One of the best ways to find travel agents for seniors is to check with AARP. Membership is inexpensive, and you can call the organization's 800- line or check its online website for all kinds of information, including travel. AARP is an enormous organization with about 20 million senior members, and can provide service and suggestions for any travel schedule.

As for traditional bricks'n'mortar travel agencies, statistics show that with most, about 75% of their clients are seniors. Who else has the time and disposable income? Without senior business, and with the internet threatening to make them totally obsolete, any agency you contact today will do everything possible to serve you. But will they do the best job?

This couple, age 70 and 81, books travel almost exclusively through the internet. Most of the popular online travel agencies offer specials for seniors, and there are other companies and organizations that cater specifically to seniors. However, after 15 years of extensive travel throughout the world, we no longer use agencies at all, neither online or bricks'n'mortar.

Now that we have the knowledge and experience, we find it much more convenient, and often more economical, to call or check online directly to cruise lines, hotels, airlines and tour companies. In this era of inflated prices that keep getting more inflated, it pays to shop around and not depend on someone else to map out the entire itinerary of your upcoming travels.

There have even been occasions when we priced flights online, and then later checked the same schedule by phone directly to the airline, and we actually got a lower price. The same is true when shopping hotel and cruise line prices. The online agencies make a lot of noise about how they can slash hotel prices by half, but always remember that they must add on a 10% or more commission to every transaction.

If someone had asked me 15 years ago to recommend travel agents for seniors, I would have directed them to the friendly, neighborhood travel agency. Inside, they would have been met by a friendly agent and shown scads of colorful pamphlets while listening to a long sales pitch. Now, we just turn on the computer and have all the fun planning our trips all by ourselves.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Recommended travel agents for retirees and senior citizens?
We want to hear your view. Write now!