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Holiday Savings for Seniors

Take an off-peak break and save a packet!

Cruise your way to a bargain holiday

Book your 2009 holiday now... or grab a last minute bargain!
Use the internet to your advantage
Your guide to cruises
Don't forget to get the best insurance deal and holiday money
Use this comparison tool now to get the best insurance deal

Early bird savings and last minute bargains

Calling people of a certain age! For serious savings on your holiday you really need to either book months in advance or really, really last minute. Basically you can either snap up the early bird discounts before they creep up in price, or wait for the prices and grab an unsold place at the last minute.

BOOKING EARLY

Start looking now for a cheap getaway next year. One of the best things about being retired is that you can travel during off peak and make some really big savings.

Check with as many tour operators as you can to see what they have on offer for next year. Some have separate sections just for early bookings and others simply have a search box which you use by entering the dates you want to travel. Here are some that we had a look at to get you started:

Thomson Holidays has packages you can book for 2009 now with prices starting from £188 per person. Click here to see the whole selection.
Book a cruise early with Saga to save up to 45%. PLUS there is a discount of £25 per person (or £15 on cruise of 7 nights or less) when you book online. Click here to see what's available.
Expedia has lots of package holidays in both January 2009 and February 2009 for under £300 per person. Simply click on the 'Package Holiday' tab at the top of the homepage, select the month you want to leave then leave all the options as 'Any'. Then press search. Once you've done this a selection of offers will appear and you can filter these down by using the search box to the left again and choosing a budget that you can afford.

LAST MINUTE DEALS

One of the best things about being retired is that you are can take a holiday whenever you want and make the most of last minute holidays at great prices. School holidays and seasonal breaks are the most expensive time to travel so book a trip during the off-peak months. Prices drop further and further as departure dates approach, so the longer you can wait the better.

The downside to last minute booking is that you may have fairly limited choices and if you want the best deals you will need to be flexible about flight times, dates and destinations. It's usually best to book no more than two months before you want to go away.

Nearly all of the tour operators have separate sections for last minute bookings so take a look to see what mega bargains you can find:

Lastminute.com: You can opt for either a holiday package, flight only or hotel only. Go to the 'Holidays' tab to see offers for the next three months (at the bottom of the page).
Expedia: This is always worth a look. Go to the ''Flight and Hotel' section where you can select these last minute bargains.
Great Getaways: This also has a separate 'Latest Deals' section which you can find top left on the homepage.
Ebookers: Go to the 'Deals' section here to see what's on offer in their summer sale.
Saga: Click here for their latest deals on short breaks and special offers in Europe.

Use the internet to your advantage

Silver surfers can take advantage of being internet savvy and grab some online bargains with this four-step guide:

Step 1: Compare prices

Go to Travelsupermarket.com where you can compare flight, holiday deal and hotel prices. If you're planning to build your own holiday this site will really come in handy.

Another website to keep in mind is Travel.co.uk where you can even search without a destination. So if you're not sure where you want to go but have a set price in mind you can simply put in the departure date and see what's on offer.

Step 2: Get some help

These sites are full of reviews, guides and advice from other travellers and experts so try them for size:

Step 3: Look for internet-only offers

There may be well be internet exclusive offers. For example Saga has a small selection of holiday offers only for customers who buy online. Have a look at them here.

Step 4: Check lesser-known sites

You can actually bid for a holiday at an auction site like Late Deals.

It works in much the same way as eBay - you sign up, bid on a holiday and if yours is the highest bid when the auction closes you get it. You can get some fantastic deals (but remember to include the £20 booking fee per ticket to the prices).

Also, go to Gumtree and see if anyone is selling travel tickets and holidays on the cheap. They tend to be sold by people trying to shift tickets at the last minute so be prepared to be able to leave straight away. Click on the tickets tab (under 'Stuff for Sale') and sift through the posts to see what takes your fancy.

A quick guide to cruises

A cruise is a really luxurious way to travel and the perfect choice if you're looking for a relaxing, stress-free holiday.

