Seniors

Senior travel is like any other travel. You just have to be old enough to qualify. Actually, you don’t have to be all of that old. At some places you are a senior citizen at 50 years old. At 65 you qualify everywhere. One common senior travel challenge is being single. The tour businesses and cruise businesses are based on the model of serving couples. Senior travel as a single can increase your cost by 50 to 100 percent. The simple solution, according to the tour operators and cruise lines, is to pair singles together in rooms. If you are willing to share a room with a stranger, your problem is solved. If not, you need to search for a travel partner. Try your relatives, friends, co-workers, or members of your club, church, alumni association or whatever. There are some membership organizations that can pair you with another traveler, who is not necessarily a senior travel partner. You pay a small fee to join. Then you submit a personal profile listing places you would like to go. Among these organizations are Travel Chums, Travel Acquaintance and Connecting Solo Travel Network. They have handy websites. If you prefer your senior travel alone, you bear a serious cost burden. Although they are few, some agencies feature tours and cruises with low single supplements or no single supplements, such as O Solo Mio Tours. You might want to take your senior travel with some senior groups. The various groups specialize in different things. For adventure travel you can try 50plus Expeditions. Those are active, off-the-beaten-path trips. Or try ElderTrav or ElderTreks. ElderHostel features educational travel for seniors in all 50 of the United States and over 90 other countries. PoshNosh is especially for senior women, as is Journey Woman. Walking the World helps you in doing exactly that. Believe me, it’s different than seeing a country through the window of a tour bus. For something really different, consider joining Over 50 and Overseas. That is a group of volunteers doing good deeds throughout the world. They are working, not vacationing, and loving it. If you have the time and commitment, you can consider it as a senior travel alternative. For cheap airline tickets I recommend this book by a former employee of an airline. If your senior travel includes common painkiller drugs, such as Vicodin, Codeine, Oxycontin or Percocet, take a photocopy of your prescription. It also is wise to take a note from your doctor. These can help you as you go through security and customs inspections. Several large United States cities offer senior transit discounts for bus and light rail transit. You usually must be 65 or older to qualify. You might get a one-ride discount or even multi-ride senior passes. In some place you get to ride for free. Alas, some cities limit their senior discounts to local residents. In Europe railpasses are available for senior travel. The passes usually require first class travel and are for a rather limited period. You also can get senior discount cards, which may prove to be cheaper if your rail trips are frequent or over an extended time period.