best prices for disposable contacts?

[kelleyrn2000]

DD9 is going in for her eye exam next month. This year insurance will give her a pair of glasses (we only get one pair covered every two years, so we pay out of pocket every other year). Now that she is involved in alot of sports (baseball, cheerleading, and swimming) she is asking to get contacts this year. This really suprised me, but I started wearing contacts at 12, so i think I'm ok with the idea.

Since I know our insurance doesn't cover contacts (that's why I ended up getting Lasik), I want to shop around to get the best price on daily disposables. DD won't likely wear contacts every day, but would like to have her get the daily ones for the days she chooses to wear them.

Does anyone have an online place that gives a nice discount?

 

[funcinderella]

I wear the weekly disposable, and for those at least, Visiondirect.com seems to always have the best prices. You can usually get at least a 15% off coupon code (type it in a search engine and bunches of coupons will come up.) I always get free shipping too (I think it was if I spent over $100, but that also varies). Additionally, they are usually members of rewards shopping websites, like Shopdiscover, or upromise if you have any of those. I go through Upromise, and I think the contribution is about 5%.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

Thanks!

Also, do you know how long the contacts are good for? Like, if I bought a 6 month supply but she didn't use them up in that period, would they be ok to wear after the 6 months or would they be "expired"?

 

[pamjb]

I just contacts for myself today from the eye dr. They don't expire till April 2015. So they are good for a loooooonggg time

 

[kelleyrn2000]

That's great that they will last a loooong time!!


So I called the eye dr today to find out about the contact lens fitting. They want to charge $65 for the fitting (in addition to her eye exam that insurance is paying for) plus another mandatory $25 for lens instruction none of which is covered by insurance.

Luckily I called Shopko, and they will do the lens fitting for around $35.00 as long as she has a current prescription. Love Shopko optical!!!

 

[LynnTH]

My DD9 got contacts this year. She had her fitting done at Pearle Vision and we bought her 1st box of contact there for $46. These have 3 pair on contacts in the box and each pair is good for a month.

I took her prescription over to Walmart and they have the same contacts for $19.99 a box. So, it definitely pays to shop around.

 

[Marionnette]

That's great that they will last a loooong time!!


So I called the eye dr today to find out about the contact lens fitting. They want to charge $65 for the fitting (in addition to her eye exam that insurance is paying for) plus another mandatory $25 for lens instruction none of which is covered by insurance.

Luckily I called Shopko, and they will do the lens fitting for around $35.00 as long as she has a current prescription. Love Shopko optical!!!

An eyeglass prescription isnt the same as a contact lens prescription. Would you go the cheapest pediatrician around just to save a few dollars? You would be better off going to the eye doctor and paying for the fitting and instructions. They should give your daughter a free trial pair to wear at home. And then they will have her return to the office a week or two later to see how she is making out. They may even adjust the prescription or change the lens type if she is having issues. If they do then they will give her another free trial pair to test drive. Once you get that all settled then you can go shop anywhere you want with the final script b/c all they will do is order what the doctor wrote for. Nine is pretty young to start wearing contacts but if she is motivated and mature for her age it can be done.

 

[HS3kids]

Hands down BJ's Wholesale Optical Department has been the least expensive. If you have a membership, try them!

I have insurance that gives a discount through our doctor, and also tried 1800contacts.com and neither of them were as low priced as BJ's. My teenagers contacts were under $17 a box -she needed 2 boxes for a 6 month supply. Mine are harder to get so they cost a bit more though. But they would anywhere, and still cheaper at BJ's.

 

[X and G's mom]

That's great that they will last a loooong time!!


So I called the eye dr today to find out about the contact lens fitting. They want to charge $65 for the fitting (in addition to her eye exam that insurance is paying for) plus another mandatory $25 for lens instruction none of which is covered by insurance.

Luckily I called Shopko, and they will do the lens fitting for around $35.00 as long as she has a current prescription. Love Shopko optical!!!

My DD started wearing contacts last year at 11. We went to Shopko for the contacts. Acuvue Oaysis was what we went with. They had a deal last year so ask when you go in. They had the best prices and I checked all over! I bought her a years worth and I think after the rebates it was well under $200

 

[piglet33]

I buy my contacts at Costco. They are definitely cheaper than other places.

 

[DebMcDonald]

The whole point of a lens fitting (and I pay $100) is to make sure the contacts you decide on are the ones that fit best. I've at times gone back three times to change contacts, so it can be money well spent.

I get my contacts at www.replacemycontacts.com.

 

[Jennifer in MI]

This is so timely! I just spent the morning at the eye doctor with my ds12. We are going in for his first fitting with the contact guy next Friday. Our insurance will not pay this year (they covered some of his glasses last year and they have to last 24 months). So, we'll pay $65 through them for the exam and fitting and education (education is a class, then you come in the day after your first fitting and take them out and put another pair in for the doctor, and then go back again in a week - not bad for $65!!). I'll probably buy his first contacts through them too. We're getting the kind you throw away every day, I think.

So, thank you SO much for this thread! I'll check it out after next Friday.

 

[mrodgers]

Throw away every day? 2 week contacts? 6 months worth? I have 2 week contacts and my doctor told me most people wear them for a month. I bought my 6 pair in January of 2009 and I'm wearing my last pair now.

Pearle Vision is the most expensive I've ever seen. My eye doctor is $80 without insurance for eye exam and $40 for contact exam (every year). Pearle Vision when I asked was $120 for the eye exam and another $120 for contact exam.

I have astigmatism, which the contacts are much more (Boush & Laum Toric66.) I get them through the eye doctor at $35/box (6 pair). I think 1800contacts was also $35/box. VisionDirect, which someone else mentioned, they are $25/box and cheaper the more you purchase.

Yes, different contacts fit differently. I wanted to try a different brand (Acuvue) that many folks at work are wearing. The doctor said he didn't like the way they were falling down in my eye. I didn't see or feel any difference until about an hour after I got home. They indeed were sliding down in my eye and laying in my lower eyelid. I ended up putting the old pair back in and ordered the ones I always get.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

I just found out that the Shopko optical is covered under Davis vision, so we can go there for the regular eye exam plus the contacts. I will still have to pay out of pocket the $35 contact fitting, but it will save me a trip to the other eye doctor, which is actually moving their office another 10 minutes further away. So I'm really excited to switch to Shopko. Their staff is always so nice to us. We have unlimited warranty on the glasses we get from there (the years that insurance doesn't cover) and no questions asked. We stop there at least once a month to have the glasses adjusted for dd, and they are so friendly. Just need to call and get her an appt now, then call to see if we can pick up her old records from the other doctor. Hopefully they won't charge to release records???

 

[monorailsilver]

I just bought daily throw aways last week from AC Lens. I used them because I had $5 off (wow wee!!) because I ordered from them last year so they keep sending me coupons.

I went thru the rewards site & got money back ($17) too.

I ordered them on Wednesday & I got them on Friday.

They were $38 per box of 90 & my eyes are 2 different prescriptions. I have been wearing them for 2 days in a row right now & then throwing them away. I might try 3 days once the fall allergens are history.

 

[dawson5]

Just filled both of my son's prescriptions last week. Went through vision direct, used a coupon code (I want to say it was new20 or something like that). I paid $203 for two one years supplies for each son. Eight boxes, two boxes each eye. I don't think I paid tax either. I know the eye doctor charged almost that amount for a one year supply for just me.