Pensioners Discount?

We were in Budapest last week and noticed the pensioners travel the metro system for free. In reading on the subject a little closer, it only essentially applied to those from the EU and the U.K. We had to purchase one week passes.

You might check online to see if there are any such residence limitations.

In Spain the age discounts apply by age at least in our experience. I can't recall if it is 62 or 65 but where they were listed they gave them to us and didn't restrict them to EU residents. This is not true in other European countries we have experienced.

It never hurts to ask. Every country seems to have its own rules and levels of strictness about enforcement. I'll go further on that last point and say that it often depends on the person selling the tickets. Case in point. We were entering a museum in Italy. The discount was supposed to be for EU citizens only. When the young lady selling the tickets asked if we were "seniors,". I told her we were, but were Americans. She responded that it was okay, She loves Americans, and gave us the discount.
As far as the age requirement, when we lived in London, in 1994/5, I believe it was 55. Other places it has been 62. Your passport provides proof.

... the UK is "in" the EU (for now at least) :)))

As per the question at hand... it all depends on "who foots the bill" -so to speak. If the discount is charged to the national or the city budget then, for obvious reasons, only EU citizens are included. If, however, is assumed by the site/museum, then it's up to them to decide. In short, as a general rule, public attraction = either city residents or EU citizens only; private attraction = market rules.

EU rules prohibit discrimination of EU citizens anywhere within the Union, therefore, if a discount is applied to nationals of the home country it also applies to any other citizen from another EU country. There are though some instances in which discounts can be restricted to city residents only -when they "foot the bill" in their city budget. A bit complicated, I know :)

Our experience is that "pensioners" discount is only available to EU residents with the exception of Spain where we found it to be available for anyone over 62 - just show the passport.

I found that in actual practice, it varied. My trip ended just before I turned 65, so when asked about my age I responded that I was retired but only 64 years and 9/10/11 months old. Sometimes I was given a discount and sometimes I wasn't. This is aside from the EU issue.

You can get seniors discounts in Germany, but it is usually 65. Occasionally it is 60 though. You certainly do not have to be an EU resident.

...And then there are places where they just look at you and offer the discount. Nice to save money, but not so nice to have old age asumed. Like the first time a teenager calls you "Ma'am"
Since we always carry passports, proving age is easy.

Looks like I may be discounted (funny, I don't feel old)! Thanks for all the responses! Rather than growing "old," I choose to remain immature!

In many, many years of travelling around Spain I have always received the Seniors discounts at museums, churches and other tourist sites. Simply ask, and have your passport available for proof of age.

We returned recently from having spent a month in Tenerife. One amusing event occurred when we took a day trip to Santa Cruz. While there went into a museum and without a bit of hesitation, or me asking, the young man at the desk rang in the senior's discount.

I said to my wife afterward "you know you are getting old when...."

LOL!... without asking, huh?

In Spain, there is a Tarjeta Dorado card for train ticket discount.

http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/tarifas/tarjeta_dorada.html