Preferential air tickets for pensioners

After the termination of labor activity by age, a person is entitled to a well-deserved rest. However, the material security of the majority of pensioners in Russia is so low that elderly people live practically beyond the poverty line, let alone travel or air travel. At the same time, pensioners and some other categories of citizens can get benefits for air travel.

The essence of the offer of air carriers

To help low-income groups, airlines such as Yamal, Aeroflot, Russia, Ikar, and Sibir now offer cheap air tickets for pensioners. This is an opportunity to purchase travel documents for a plane with good discounts.

All data on the benefits of the airline are posted on official websites. The cost is reduced, as a rule, by 10-30% of the original price. When making a purchase, the client must put a note about his social status and buy a ticket already at a discount. Before buying a travel document, it is necessary to study all the terms of the reduced rate offer on the airline's website. In the process of registration at the airport, a pensioner's certificate must be presented, which is the basis for obtaining a discount.

Federal preferential program

The government preferential program, which is funded by the government, extends to residents of the Far Eastern region and pensioners. The essence of the state program is that air tickets for the Far East, pensioners are provided with a significant discount on the flight to megacities or the region. The discount is 50% of the initial ticket price. Given the high prices for flights from this region, many residents positively assessed these benefits from the state and actively use discounts.

The only disadvantage of the state preferential program is to limit flights over the season. Preferential air tickets for pensioners are available only in the summer.

Opportunities of certain categories of persons

Separate conditions are given to disabled pensioners of the first and second group, who received a referral for treatment in one of the sanatoria of the Russian Federation. The state reimburses the full fare to the place of sanatorium treatment and back. Working pensioners with a disability of the third group, as well as accompanying citizens receive a discount of half the cost of the trip. Benefit can be used only once a year.

To get information about discounts and purchase a ticket, you must personally contact the office of the airline. The ticket is purchased by the client at full cost, and afterwards the Social Security Center compensates the recipient for the cost of the trip. In order to receive compensation, you must present a certificate of invalidity.

Additions to the general rules

Today, the market operates a lot of airlines that offer customers to reduce the cost of the flight by reducing the available comfort. Cheap flights are performed by low-costers (other name - discounters or low-cost airlines). When buying such tickets, the discount can reach up to 30% of the initial cost. Reduced prices apply both to flights abroad and to domestic flights. In the list of flights that are performed by low-costers, you can find travel to international resorts, to European capitals and cultural centers.

Budget airlines, as already mentioned, reduce the cost of the flight by reducing passenger comfort. So, you can list the following disadvantages of cheap flights:

• The price of the ticket does not include luggage, sometimes carry only hand luggage or small bags;
• During the flight the passenger is deprived of good service by the company; Dinners in loukosterov, as a rule, are not provided;
• Cheap air ticket can not be handed over or exchanged for another date.

Conditions for obtaining discounts on air tickets

Get reliable information about whether the pensioner has the opportunity to take advantage of benefits from the state when planning flights, you can on the official websites of airlines and government programs. To date, lists of regions have been compiled, whose elderly residents can take advantage of these benefits.

Thus, benefits for pensioners on air tickets are valid for men after 60 years and for women after 55. Also, disabled people of the first group, disabled children of the second group, invalids of the third group and people who accompany them can take advantage of this opportunity. At the same time, a person applying for a preferential flight must be registered in one of the following regions:

• Transbaikalia;
• Far North;
• Kaliningrad region;
• The Far Eastern region.

Since the state pays for the cost of the flight from the budget, the flights are limited. As a rule, flights between subsidized regions, to Moscow, and also to St. Petersburg are permissible. Discounts apply from 1 April to 31 October.

The procedure for buying cheap air tickets

To have time to buy a ticket at a reduced price, you need to make a reservation and purchase for a week, two or even three weeks before the planned flight, since the offer is limited to quotas. Air tickets for pensioners at reduced prices are sold in limited quantities, and their number is usually not more than 8-10% of the total number of available seats for the flight.

Valid during the purchase and the rule of the day off - this is a discount that appears if you include the date of your stay in another city or country the night from Saturday to Sunday. It is important to consider that the cost of international flights to Russian benefits to retirees do not apply.

In some airlines, you can purchase a ticket at a reduced rate if you plan to stay for a long time (more than a month) at the destination. Buying an air ticket in both directions, you can save about 35% of the original cost. But the ticket with an open date for all carriers is more expensive.

If there are no preferential tariffs for the required dates, then it is worth checking the discounts of other airlines, possibly changing the departure date. Buying a discount ticket, you also need to make sure that this is the final price, which includes all taxes and fees.

Cheap flights have another inconvenient property - this is a significant loss on return. To prevent financial losses, you must plan your flight in advance. Also cheap tickets are not reserved for long periods of time. The maximum booking period is usually not more than 72 hours.

If connecting flights are planned during the flight, it is necessary to specify the time of landing and departure, so that the minimum period of time is enough for a transplant.

The maximum cost of a flight on benefits

At the moment, for each flight the ticket price is limited and depends on the length of the air route. With long flights, the price can not exceed 12 thousand rubles, for short distances - not more than 4,5 thousand rubles. For example, a round-trip flight from Kaliningrad to St. Petersburg or the capital will cost about 3 thousand rubles. Discount for the purchase of a travel document can reach up to 50%.

For veterans of the Second World War and other special categories of citizens, there are discounts of 50% on flights. In addition, once a year you can take advantage of the right to a free flight to the place of treatment and vice versa, if there is no way to reach the place of treatment by other means of transport. Preferential air tickets for pensioners are offered in limited quantities. Book or buy them long before the trip.

Additional discounts from carriers

During the purchase of tickets it is necessary to check with the airline about the availability of additional discounts for pensioners for the air ticket. Very often carriers conduct promotions in order to attract passengers. Shares can be relevant for a particular route or in a certain period. To purchase a ticket is cheaper, you will need to agree with the existing restrictions, which can be as follows:

• Absence of luggage (except hand luggage);
• Lack of power in the plane ;
• Lack of possibility to change the purchased ticket for another date;
• In case of refunding a ticket to the client, the airline returns its incomplete cost.

The most profitable offers for veterans of the Great Patriotic War are in force in May. The action allows to perform free flights in any direction, leaving in the same amount the prices with benefits for air tickets to pensioners. The year 2017 remains the same in terms of ticket prices as the previous ones.