Senior Travel

1. Senior Travel Presented by: Jane Bonam And Colen Fencer

2. Senior Travel As Seniors, Retirees, near retirees, or Baby Boomers you have the advantage in today’s travel market. With the number of people retiring many travel agencies, tour companies, cruises, hotels, etc are catering to seniors. Many are coming up with “Senior Friendly” tours and cruises that specialize in senior travel. Senior travel does NOT mean you are old. Not by any means! You have hit the early stages of your travel time and now is the time to get out and enjoy your life….so don’t think just because you are retired or close to being retired that you will be bored – NOW IS THE TIME TO ENJOY YOUR LIFE AND SEE THE WORLD!

3. Senior Specialized Travel Before you pay thousands of dollars to somone, check around and review your options. The last thing you want to do is arrive for your tour and be disappointed with the bus or hotel accommodations. Also look for peer reviews on senior web sites that may host senior travel blogs or message boards! Ask your agent if they have experience doing senior travel or if they are certified in senior travel. Many are!

4. Travel Your Way Depending on certain factors, there are ideas on how you want to travel. If you want to spend more time at your destination, certainly the airplane is the best mode of transportation for senior citizen travel. Plan ahead and get the best fare rates possible. If you want to travel mostly for the scenic aspect, the automobile would be the choice. If there is a group (more than 3 or 4) traveling together, don't overlook the motor-home; if you don't own one, look into rentals. Yes, you can rent these! If you want to leave the driving up to others, go with a tour bus or a train. Most companies/agencies offer payment plans. So if your desire is to travel to Ireland in the future, call your agency and ask about payment plans. Most agencies will offer them. It will make your dream trip affordable and able to come true. Also, ask your agent if they have any groups you can get in on. Sometimes they will have a group going somewhere and will be more than happy to add you on to get the discounted rates.

5. Travel Club Travel clubs are a great way to get ideas and tips. They provide information on different destinations, tips to save money, when to travel and even form their own trips. Check to see if there is a travel club in your area, you may be surprised…..FYI there is one forming in the MOT area – see Jane after the slideshow.

6. Senior Tours If you are looking to go on a trip at a very reasonable price look into tours. The “tours” of today are a lot different. There are tours just for seniors that have a more relaxed pace. Tours go all over the world from the East Coast of the United States to just about anywhere in the world you can possibly image. If you belong to a group (Senior Club, Red Hatters, live in an Active Adult Community, Etc) check to see if anyone would be interested in going on a tour. Seniors get a discount and the price is much lower if you go in a group…..if you do go on a tour check to see what the Tour Organizer rate is – sometimes it is deeply discounted or if you have enough people who want to go it could be no charge for you! Senior discounts are often offered for even more discounts!

7. Senior Cruises If you have an opportunity to go on a senior cruise, or any cruise for that matter, TAKE IT! Check with your agency to see if there are any senior cruises or even themed cruises. Sometimes they will know of a theme cruise that is coming up. There are many different ones from lectures, Elvis, Jazz, Culinary, and many more. Seniors do get discounts on cruises so be sure to let your agent know that you are either a senior or an AARP member…..even on the World Cruises!

8. Motorcoach Travel When traveling by Motorcoach Tours most meals, tips, all sight-seeing admissions at planned stops, first-class hotels are included in the fare; all luggage handling is taken care of for you; very good tour directors are aboard. Best part is the driving is left up to someone else, and you can 'rubber-neck' at the beautiful and marvelous views all you want! If you've never experienced one of these senior travel tours, check with your local travel agent.

9. Train Tours Traveling by train is a very good and a very popular way to travel. You can travel on a tour just about anywhere in the world via train. There are trains that go up the coast to the New England area, wine tours in New York and California, across the Midwest, across Europe. Again, they offer group rates, senior discounts, and a very relaxing trip!

10. Travel Off-Season Remember when you were younger and took the kids on vacation? And how crowded places of interest were? You had to make reservations far in advance to get a motel room. You can enjoy a much slower pace of senior citizen travel and find it not hard to get reservation when traveling in the 'off-season'; that is, when kids are back in school! So try to plan your trips around this time of year; you'll find your trips more relaxing and easier to make plans.

11. Senior Travel Insurance Many healthcare organizations do not cover you when you travel abroad. Neither does Medicare. You will need special senior travel insurance. At www.insuremytrip.com you can compare 47 travel insurance plans from 13 companies. You can get similar information at www.quotetravelinsurance.com. Also, feel free to check out our own travel insurance site at Lifetips, or with your travel agent.

12. Travel Safely Senior citizen travel means being safe. The State Department publishes consular information sheets and travel warnings about crime, terrorist threats and traffic safety. Go to www.travel.state.gov/travel_warnings.html for this info. It is always better to be prepared before visiting a foreign country. One tip is that no matter where you travel, if it is outside of the USA, be sure to register with the US Embassy in the country you are visiting!

13. Questions? There are brochures and some DVD’s available with ideas Remember: ONE WORLD…ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES!