighton, both Richmond venues and Kingston, all of which currently do offer concessions) but I notice that some give 60 as the qualifying age and some 65, neither of which makes sense, as state pension age is currently way beyond both. On the other hand, I wouldn't want the age ceiling to be raised any further, let alone for concessions to be abolished. So far as Guildford is concerned, the Yvonne Arnaud's core audience appears to consist of seniors so the theatre would be seriously stuffed, or have to change its business model and programming, without this silver income stream. The pension age is not relevant to the age these are offered - offering them at 60 (when you get free daytime travel in London also actually) is no different to offering under-25 discounts. I would guess the main point in offering them is to try to fill seats that would otherwise be empty - especially on mid-week matinees - and if they raised the limit to the state pension age those seats might remain empty. I have some years to go too but maybe old Marty can comment from personal experience. |
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Post by martin1965 on Sept 20, 2017 6:06:59 GMT
A subject close to my heart! Not sure my "local" theatres would interest many others here (nearest are probably Guildford, Brighton, both Richmond venues and Kingston, all of which currently do offer concessions) but I notice that some give 60 as the qualifying age and some 65, neither of which makes sense, as state pension age is currently way beyond both. On the other hand, I wouldn't want the age ceiling to be raised any further, let alone for concessions to be abolished. So far as Guildford is concerned, the Yvonne Arnaud's core audience appears to consist of seniors so the theatre would be seriously stuffed, or have to change its business model and programming, without this silver income stream. The pension age is not relevant to the age these are offered - offering them at 60 (when you get free daytime travel in London also actually) is no different to offering under-25 discounts. I would guess the main point in offering them is to try to fill seats that would otherwise be empty - especially on mid-week matinees - and if they raised the limit to the state pension age those seats might remain empty. I have some years to go too but maybe old Marty can comment from personal experience. You are the senior on this board Dr Hook so we all await your experiences with over 60s discounts! I still have many years to go ta v much. |
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Post by Jan on Sept 20, 2017 6:26:07 GMT
The pension age is not relevant to the age these are offered - offering them at 60 (when you get free daytime travel in London also actually) is no different to offering under-25 discounts. I would guess the main point in offering them is to try to fill seats that would otherwise be empty - especially on mid-week matinees - and if they raised the limit to the state pension age those seats might remain empty. I have some years to go too but maybe old Marty can comment from personal experience. You are the senior on this board Dr Hook so we all await your experiences with over 60s discounts! I still have many years to go ta v much. Senior in terms of status, reputation and experience but not in terms of age I think. Of my local venues Finborough offer them (60) and the vast majority of the audience qualifies, The Print Room does too but as far as I recall they just call it "Concession" and you have to decide yourself what that means and self-identify (not sure). It is possible the Bush offers them but of course as it is a new play venue I've never been inside the place. |
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Post by showgirl on Sept 20, 2017 8:40:56 GMT
Free daytime travel in London for the over 60's? I SO wish! This is one of the most galling inequities for seniors as it depends where you live. Apparently there is something known colloquially as a "Boris Card" for some lucky people, which plugs the gap, but have the misfortune to travel widely in the London area but live slightly further out and you don't even get a bus pass until (the current) state pension age. By the time I reach what would have been the qualifying age I fully expect the goalposts to have been moved again or the concession abolished on cost grounds.
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Post by anita on Sept 20, 2017 10:04:52 GMT
Usually the over 60s concession is only on the dearest tickets so rather useless for me.
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Post by fossil on Sept 20, 2017 15:23:34 GMT
Free daytime travel in London for the over 60's? I SO wish! This is one of the most galling inequities for seniors as it depends where you live. Apparently there is something known colloquially as a "Boris Card" for some lucky people, which plugs the gap, but have the misfortune to travel widely in the London area but live slightly further out and you don't even get a bus pass until (the current) state pension age. By the time I reach what would have been the qualifying age I fully expect the goalposts to have been moved again or the concession abolished on cost grounds. I live 1 mile outside London and also just miss out on the free train/tube travel (although I do have a bus pass!). One tip is to get a senior railcard. You can get this added onto an Oyster card at any TFL/Rail station in the Oyster area which will give 1/3 off Oyster tube and rail fares. Effectively this means you pay no more than just under 2/3rd of the travelcard fare as the Oyster max fare is 'capped' after 9.30am. About £8 or a little more if you are in zone 9.
