Anyone else finding travel harder the older you get?

[menopausalminnie1]

Just back from a long haul trip. Had a wonderful time, but really struggled with some aspects of the trip. For context, I'm 55, menopausal, and I ache A LOT.

We had to go from Heathrow, which is HUGE. I found the sheer amount of walking required to be quite difficult, as my back kills me, and I was lugging a heavy suitcase and a backpack. Don't get me wrong, I did manage it, but it felt exhausting.

We also struggled a bit with the self check in pods and trying to figure out where on earth to drop our bags after that. Nothing seemed to be well signposted or obvious.

On a day to day basis, I feel quite young, but on this trip I felt a bit concerned about whether we were going to manage long haul travel 10 years from now, which is a worry, as we plan to travel a lot in retirement.

Anyone else?

Can you recommend a travel insurance company? Friend struggled to find affordable cover after 65 with minor health conditions.

The return journey was a 9 hour flight, with only 20 minutes to change to a different plane (had to run), and then a 14.5 hour flight, then change to another plane at Heathrow for a 3rd flight back to our regional airport, then a bus to the park and ride, then a short drive home after that. I was knackered.

If I'm flying long haul / overnight on the return flight, I get a taxi to and from the airport. Yes, it costs more than driving myself but it's so nice to just come out of the terminal, get in a taxi and relax.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/cheap-travel-insurance/

This is how I got my £43 annual European cover and got health issues

We live in Spain so we gave to get the right ex pat insurance . We use Staysure. Very good but very expensive......2000+ euros for 45 days cruise and USA. Couldn't find cheaper that was much good.

Are you over 65?

The PP I was asking was doing worldwide incl USA and cruises which will be significantly more than Europe-only cover.

Affordable is subjective. Once you are 65 the days of £20 travel insurance are behind you.

I am 66 and have multiple health conditions including a history of cancer and a heart related one. DH has AF and high blood pressure and is 75. My last annual cover was £450 for two of us with Holiday Extras. I'm just happy I can get cover and travel.
Staysure are often mentioned but they are top price and over hyped IMO. Furthermore they get their rating by chasing reviews and get 5* reviews... of the purchase process. When it comes to claiming they all use a handful of claims management companies.
If you use a comparison website like Quidco compare you can still get cover with most health conditions at a better price than Staysure.

No I'm not.

I’m 65, husband 75. Our travel insurance is included in our Bank account with Lloyds. The insurance company is Alianz. We we first used this, I had recently had major surgery and paid £80 for the year to cover my pre-existing health conditions. They are very helpful with information on cover when contacted direct and unlike other travel insurance, Alianz cover everything that isn’t a pre-existing condition whether or not you ‘declare’ all of your pre-existing conditions. Now that I’m a few years on from the surgery my other health conditions arthritis, well controlled asthma, and because my husbands pre-existing is well managed type two diabetes, we choose not to have them covered and don’t pay anything for the policy! Cruising is covered, including our Antartica expedition cruise, which includes landings reached by zodiacs (inflatable boats with a little engine)! Most travel insurance covers cruises. The only difference with specialist cruise policies is that they will give a small pay out if a ship has to miss out a scheduled port. We don’t really care about that. All insurance costs much more if you include America because the cost of medical care is so ridiculously high there.

That's interesting @AnnieSnap .
Some of my conditions are expensive to cover but very unlikely to be an issue on holiday. I looked at the Lloyds package account but it's only up to age 65 and we are 66/75

Yes I found a recent trip to the states very draining at 59. We were touring without a car so lots of carrying cases around. We used many Ubers though!

I don't self check in, certainly it's ok with Easy Jet and BA to do that. Much easier!

No Woffley, it’s up to 80! See here

@AnnieSnap Ah yes thanks. I plan to look at packaged accounts when my current travel policy expires. You'd have to factor in that you pay £270 already towards it, but could still be competitive

Yes, I’ve factored that in, including the phone insurance, RAC, which I believe includes home start and another benefit that we can choose from several. My choice is Disney + TV. On top of that, I’m really happy with my bank account and its app (had it several years now).

We had a really a triple whammy, cruising,USA and 45 days!

@AnnieSnap We have the Alianz cover too via Lloyds. You do need to be aware there are health questions. We are 69 and 71. We have no health issues and yes, it covered us for Antarctic - we’ve been. You must read the conditions though. It paid up when DH had his camera stolen a few years ago.

@CurlyhairedAssassin Small ship cruises. It’s surprising but they sell like hot cakes. Ship has around 100 passengers and uses zodiacs for exploring. We just like these holidays and we are not alone! Also got the last 2 places to Bhutan and Nepal for Oct 25. That’s a small group tour and a clearly popular too!

Yes, I have had detailed discussions with them twice. Once when I was declaring health conditions after my aforementioned surgery and once when booking our forthcoming Antartica cruise. I have also read through all of the terms and conditions.

Sorry - I meant other possible purchasers should read through the conditions because they need to know about health if it’s on their list of questions.

Oh yes of course. I was just clarifying that I had done my due diligence. You’re absolutely right to highlight the need for that.