Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, May 14, 2022

Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 14, 2022 

BEST SENIOR TRAVEL DISCOUNTS IN 2022 

Dear Savvy Senior:
What are some of the best travel discounts available to seniors? My husband and are about to retire and are 
interested in traveling more but live on a tight budget. Frugal Travelers 

Dear Frugal:

 There are literally hundreds of different travel-related discounts available to older travelers that can add 
up to save you hundreds of dollars on your next trip. To 
qualify, you’ll need to meet the age requirement, which 
varies by business. Some discounts may be available as 
soon as you turn 50, but most don’t kick in until you 
turn 55, 60, 62 or 65. Here’s a rundown of top travel 
discounts, along with some extra tips to help you save. 

Ways to SaveThe first thing to know is that most businesses don’t advertise 
them, but many give senior discounts just for the asking, so don’t be shy. 


You also need to be aware that when it comes to senior travel bargains, the “senior discount,” if available, 
may not always be the best deal. Hotels, resorts, airlines and cruise lines, for example, offer advanced bookings 
along with special deals and promotions from time to time that may be a lower rate than what the 
senior discount is. Before you book, always ask about the lowest possible rate and the best deal available. 

Another way you can save is to be flexible when you travel. Last minute travel deals can offer huge savings, 
as does traveling during off-season or off-peak times, and avoiding holidays. 

Club memberships can also garner you a wide variety of travel bargains. AARP, for example has dozens 
of travel discounts available on hotels, rental cars, cruises, vacation packages and more – see AARP.org/
benefits-discounts. The American Automobile Association (AAA.com) is another membership club that 
provides some great travel discounts to members at any age. 

Types of DiscountsHere are of some of the best senior travel discounts available in 2022. 

Airline: British Airways offers AARP members $65 off economy travel and $200 off business club travel. 
American, Delta and United also offer senior fares to passengers 65 and older in certain markets but are 
extremely limited. And JetBlue offers 5 percent discounts for retired military and veterans that are enrolled 
in Veterans Advantage. 

Train: Amtrak provides a 10 percent discount to travelers 65-plus, and a 10 percent discount to passengers 
over age 60 on cross-border services operated jointly by Amtrak and VIA Rail Canada. 

Rental Car: Avis and Budget provide AARP members up to 30 percent off at participating locations. Hertz 
offers up to 20 off to 50-plus travelers. And Thrifty and Sixt provides 5 percent off to those 50 and older. 

Hotels: Certain hotel chains offer discounted rates for seniors usually ranging between 10 and 15 percent 
off but may vary by location. Some popular hotels that offer these discounts include Best Western, Choice 
Hotels, Hyatt, IHG Hotels, Marriott, Omni Hotels & Resorts, Red Roof and Wyndham Hotels. 

Restaurants: Many restaurant chains offer senior discounts ranging from free drinks, to senior menus, to 
discounts off your total order, but they may only be available on certain days of the week or at certain locations. 
Some popular options include Applebee’s, Denny’s, IHOP, Chili’s, Perkins Restaurant & Bakery and 
McDonalds. 

Cruises: Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise lines offer discount rates to cruisers 55 and over on select 
cruises. And Grand European Travel offers AARP members up to $100 savings per person on river cruises. 
Call before booking to inquire. 

Entertainment and Attractions: Most museums, zoos, aquariums, movie theaters, public golf courses and 
even ski slopes provide reduced admission to seniors over 60 or 65. And for those 62 or older, one of the best 
deals available is the America the Beautiful Senior Pass ($20 for an annual senior pass, or $80 for a lifetime 
pass) which provides admittance to more than 2,000 national parks and recreation sites. 

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a 
contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy Senior” book. 


