Eye Care Information

George or anyone, do you know how much it cost for photochromic/transition lens? I am in disability. Not sure how much I am covered for. I really want 1.67 photochromic lens. I had an eye exam few months ago and ordered a pair of glasses from clearlycontacts, but they offer photochromic lens in 1.60.

I split this topic off from the Costco glasses thread because I wasn't sure that you were specifically asking about the costs at Costco or places in general.

I'm actually scheduled to have my annual eye exam at Costco later this week - my first time getting my eyes examined there. I'll check out the prices and options on the 1.67 photochromic lenses there.

Looking at Zenni Optical's website (the cheapest I have found for regular lenses / frames - and you can read my review of Zenni here) it says that their 1.67 index lenses start at $34.95 and the photochromic lenses are $27. Unfortunately, when you combine things, they are not just added together. I went to do a pretend order on their site and under prescription and lens type options there were numerous choices that involve photochromic lenses. The one you are interested in is the 1.67 Transitions VI Photochromic single vision grey - which adds a whopping $169 to the cost!

If you just wanted to add photochromic to their standard single lens, it would only add $19. I am guessing the main reason for the huge increase in cost is because they use the name brand Transitions photochromic lenses on their higher index lenses.

Hopefully I'll remember to ask at Costco and I can let you know how much extra it would be there.

I went to Costco tonight and I'll post a full review in the Costco thread soon.

When I was pricing out my eyeglasses, which were standard polycarbonate single vision lenses, she said it would be an extra $35 for the Transitions lenses. I asked her how much it would cost for 1.67 high index lenses with Transitions and she said that the 1.67 high index lenses are $100 and with Transitions they would cost $160. If she quoted me the correct numbers, this would make Costco's prices even better than Zenni Optical for high index lenses with Transitions.

If you do pursue these lenses from somewhere, let me know where, how much you paid, and how pleased you are with the results.

I bought progressive Transitions at Costco just about 2 years ago, and even with their best Anti-Reflective, and very careful maintenance (water before wipe almost every time, either microfiber or super-old, soft hankerchief), after only a year or so, the AR began to wear off leaving serious blurry spots as if the lenses were scratched. I was very disappointed, to say the least - progressive Transitions with premium AR are not the cheapest lenses to buy. Unfortunately, altho I didn't focus on it last time, Costco does NOT sell Crizal Avance with Scotchgard. So when they sell their premium AR, it's NOT the best on the market.

I don't think Zenni sells Crizal Avance with Scotchgard either. I'm still looking for a discount seller (at least of the frames) who offers what seems to me to be best for my eyes. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm in New York City, but would buy online if I could find some good advice on measuring my face so that the lens, bridge, & temple sizes are correct, and also the Segment Height for the progressives. Thx for all the great posts so far.

Zenni is not listing any name brand anti-reflective coating and I'm sure that Crizal Avance is superior to what Zenni is using. Having said that, I'm happy with the lenses I got from Zenni, especially for the price. However, I have never had lenses with Crizal Avance to compare.

I did do a quick search and found a company that does sell Crizal Avance with Scotchgard at an excellent price - Eyeglass Lens Direct. They do not sell frames, though, so you would need to mail in an old set of frames (or a new pair if you wanted) and then they replace the lenses with high quality lenses of your choice. The price seems far better than what you would probably be charged from a local optometrist. I also haven't seen coatings such as Crizal Avance being sold from other discount online companies.

I'm thinking now instead of ordering a new pair of transition lenses from Zenni, I may instead get Transition lenses from Eyeglass Lens Direct and add on the Crizal Avance coating to have some really nice glasses. It looks like it would be $144 for CR39 plastic lenses with Transitions and Crizal Avance with Scotchgard. To me this seems like a great price since someone posted in another thread that they paid $159 just for the Crizal Avance treatment - the lenses were an additional $129! That didn't even include Transitions / Photochromic options.

I just posted a detailed review about Zenni's photochromic lenses. As for current prices at Zenni:

On the 1.57 mid-index single vision lens included in their basic price, the photochromic option is an extra $19.

Genuine Transitions IV:
1.50 index $69
1.61 index $139
1.67 index $169

Generic photochromic option on their 1.59 polycarbonate lens for $66 ($9 for polycarbonate + $57 for the photochromic option).