Want to find a mature date, but not keen on diving into the world of dating? Join the club! We've taken an in-depth look at the Senior Dates Club, to work out whether it is indeed the ultimate place to find an authentic date - and bring some fun back to your downtime!
Senior Dates Club doesn't need much explaining, but the name in itself tells me that this is something a little more premium than your average dating site. The concept of a club is everything I want from a matchmaking site - not a collective of lonely singles looking for a new partner, but a proactive, engaged and exciting bunch of folks - with a little flirting thrown into the mix! The site is primarily about mature dating, but it's more than that. Senior Dates Club is a social network, which is discrete and private to those members who take part. There are blogs, forums, galleries, videos - in fact, everything you need to reignite a spark into your social life, and perhaps find a date or two in the process.
One of the standout features is that the Senior Dates Club is inclusive. I was given the option of choosing either gender and then deciding who I would like to meet. Immediately, this offers advanced diversity from more generic sites, which assume that every single person over the age of 50 is straight!
Authentic, private mature dating, which recognises that senior people have a range of expectations and aspirations from their personal relationships. Dare I say it - mature dating has become as attractive as those fast-twitch dating apps, and a lot more genuine to boot!
“Real dating, for real people, as part of a real community. Mature dating, for modern day singles who have plenty of zest for life left to spend.”
On first impressions, the site is a piece of cake to use. The buttons are clear, the text is easy to read, the navigation makes immediate sense; so far, so good! As I explored the site, I found it more appealing, and you can see that a lot of thought has been put into the user experience to make the screens flow. To sign up, you need a name, email address and date of birth - and you're in! I like that you get asked to choose what type of partner you're looking for right off the bat. This recognises that no two people are created equal, and two mature singles might have a very different taste in romance. I chose 'adventurous' (because, why not!) but you can also select characteristics like funny, laid back, loyal and caring - whatever floats your boat.
In terms of security, you'll receive not just an activation email, but a verification code. If you've had much experience of dating sites and know how vulnerable they can be to spam users, this is welcome to see. Nobody wants to join and spend all day being spammed, and this extra security step makes sure that it is far less likely to happen.
A small glitch in functionality did crop up. When you join, you're automatically given a user name, based on your actual name. Mine happens to be double-barrelled, and the system threw a wobbly at having a hyphen and a full stop in the suggestion (even though it had generated the user name all by itself!). Otherwise, pretty easy to use - but always worth knowing that there are a few bugs in the works to contend with.
There are some high points to be made about Senior Dates Club - although it's slightly annoying not to have the six-month subscription option. Probably only because in my opinion that seems to be the golden membership period where you're either going to have met someone special or not!
In terms of subscription costs, these are relatively low when compared to a lot of other dating sites. Given the level of functionality, I'd say represent excellent value for money. If you do decide to upgrade, the additional VIP member benefits include:
While I'm always a little sceptical about premium subscriptions, Senior Dates Club offers a 30-day satisfaction guarantee which I can't argue with. If you aren't satisfied after 30-days of paid membership, you'll get another month free. That makes a lot of sense, and makes the short-term membership a lot more viable from a cost point of view!
In terms of membership, I was blown away by how many singles I found in my local area! With the larger websites being international, I've often been disappointed at finding relatively nobody nearby - but even in my small East Sussex town, a location search returned pages worth of results; all of which were authentic profiles with verified badges and real profiles.
The security here is outstanding, and for me, makes a strong selling point when I'm comparing dating sites. Particularly when I think about singles say 60+ who shoudln't be expected to be au fait with advanced spam tactics. I feel much more comfortable recommending a dating site with a robust level of encryptions and secure transactions. What's even better is that any billing is shown under a discrete name, so if you prefer to keep your date life private, you have full control.
Top marks for security, user experience and value for money. Sort out the username glitch, and Senior Dates Club would be in for an A+!
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