FAMILY MATTERS

 By Marc Garlett 

3 COMMON ESTATE PLANNING MISTAKES 
YOUR FAMILY CAN’T AFFORD TO MAKE 

Because estate planning involves intentionally thinking about and planning 
for frightening topics like death and disability, many people put it off 
or simply ignore it all together until it’s too late. Sadly, this unwillingness 
to face reality often creates serious hardship, expense, and trauma for the loved ones left behind. 
To complicate matters, the recent proliferation of online estate planning document services, such 
as LegalZoom®, Rocket Lawyer®, and Trustandwill.com, may have misled you into thinking that 
estate planning is a do-it-yourself (DIY) affair, which involves nothing more than filling out the 
right legal forms. However, proper estate planning entails far more than filling out legal forms. 
In fact, without a comprehensive, customized plan before you create your documents, you’ll likely 
miss the really important stuff. And the worst part is that won’t be discovered until it’s too late—
and the very people you were trying to protect get stuck cleaning up the mess you left them just to 
save a few bucks. 
You must avoid these three things: 

1. Leaving No Estate Plan at All
If you die without an estate plan, the court will decide who inherits your assets, and this can lead to 
all sorts of problems. Who is entitled to your property is determined by California’s intestate succession 
laws, which hinge largely upon whether you are married and if you have children. Spouses 
and children are given top priority, followed by your other closest living relatives. 

That means unmarried partners and close friends would get nothing. Moreover, dying without a 
plan could also cause your loved ones to get into an ugly court battle over your assets. Or if you become 
incapacitated, your loved ones could get into conflict around your medical care. Most people 
think this would never happen in their family, but the truth is it happens all the time, even when 
there’s no overt family strife or significant financial wealth involved. 

2. Thinking A Will Alone Is Enough
Lots of people believe a will is the only estate planning tool they need. While a will is a fundamental 
part of nearly every adult’s estate plan, using a will by itself comes with some serious limitations, 
including the following:

Wills require your family to go through the court process known as probate, which can not 
only be lengthy and expensive, it’s also completely open to the public and frequently creates ugly 
conflicts among your loved ones.

Wills don’t offer any protection if you become incapacitated by illness or injury and are unable to make your own medical, financial, and legal decisions.
Wills don’t cover jointly owned assets or those with beneficiary designations, such as life 

insurance policies and 401(k) plans.
Wills don’t provide any protection or guidance for when and how your heirs take control of 
their inheritance. 

Naming guardians for your minor children in your will can leave them vulnerable to being 
placed in the care of strangers.
Given these facts, if your estate plan consists of a will alone, you are missing out on many valuable 
safeguards for your assets, while also guaranteeing your family will have to go to court if you 
become incapacitated or when you die. Fortunately, all the above issues can be effectively managed 
using a trust. That said, as you’ll see below, trusts are by no means a panacea—these documents 
come with their own dangers, especially if you try to prepare one on your own. 

3. Creating A Trust & Not Properly Funding It
You may already know a trust can keep your family out of court, and you may think about going 
online to set up a trust or have a lawyer do it for you as a one-size-fits all solution. But the documents 
are only the first step. Without funding the trust once you set it up, it’s hardly worth the 
paper it’s written on.
An unfunded trust is a trust that exists, but that doesn’t hold any of your assets because you didn’t 
retitle them properly, or because you acquired new assets after creating your trust. This is all too 
common, and it leaves families with a big mess, even if a trust was created before death. 
Funding your trust properly is critically important, because if it’s not, the trust won’t work, and 
your family will have to go to court anyway. And when you acquire new assets after your trust is 
created, you must make sure those assets are properly funded into your trust as well.
These are just three common problems I see all too often. With that said, I encourage you to be 
uncommon. Get your estate planning handled the right way, for your peace of mind and for your 
family’s well-being.

