Accessibility &Senior Travel Frank Harris | 05 Jun 2010
20 Holiday Travel Tips for Seniors
Over the years of traveling during my “later years,” I’ve gathered travel experience and come up with some useful travel tips for seniors like myself. Here are 20 travel tips for those going on a senior vacation, hoping that I provide you some good travel advice:
1) Best time to travel. If you are looking for cheap all inclusive resort bargains, or flights to Europe or cruises for seniors at bargain prices, you’ll find that prices are cheaper in the off-season or the shoulder season. Hotel, flight prices are down at this time because tourism is usually down in the destination country you are traveling to. Also, you may find if the country you are traveling to is a hot country – the weather will be more bearable, humidity included. Avoid traveling in the summer because this is usually the high season and you’ll avoid the thousands of tourists, the long lineups at galleries, exhibitions and even restaurants. Hotel prices also come down for off season travel.
2) Check the temperature and the weather before you book at your local travel agency. That’s easy enough to do if you have mastered searching on the internet.
3) Pack lightly. First of all pack your suitcase with everything you think you’ll need for your vacation. Then, go through your suitcase and take out things you don’t think you will really need. A medium sized suitcase on wheels and one carry on bag is all you’ll need. Try to get a carry on bag that will fit on top of your suitcase as you roll it along behind you. Less to carry, check in and keeps tabs on.
4) Buy travel health insurance before you go. Health insurance for seniors may be a bit more pricey, but there’s a chance you might need it. Best to be protected and prepared before taking your vacation.
5) Confirm your flight on the day of or the day before you travel.
6) Bring along all of your medications along with you on vacation and keep your medication in its original container. This will ease your passage through customs. Also, keep your medications in your carry-on luggage, just in case your suitcase is lost or misdirected by the airline. It does happen.
7) When planning your senior vacation, don’t try to do too much in a short period of time. I have often found that a week is enough time for a resort package. Even visiting a city, say a city in Europe, you need at least two days in each city. Staying for a week in one city in Europe is the ideal amount of time to get to know the city and you’ll find there is so much to see and do in just one European city. Senior cruises are wonderful because, like resorts, you can do as much or as little as you want to do. No point going on vacation, rushing around and coming home exhausted. That’s not the goal of a vacation.
8) If you are planning to rent a car in a foreign country, check if the car rental company has age restrictions. Some countries in Europe will not rent cars to senior citizens over the age of 69 or 70 or 80 in most countries or else they will charge extra.
9) Bring along your reading glasses and an extra pair and maybe even a magnifying glass to read the small print on menus, travel guide books and maps.
10) Bring along extra batteries for your hearing aid and your camera. Batteries in foreign countries can be expensive and sometimes hard to find.
11) Doing laundry and dry cleaning while traveling can get a little expensive. Here’s a little tip for cutting down the costs while on vacation. Wash your undies in the shower while you are showering. Either use soap or shampoo to wash them, hang them up and they should be dry by morning time. I do this all the time. I bring three pairs of undies. One is clean and one is drying and the other is on reserve.
12) Research your travel destination on the internet. I’m assuming that you know how to use the internet by now and if you don’t, get someone to teach you how to do research using Google or Yahoo. This is a great way to find out about your travel destination, book online flights, hotels and vacations. Learn how to book online and you could find some fantastic travel and hotel deals. The internet is also a great way to keep in touch with family and friends using email or chatlines. I’ve found that booking at the actual hotel site is cheaper than booking through a hotel reservation site. Hotels have to pay commissions to these site so they offer people who directly book through their own site – a discount.
13) If you use a walker, a cane or even a wheelchair, make sure that the hotel you are staying at is accessible and has an elevator. Many small hotels in Europe have only stairs and this will make your holiday very tiring. However, the good news for senior travelers is that more and more cities and hotels around the world are becoming accessible to everyone. Accessible travel is important. When the largest demographic for the next ten to 15 years is the baby boomer generation, tourism is going to have to cater to these people or else they will lose out in tourist dollars.
14) If you are flying a long distance, make sure that you get up and move around in the airplane to keep the blood circulating in your legs. Drink lots of water to keep your body hydrated. Drinking lots of alcohol on an airplane is NOT recommended because you’ll feel dehydrated and if jet lag is involved, alcohol only makes it worse.
15) For cheap accommodations, try booking at a hostel. Some hostels offer private rooms and are actually quite pleasant to stay in.
16) Always check the location of the hotel that you book. Staying at a hotel which is near an airport or a train station may leave you with quite a distance to travel to the tourist sites you want to see. This will mean expensive taxi fares for you.
17) In certain countries, as far as taking a taxi is concerned, bargain for a pre-established price for your taxi ride. Always agree to a price before you get in the taxi. Check if the city you are visiting has private or national taxis and take the cheaper taxi. I’ve been ripped off before with taxi drivers. Be careful.
18) If you plan to stay for a longer period of time in a vacation destination, look into renting an apartment abroad. This can work out to a price savings for you – cheaper than a hotel and you will get to experience more of the local life, do a little grocery shopping and cook your own meals.
19) One of the best things to do in any city you travel to is to take a bus tour. Half day tours and full day bus tours with a lunch included is a great way get acquainted with a city and see all of the major tourist sites. This is one of the cheapest ways to experience a new place.
20) Being a senior citizen has its benefits. Many bargains are available such as museum entrance fees, railway travel, and even airlines offer discount travel to seniors.
I hope this helps all the seniors I know that are going on a vacation. There is nothing that should hold you back from doing what you want to do, going where you want to go on a vacation. Another piece of advice – watch out for tourist scams. I’ll soon be writing an article on tourist scams in the near future to help us avoid getting scammed while on your senior vacation. Nothing spoils a vacation more than getting ripped off.
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