• Mortgages
    Compare Lenders
    • Mortgage rates
    • Refinance rates
    • Mortgage lender reviews
    Use Calculators
    • Mortgage calculator
    • How much house can you afford?
    • Mortgage refinance calculator
    • Mortgage payment calculator
    • Amortization calculator
    • All mortgage calculators
    Get Advice
    • Reverse mortgages
    • Home buying guide
    • Refinance your mortgage
    • First-time homebuyer tips
    • FHA loans
  • Banking
    Compare Accounts
    • CD rates
    • No Penalty CD
    • Savings accounts
    • Money market accounts
    • Checking accounts
    • Bank ratings
    Use Calculators
    • Savings calculator
    • CD calculator
    • Compound savings calculator
    • All banking calculators
    Get Advice
    • How to save money
    • Federal Reserve news
    • What is a money market account?
    • Which certificate of deposit account is best?
    • How to open a savings account
    • Credit union basics
    Bank Reviews
    • Capital One Bank
    • Marcus by Goldman Sachs
    • American Express National Bank
    • CIT Bank
    • Synchrony Bank
    • Barclays Bank
  • Credit Cards
    Compare by Category
    • Best Credit Cards of 2019
    • Rewards
    • Travel
    • Airline
    • Cash Back
    • No Annual Fee
    • Balance Transfer
    • 0% APR
    • Business
    • Student
    Compare by Credit Needed
    • Excellent Credit
    • Good Credit
    • Fair Credit
    • Bad Credit
    • No Credit History
    • Secured Credit Cards
    Compare by Issuer
    • American Express
    • Bank of America
    • Capital One
    • Chase
    • Citi
    • Discover
    • Wells Fargo
    Get Advice
    • Credit Card Reviews
    • Credit Card Payoff Calculator
    • Balance Transfer Calculator
    • All Credit Card Calculators
  • Loans
    Compare Lenders
    • Personal loan rates
    • Auto loan rates
    Loan Types
    • Personal loans
    • Auto loans
    • Debt consolidation loans
    • Home improvement loans
    • Student loans
    • Medical loans
    • Bad credit loans
    Use Calculators
    • Loan calculator
    • Auto loan calculator
    • Personal loan calculator
    • Auto refinance calculator
    • Loan payment calculator
    • Student loan calculator
    • All calculators
    Get Advice
    • Student loans guide
    • Refinancing student loans
    • Refinancing personal loans
    • Refinancing auto loans
    • How to get a personal loan
    • Personal loan origination fees
  • Investing
    Compare
    • IRA CD rates
    • Brokerage accounts
    • Brokerage reviews
    Use Calculators
    • Investment calculator
    • Annuity calculator
    • 401(K) calculator
    • Roth IRA calculator
    • All retirement calculators
    • All investing calculators
    Brokerage Reviews
    • WellsTrade Review
    • Robinhood Review
    • Merrill Edge Review
    • Vanguard Review
    • Fidelity Review
    • E*Trade Review
    Get Advice
    • Creating passive income
    • Mutual fund vs. ETF
    • Roth IRA vs. traditional IRA
    • What type of CD is best?
    • IRA basics
  • Home Equity
    Compare Lenders
    • Home equity loan rates
    Use Calculators
    • Should you borrow from Home Equity
    • HELOC Calculator
    • Debt consolidation calculator
    • HELOC payoff calculator
    • All home equity calculators
    Get Advice
    • What is a home equity loan?
    • HELOC vs. Home equity loan
    • Consolidate your debt using home equity
    • Home equity loans with bad credit
  • Personal Finance
    Compare
    • Current interest rates
    • Compare rates
    Use Calculators
    • Debt consolidation calculator
    • Net worth calculator
    • Personal finance calculators
    • Cost of living calculator
    • All calculators
    Get Advice
    • Retirement advice
    • Debt management
    • Improve your credit score
    • Career resources
    • Tax advice
    • Insurance basics
    • Real estate tips
    • Personal finance glossary
  • Free credit report
  • Sign In
  • Dashboard
  • Full Credit Report
  • Alerts
  • Settings
  • Support
  • Logout
Share

Travel deals for seniors on limited budgets

Marilyn Bowden
January 21, 2015  in  Retirement

1 of 7

Senior travel deals for retirees on a budget | Greg and Pat Mork, South Africa, Peace Corps
Travel deals for retirees on a budget

Greg and Pat Mork, South Africa, Peace Corps

The dream of spending your golden years traveling doesn’t have to be shelved because of a limited budget in retirement. A variety of employers, from the travel industry to the federal government, hire seniors for second careers in positions that make use of their life skills and professional experience — and at the same time afford opportunities for travel in the U.S. or abroad.