 
Marc Garlett, Esq.
Cali Law Family Legacy Matterswww.caliLaw.com 
626.355.4000 

SENIOR HAPPENINGS 


HAPPY BIRTHDAY! …MAY Birthdays* 

Beth Copti, Marilyn Diaz, Anne Schryver, Jo Ann Williams, Paul Hagan, Lenore 
Crilly Joann Serrato-Chi, Harriett Lyle, Jean Coleman, Birgitta Gerlinger, Donna 
Mathieson, Luciana Rosenzweig, Linda Wochnik, Marian Woodford, Debbie 
Sheridan, Joanne Anthony, Carole Axline, Kika Downey, Shirley Hall, Annie 
Scalzo, Janet Ten Eyck, Jane Thomas, Ray Burley* To add your name to this 
distinguished list, please call the paper at 626.355.2737. YEAR of birth not required 

THE HART PARK HOUSE SENIOR CENTER IS OPEN!!!! 
SIERRA MADRE SENIOR CLUB Every Saturday from 11:30am-3:30 pm in the 
Hart Park House Senior Center. Join us as we celebrate birthdays, holidays and pay 
BINGO. Must be 50+ to join. For more information call Mark at 626-355-3951. 

DOMINOES TRAIN GAME Wednesday, 5/18 11:00 am— 12:30 pm Hart Park 
House The object of the game is for a player to play all the tiles from their hand onto 
one or more trains, emanating from a central hub or “station”. Call Lawren with questions 
that you may have. 

PAINT PALS 

Tuesday, 5/10 & 5/24, 10:30 am—Hart Park House If you enjoy painting, sketching, 
water color, or making some other form of artistic creation please join our new 
program, PAINT PALS!!! Bring a project that you are working on to the HPH and 
enjoy some quality art time with other artists looking to paint with a new pal. 

TEA AND TALK SENIOR BOOK CLUB Tuesday, 5/25— 9:00 am Staff has 
launched a new book club series, Tea and Talk, which meets twice a month to discuss 
the fun, suspense, intrigue, love and so much more that each selection will have in 
store! 

FIBER FRIENDS Tuesday, 5/17 —10:00 am If you enjoy knitting, crocheting, 
embroidery, needlepoint, bunka, huck, tatting or cross stitch then we have a group 
for you! Bring your current project, a nonalcoholic beverage, then sit and chat with 
likeminded fiber friends. We meet in the Hart Park House 

BINGO Monday 5/16 1:00 pm- 2:00 pm Come on down to enjoy this time with 
friends. We are trying a new spin on BINGO fun so please bring your good luck 
charms and BINGO markers! 

CHAIR YOGA Every Monday and Wednesday, 10-10:45 am Please join us for some 
gentle stretching, yoga, balance exercise and overall relaxation with Paul. Classes are 
ongoing and held in the Memorial Park Covered Pavilion or the Hart Park House.. 

HULA AND POLYNESIAN DANCE Every Friday, 10-10:45 am Bring a lei, your 
flower skirt or just your desire to dance! Hula in the Park is back and waiting for you 
to join in on all the fun! Memorial Park Pavilion. 
SENIOR CINEMA WEDNESDAY, 5/25 1:00 PM 
MERMAIDS 1hr 50min An unconventional single mother relocates 
with her two daughters to a small Massachusetts town in 1963, where a number 
of events and relationships both challenge and strengthen their familial 
bonds. 

SIERRA MADRE SENIOR CLUB 


Every Saturday from 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in the Hart Park House Senior 
Center. Join us as we celebrate birthdays, holidays and play BINGO. 

Must be 50+ to join. For more information call Mark at 626-355-3951 

OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder 

IT'S MY TONGUE AND I'LL WAG IT IF I WANT TO! 


Like everybody else, I have 

my share of trouble. It’s not 

that I want to get into trou


ble, but trouble always seems 
to be somewhere near where I am at the time. 
I regret that time when I was first introduced 
to trouble. 

Some trouble I can't prevent. It just happens, 
and no matter what I do, trouble is in the 
room. I don't think there's anything I can do 
about that, but I hope the trouble will not be 
that bad. 