If you're new to cruises it may be best to take a river/canal cruise or mini cruise first of all. River cruises are ultra peaceful and have lots of stops so you can take in the sights slowly and get plenty of time to explore all the places you visit.

Liner cruises are much more luxurious with entertainment and dining on the ship and plenty of opportunity to put on your best clothes and meet all the other passengers. However, there are fewer stop-offs so you will spend lots of time on board and have less time to visit the various destinations.

For guides to the Caribbean, Northern European and Mediterranean cruises, go to this section on the Telegraph website. Another useful website is Cruisemates.com which has some cruise reviews so if you're thinking about booking a cruise look at these for some extra help.

Saga is a good first port of call for cruises. They have two ships called the Saga Rose and the Saga Ruby and you can also buy a Spirit of Adventure cruise. Click here to see what is included in the price of a Saga Rose or Ruby cruise. Saga advise you to book as early as possible to save up to 45%. A set number of cabins are put aside for the discounted fare and then sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the 45% discount cabins have been sold the discount is reduced as other cabins are sold.
Ebookers also has a cruise section. They currently have a summer sale so click here to see the discounted cruises available.
P&O Ferries also do mini cruises from Hull, Portsmouth and Dover. Have a look at the information here.
You can also book a Thomson Cruise now. Have a look at their selection of Winter cruises here and their Summer 2009 cruises here.

Other providers to look at:

Other holiday options

Stay in the UK

There are plenty of stunning places to visit right here in the UK - read our full article on Cheap Holidays on your Doorstep to see our best buys. Take a National Express or Megabus coach to the destination of your choice. National Express has RouteSixty fares which are for anyone over the age of 60 and mean you can travel at half price on most journeys in England and Wales.

National Rail also has a Senior Railcard for the over 60s which costs £24 and entitles the holder to one third off rail fares for one year. You can buy this online here.

Take advantage of any discounts for the over 60s, for example both English Heritage and The National Trust give discounts for their annual and life membership.

Do a house swap

House swaps could mean a cheap or even free holiday. Check out sites like Holswop.com, Homeexchange.com and Digsville.com.

Find a travel partner

If you're travelling alone one great option is to join a singles travel group like Just You. Most travel groups consist of around 20-30 people from a range of ages so it can be a great way to meet other people. There are several websites out there dedicated to help people over 50 meet new people and find senior travel mates. At Overfiftiesfriends for example, you can quickly find people who have similar interests and holiday ideas as yourself.

Europe by train

Seat61 is a really helpful website for travel alternatives to flying. Lots of European routes offer senior fares for anyone over 60 - you do not need a special railcard just buy the reduced-fare ticket and carry proof of age with you when you travel (your passport is sufficient).

Get the best travel money and insurance

Change your money before you leave - never at the airport - try First Choice, Travelex and Marks & Spencer for great deals. Make sure you know which credit cards are best to take abroad too.

Travel insurance can be tricky when we reach a certain age as some companies refuse to cover people of a certain age, or with certain medical conditions. Here is some travel advice for the over 60s from Bupa.

Travel insurance with Marks & Spencer has no upper age limit on their single trip policies - except for people over 80 who are travelling to the USA, Canada and the Caribbean Islands. At the moment you can save 20% when you buy a policy online. Click here to find out more about the cover.
Help The Aged offers travel insurance with no upper-age limit and covers many pre-existing medical conditions that others would simply refuse to cover. Click here for more details.
Saga also offers travel insurance. They specialise in cover for people 50+ and most pre-existing medical conditions. Read the policy details and get a quote here.
Don't forget you can compare prices with this clever tool. Simply fill in a few basic details and the Insurance TravelWizard will tell you which policies best match your profile.
Now read our full article on travel insurance to find out more.

This is the second in a series of articles we're writing just for you silver surfers so click here for the first article on financial benefits for the over 60s and make sure you sign up for free to the newsletter here so you don't miss out on the next instalment!