Seniors who do have traveling money set aside might expand that budget by signing on for a stint as a paying volunteer. A growing number of nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, recruit volunteers who pay a set fee to take part in ongoing programs abroad. The fees generally cover everything except transportation to the site, and compare favorably with the costs of hotel accommodations, food, travel insurance and entertainment for a more traditional vacation.

The Bankrate Daily

2 of 7

Senior travel deals: Take flight | Photos courtesy of JetBlue
Senior travel deals: Take flight

Photos courtesy of JetBlue

After 25 years with the Fire Department of the City of New York, Kevin Lynch found a second career that provides free travel for his whole family around the U.S. and the Caribbean.

He works for JetBlue as a flight attendant.

“JetBlue hires a lot of retired first responders,” Lynch says, “because we have worked in situations that other people haven’t seen, so we’re not going to panic. This is an easy job for us.”

Tamara Young, JetBlue’s manager of corporate communications, says nearly 200 of the airline’s 2,000-plus flight attendants have some sort of first-responder background.

Flight attendants and their immediate families have passes that allow them to fly free on standby on any of JetBlue’s flights, she says.

Lynch and his family vacationed in St. Maarten last year, and with a flexible schedule, he can arrange for a layover in Las Vegas or San Juan, Puerto Rico, he says.

Lynch works a schedule of 35 to 150 hours a month on flights he chooses.

“We bid for trips a month in advance and they’re given out by seniority,” he says. “After 13 years, I usually get the ones I want.”

3 of 7

Senior travel deals: Take a cruise | Photo credit: Cunard Line
Senior travel deals: Take a cruise

Photo credit: Cunard Line

Cruise lines such as Cunard hire older men to serve as dance and dinner companions for single older women.

“Cunard facilitates gentlemen hosts to sail aboard our ships to dance with the single ladies who travel with us,” says Jackie Chase, the cruise line’s manager of public relations. “Ballroom dancing to our live orchestras is a signature highlight on our ships, and there are always a few single ladies who sail who love to dance.”

Gentlemen hosts don’t earn a salary, she says, but their travel and board are paid for by Cunard in exchange for their services. Their stays on board vary, but typically they sign on for one or more voyages at a time.

If you are an expert in a field of general interest, Cunard might be interested in your services as a lecturer through a similar arrangement, Chase says — voyage and meals provided by the company.

“Our speakers change with every voyage,” she says, “so these are not long-term stays.”

4 of 7

Senior travel deals: Join the Peace Corps | Dana Messinger, Columbia, Peace Corps
Senior travel deals: Join the Peace Corps

Dana Messinger, Columbia, Peace Corps

Wish you’d joined the Peace Corps when you were younger? That door hasn’t closed. Seniors in good health are welcome, says spokeswoman Erin Durney.

“The Peace Corps’ goal of recruiting volunteers over the age of 50 is directed at expanding the age and experience diversity of Peace Corps volunteers, and the range of skills that this older group offers,” she says. “Currently, 8 percent of our volunteers serving overseas are over the age of 50. This is an all-time high for the agency.”

The traditional term of service is 27 months, Durney says. The Peace Corps covers the cost of transportation to and from the country of service and provides volunteers with stipends for food and incidentals based on the local cost of living. Upon completion of service, they also receive “readjustment allowances” of $7,425 pretax to help with the transition back to the states.

In addition, seasoned professionals in a particular field or Peace Corps veterans with technical skills could qualify for a special program called Peace Corps Response, which offers short-term placements lasting anywhere from three months to a year, Durney says. Just don’t expect to be sent to London, Rome or Paris.

5 of 7

Senior travel deals: Translators | Photo courtesy of International Visitor Leadership Program
Senior travel deals: Translators

Photo courtesy of International Visitor Leadership Program

If you’re fluent in another language, Uncle Sam may have some travel opportunities within the U.S. for you. The U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program hires people part time to guide trips for international visitors, says spokesman Nathan Arnold.

“We arrange for either English language liaisons or interpreters to travel with exchange program groups,” Arnold says.