I know some people in my family get into 
trouble on purpose. The grand goal of their 
life is to get into trouble on a variety of levels. 
Back in the day, when we had family reunions, 
this person, which will remain anonymous, 
did everything he possibly could to 
make trouble. 

Most of the family just ignored him and forgot 
what he was doing. He wanted to be remembered 
as the family troublemaker. Actually, he 
was remembered as the family Goofball. 

Another form of trouble is what people bring 
on intentionally. For some reason, they want 
to get into trouble, and get a lot of pleasure 
out of bullying. 

I could never understand this bullying mentality. 
What does anybody get from bullying 
somebody else? I remember in school, several 
guys got a lot of fun out of bullying other kids. 

That went on until Miss Ammon, the fifth-
grade teacher, showed up. She had her way of 
unbullifying anybody that crossed her path. 
If she caught you, you were in more trouble 
than you could handle. 

Also, there is the trouble I get in by making a 
mistake. I didn't mean to do it, but for some 
reason, I did it, and as everybody knows, 
there are always consequences. Usually, the 
consequences aren't worth the trouble. 

I've had experience in just about all levels of 
trouble in one form or another. The steps on 
the ladder of progress and growth are trouble. 
If you can handle trouble, you then are progressing 
in your maturity. 

As terrible as all of these things are, one 
source of trouble outweighs all others. It has 
taken me a long time to understand the dimensions 
of this kind of trouble. 

What I’m thinking about at this point is my 
“tongue.” 

This tongue of mine has been the most significant 
source of trouble and problems 
through out my life. As I get older, it seems 
to get worse. 

A preacher friend of mine would talk about 
one of the older women in his church, and 
he said, "I often wondered if this woman ever 
had an unexpressed thought in her life." 

I know what he means because I often wondered 
that about myself. 

I have not yet learned that because I'm thinking 
about something, I do not need to speak 
it. Thinking doesn't get me in trouble; speaking 
gets me into deep trouble. 

Sometimes when the Gracious Mistress of 
the Parsonage is speaking to me, I speak out 
loud without realizing it. Then comes the infamous, 
"What did you say?" 

Whenever I hear this, I know I'm in some 
kind of trouble. Either I didn't hear it right, or 
I did hear it right, and I responded. 

As a veteran husband, I should understand 
that she does not expect an answer whenever 
she asks a question. All she wants from her 
husband is a positive shaking of the head and 
a greasy smile. 

I know this, but sometimes I forget. If only 
I could train my tongue when to speak and 
when not to speak. There are times when that 
old tongue of mine will wag and wag, getting 
me into deep trouble. 

One morning right after breakfast, I was getting 
ready to leave when my wife said, “When 
will you be ready to do that job?” 

I looked at her quizzically and said, "What 
job?" 

She stared at me for a moment and then said, 
“You know. What we were talking about last 
night as we were watching TV.” 

I had no idea what she was talking about. I 
could remember watching TV the night before, 
but I had no idea what the conversation 
was about. 

“You don’t mean to tell me you’ve forgotten 
already?” 

Last night while watching TV, she talked 
about some projects she had in mind, and I 
wag my tongue in affirmative action. She assumed 
I knew what she was talking about and 
that I had agreed to that plan. 

If only my tongue had ears, I might not get 
into so much trouble. 

Now, I need my tongue to wag in a way to get 
me out of the trouble it got me into while it 
was wagging the night before. 

How many right wags does it take to correct 
one wrong wag? 

It would be wonderful if my tongue were attached 
somehow to my ears. Or maybe, better 
yet, to my brain. 

As I get older this seems to be more of a 
problem. 

In my dilemma, I thought of a verse of Scripture. 
"Even so the tongue is a little member, 
and boasteth great things. Behold, how great 
a matter a little fire kindleth!” (James 3:5). 

Once you say something, it is impossible to 
unsay it. My tongue has got me into more 
trouble than all the other things in my life. 
But there's one thing about my tongue that 
can compensate for this. I can use my tongue 
to praise the God who created me. 

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 
Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com