Baby Boomer Travel

Let me begin by thanking the folks at BabyBoomerTrips.com for allowing me to share my tips, tricks and tools for what I call Opportunistic Travel. What I will give you as we continue, is “how to” advice. While I am not a “destination” writer, one who tells about all the wonderful places to visit, I am considered an expert on getting to those destinations cheaply and with the most in the way of perks along the way.

The knowledge I pass along is based on actual experience gained through years as a road warrior and then taking the tricks I learned and applying them to leisure travel. My credentials if you will allow, include over four million earned Frequent Flyer miles, and approximately one and a half million points with various hotel chains. I do not wear these as one wears a military award but merely mention them for the sake of credibility.

While many may think Opportunistic Travel is synonymous with spur of the moment travel, it isn’t and, it takes some planning to make the most of it. That planning includes not only when and where to travel but also the how, who and why. Westin Hotels had commercials a few years back that ended with the line, “Choose your travel partners wisely.” This is probably the most important part of Opportunistic Travel and the part we will begin to examine. This single selection factor of carriers, hotels, car rental groups is what gets you the perks and upgrades and earns you free travel and stays sooner. This is the one time you want to keep all your eggs in one or two baskets. If you spread them out, they will rot before you can use them!

Choosing your primary airline/alliance and their partners is paramount concern. But unlike younger travelers, we have another piece to the equation, senior programs. Virtually all carriers offer some sort of percent off discount beginning at between 62 and 65. These discounts are subject to change and generally, without notice due to the rapidly changing nature of the travel industry! My first caveat: If you are diligent and watch the Sunday paper and take advantage of offers on most carriers, it is quite possible to enjoy savings that are less than with the senior discounts. While none of us in the true Baby Boomer category qualify for the age 62 discount yet, next year is creeping up and as one of the first in this generation, born in 1946, I am looking forward to my discounts!

Finally, the alliances factor. If you are not a member of a Frequent Flyer program, join one. My current recommendation for the best program to join is Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. Okay, Okay, I can hear you… Bob was doing great up until here but holy smokes! I live in Miami, why would I join a program on the other side of the country? Simply this: reciprocity. Right now, Alaska Airlines finds itself aligned with partners from the OneWorld and SkyTeam alliances. But what is truly unique is that flights on American, Northwest, KLM and Lan Chile and others, count for Alaska elite status, which means additional bonus miles and therefore faster earning of awards. While you will not earn bonus miles flying QANTAS and British Airways, you will earn actual miles in your Mileage Plan account. Thus, with Alaska’s combination of partners, you can fly virtually anywhere on the planet!

In our next article, we will deal with partnerships of hotels and car rentals with emphasis on earning free travel by maximizing points. Please feel free to send your travel questions on any topic, not just “how to,” to: Bob-Jones@BookingWiz.com.