“When we are hiring, there will be an option for applicants to check International Visitor Liaison on our site and fill out an application. That option is not available right now due to the large wait list. But we are always taking applications from those who are fluent — they will be tested — in another language that isn’t Spanish or French.”

All liaisons are private contractors who are paid a daily wage plus bonuses “for filing various reports,” says Arnold. Hotels, flights, meals and local travel are also covered.

6 of 7

Senior travel deals: Citizen scientists | Photo courtesy of Earthwatch Institute
Senior travel deals: Citizen scientists

Photo courtesy of Earthwatch Institute

Earthwatch Institute arranges expeditions for adults 18 or over who are looking for a travel experience involving active participation in ongoing environmental research. Earthwatch’s “citizen scientists” serve as assistants in scientific studies in four areas: wildlife and ecosystems, ocean health, climate change, and archaeology and culture, says expedition adviser Brittney Rose.

There’s no upper limit on age, she says, though for applicants older than 80, “we ask for a doctor’s clearance, as we do when something on anyone’s health form is of concern. We have one volunteer who is a legend. He is 82 and has been on 82 expeditions with us.”

Earthwatch expeditions vary in length from one to 15 days, Rose says. Fees for a standard-length expedition (10 days) range from $825 to $4,675. That covers emergency medical evacuation insurance, as well as accommodations and meals. The fee is also a tax-deductible charitable contribution.

“Earthwatch gives our volunteers the opportunity to work alongside leading scientists,” Rose says. “They also do engaging informational presentations, so people learn a lot while they are there. There’s some free time in the schedule to do local things, and for longer expeditions, there are recreational days.”

7 of 7

Senior travel deals: Community service abroad | Photo courtesy of United Planet
Senior travel deals: Community service

Photo courtesy of United Planet

Seniors looking for longer excursions as paying volunteers might join a United Planet Quest.

Senior program coordinator Kait Yankello says volunteers who are 51 or older typically make up 5 percent to 10 percent of participants in quests of one to 12 weeks’ duration.

“Our programs are best suited for those who are seeking a comprehensive and immersive, as well as authentic, experience abroad,” she says.

United Planet’s mission is to foster cross-cultural understanding through addressing shared challenges. Volunteers work on community service projects that range in scope from global health initiatives to environmental sustainability.

Quests involving children and education “are most popular among older volunteers,” Yankello says. “This might be in an orphanage, a school or a women’s shelter.”

Requirements are the same for all applicants, she says: “They must be physically fit to travel and pass a background check. If we do see anything on their health form that gets our attention, we might ask for a doctor’s clearance.”

For some projects, basic understanding of the language of the host country may be required; others might require a background in a specific field.

The required donation, ranging from $1,985 to $6,680, covers all costs in the country of service.

Related Links:
  • What happens if I exceed the Social Security earnings limit? Will I owe taxes?
  • Make money last: Rightsizing for retirement
  • Downsizing home: Does it always make sense?
Related Articles:
  • Where to open an IRA
  • Reverse mortgage 1st pick?
  • Take out reverse mortgage?



More On Senior Travel Deals:

  • 5 tips to affordable retirement travel
  • 5 retired couples with a nomadic lifestyle
  • Frugal retirees: Go ahead, spend your money

You may also like

  • 6 cheap places to retire abroad

  • 10 part-time jobs for retirees

  • The 10 best states for your retirement

  • 7 tips for the executor of an estate

  • Contributing to an IRA during retirement

  • 4 good reasons to take out a 401(k) loan

Related Articles

  • Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities

  • Retirement communities with university ties

  • Home-share programs benefit seniors

  • Latest trends in assisted living facilities

  • The 5 big benefits of virtual retirement villages

  • About Us
  • Press Room
  • Affiliate Center
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
  • Advertise With Us
  • Latest News
  • Popular Topics
  • Glossary
  • Compare Rates
  • Bank Reviews
  • Understand Bankrate's Averages
  • Privacy Policy / Your California Privacy Rights
  • Terms of Use
  • GLBA Annual Notice
  • Licenses
  • Sitemap
How we make money

Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. Bankrate is compensated in exchange for featured placement of sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. This compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear. Bankrate.com does not include all companies or all available products.

Maximize Your Money. Get Expert Advice & Tools. Master Life's Financial Journey.

You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for four decades.

Our tools, rates and advice help no matter where you are on life’s financial journey.

Follow Us

© 2019 Bankrate, LLC All Rights Reserved.

United States United Kingdom