Travel tips for the over 65´s should not differ much from travel tips for everyone else, but there are some points worth remembering before you hop on a train, plane or bus to make your travel experience more enjoyable:
1. Food on the plane
Budget airlines don´t normally include free food onboard, so if you think you may be peckish, eat before you travel or buy a takeaway sandwich from the airport to eat later. You can buy food onboard, but you will pay an arm and a leg for it.
2. Medicines and medication
If you need to take medicines and medication onboard the aircraft, check the airline rules and regulations regarding what you can and what you cannot take onboard. Every airline differs slightly, so check out the website or call the airline customer services before you leave the UK if you are unsure about this.
3. Travel Light
If you are only going on holiday for a weekend or even a week, travel light. If you only carry hand luggage (10kg is allowed on most budget airline flights), you can speed up the whole checking in procedure, and go straight to passport control if you are only carrying hand baggage.
4. Don´t carry too much cash
Don´t carry too much cash around with you. Either use traveller´s cheques or withdraw cash from an ATM machine at your destination. If you are carrying a lot of cash, put it in different places, and always keep it in the safe at your hotel.
5. Passports and paperwork
Always keep scans or photocopies of your passport and other travel documentation in a separate place to the originals. This way, if you are unfortunate enough to get them stolen, it will be much easier to replace them if you can show a copy of the originals.
6. Holiday insurance
Make sure you are covered by medical insurance for your trip from a regulated company in the UK. Use a company which specialises in holiday medical insurance for the over 50s, and you can have peace of mind on holiday.
7. Holiday car hire
If you plan to hire a car on holiday, pre-book it before you travel, to pick up at your destination airport, and you will pay less and stress less. Airport car hire can be booked online with companies who specialise in car rentals at the airport.
8. Mobile telephones and holidays abroad
Many UK telephone providers have now slashed roaming charges, so you should not have to pay anything to receive calls on your mobile while abroad. Such is the competition between mobile phone companies, it is well worth shopping around to get the best deal on a cheap mobile to use on holiday, with a low payment plan.
9. Drink bottled water
Always drink bottled water on holiday as opposed to the tap variety. Even if the locals think the water is fine to drink, they are used to it. You are advised to drink bottled water, even in Europe.
10. Organisation and relaxation
Organisation is the key to true relaxation on holiday. Start to make your holiday plans, including car hire arrangements, as soon as you have booked your flights and don´t leave everything until the last minute.
Adrian Vultur writes articles about over 65s travel insurance