With the railcard you can also get some remarkably cheap fares for your theatre trips, e.g. London to Stratford-Upon-Avon for £3.65 each way at the weekend. I have also found that with this concession and less expensive tickets it can be cheaper to see some touring productions outside London than it would be paying London theatre prices. As a bonus I have found the theatres can be much nicer as well.
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Post by lynette on Sept 20, 2017 15:49:45 GMT
Not just daytime. Free travel 24/7. It is the interim reward we Londoners get, that is between the exhaustion of work full time and dying from pollution or worse.
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Post by showgirl on Sept 20, 2017 16:09:11 GMT
Yes, of course I've always had railcards from my student days onwards & actually at £70, a 3-year senior rail card is a great saving on 3 annual ones. But the disadvantage for non-London seniors remains considerable when it comes to concessionary travel.
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Post by cartoonman on Apr 20, 2024 14:25:45 GMT
The Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama both offer over 60s discounts on the already very reasonable tickets. Their shows are very good and their theatres are modern and with good acoustics.
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Post by jek on Apr 20, 2024 18:30:24 GMT
I have been, since last July, the happy owner of an Oyster 60+ pass. It is an absolute bargain in that you pay a small amount (£10 a year I think it is) to verify that you live in a London borough and then travel on the London transport system is free Mon-Thursday after 9 am and on Fri-Sunday all day. It was free all day every day until Covid, the prohibition on morning commutes was brought in to encourage social distancing. Until very recently there was a Friday prohibition before 9 am but that has currently changed as the mayor is trialling a three day weekend off peak fares system. The reason it is only available to people who live in London boroughs is that we pay what is called the Mayor's GLA precept - money collected as part of our council tax which goes directly to the Mayor/GLA instead of the local authority. It depends on your council tax band but it is in excess of £400 per year.
As I have mentioned in another context I recently found out about the National midweek matinee discounts for over 60s. Well worth looking at if you fit the right category.
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 20, 2024 19:39:33 GMT
The Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama both offer over 60s discounts on the already very reasonable tickets. Their shows are very good and their theatres are modern and with good acoustics. Major props to you cartoonman for digging up this thread! Thank you! |
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Post by bordeaux on Apr 21, 2024 17:04:33 GMT
The Bath Theatre Royal, hilariously, offers £1.00 off for over 60s, the same ludicrously stingy discount it offers students, under-16s and the unwaged!
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Post by Jan on Apr 21, 2024 20:16:07 GMT
The Old Vic over 60 discount for midweek matinees is very good, more than 50%. Many theatres don’t offer any discount for 60+ whilst offering them for 30- for some reason. Some set the limit at 65.
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Post by Jan on Apr 21, 2024 20:23:42 GMT
I have been, since last July, the happy owner of an Oyster 60+ pass. It is an absolute bargain in that you pay a small amount (£10 a year I think it is) to verify that you live in a London borough and then travel on the London transport system is free Mon-Thursday after 9 am and on Fri-Sunday all day. It was free all day every day until Covid, the prohibition on morning commutes was brought in to encourage social distancing. Until very recently there was a Friday prohibition before 9 am but that has currently changed as the mayor is trialling a three day weekend off peak fares system. The reason it is only available to people who live in London boroughs is that we pay what is called the Mayor's GLA precept - money collected as part of our council tax which goes directly to the Mayor/GLA instead of the local authority. It depends on your council tax band but it is in excess of £400 per year. As I have mentioned in another context I recently found out about the National midweek matinee discounts for over 60s. Well worth looking at if you fit the right category. The 60+ Oyster is nothing to do with the GLA precept, it is funded by TfL. When it is replaced by the Freedom Pass at 65 that is funded by the boroughs. I’m not sure what the Mayor/GLA precept is used for, it must be something very costly as he’s increased it by about 10% a year for the last many years whereas the borough’s part has been capped at 3%. |
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Post by sfsusan on Apr 21, 2024 22:16:09 GMT
Many theatres don’t offer any discount for 60+ whilst offering them for 30- for some reason Presumably they're trying to bring a new audience into the theater... one that will still be buying tickets in 10, 20, 30 years. |
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Post by jek on Apr 22, 2024 8:07:12 GMT
Thanks Jan. I clearly misunderstood the GLA budgeting pages that I read. |
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