Are old folks too rich to deserve a discount? Delta Air Lines thinks so. Same for two big Colorado ski resorts, a restaurant chain in Florida, and an increasing number of hotels, restaurants and movie houses around the country.

The Wall Street Journal, in a roundup of such cutbacks, reported that Delta recently eliminated its senior club, which offered low prices for travelers 62 or older who paid an annual membership fee. Vail Resorts Inc. and Aspen Skiing Co. in Colorado dropped their policy of free lift tickets for 70-plus skiers last winter. In Florida, some restaurants in the R.J. Gator’s HomeTown Grill & Bar chain have abolished the early-bird special on winter weekends, a favorite of elderly visitors.

These merchants have a point. The discounts cost more and more as the old folks increase in numbers. One in five Americans is now 55 or older. As a class, they are known for having generous disposable incomes. Their children are grown and gone. Their mortgages often have been paid off. Some of them drive expensive new cars and take fancy ocean cruises.

But not all oldsters are so fortunate. Inflation has eaten into savings. Medical and dental bills mount, sometimes without benefit of health insurance. Private pensions often lack a COLA – cost-of-living adjustment – and thus dwindle in purchasing power. And, above all, the elderly never have had the benefit of the 401(k) saving plans, which often include employer contributions and, until recently, have grown steadily with a booming stock market.

So it is only fair that seniors should continue to get a discount here and there. They have earned it.