Traveling overseas with elderly dad-is it safe?

[NotUrsula]

I'd advise NOT transferring to your overseas flight in Chicago or Dallas. Get as close to your destination as you can within the US for the first leg so as to break the flight lengths more evenly. I don't know if your destination is northern or southern Europe; but we fly to the UK and Ireland fairly often, and always connect in either Boston or the NYC metro area, so as to break the overseas leg 2 hours shorter and give us a change to walk around that much sooner. For southern Europe Atlanta or Orlando might be closer. (Also, the eastern airports tend to have a wider variety of flight times.)

 

[dvcgirl67]

I have experience with your exact kind of plan. Except, it was my mother, who had *never* been on an airplane.....she had a fear of flying her whole life that kept her from ever getting on a flight. When she was 69 years old she told me that she was going to overcome her fear and wanted to go to Italy. And so DH and I told her that if she could overcome that fear, we'd take her and her sister (my aunt), on the trip of a lifetime to Italy. My father had no interest and was too ill to have made the trip anyway. It was a trip my aunt never could have afforded.

Anyway, my Mom saw a hypnotherapist to overcome her fear....and it worked. We did get a back-up prescription of Xanax just in case, but she did amazingly well...flew from NJ to Rome and back, saw Rome, Tuscany, Florence, Venice and the Amalfi coast...two week trip. She hasn't stopped talking about the trip. .

We did get a medical travel insurance policy for her. But she had no issues on the trip. Three years later at 73, we took her to France. Again, great trip, and she got to see where her Father fought in WWII.

I agree...with others, if you can afford premium plus (on United), or splurge for business class....this is the time I'd do it. We did this with my Mom for her first flights to Italy and back....and it made the whole experience a lot smoother for her (and it didn't suck for us either .

 

[_19disnA]

Most of the comments relate to issues around the flight. I haven't seen much discussion about whether he has any serious/current medical conditions that might require seeing a doctor while out of the country. Depending on where you travel, medical assistance could be limited or a long distance away. Does his medical insurance provide coverage when out of the country? If you are in some remote place where no one speaks English, I can see all sorts of potential issues that need to be considered.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I’m 74 and my husband is 78. We were in Australia and New Zealand last Oct and flew home for 15 hours. And we go to hawaii every year which is a 10 hour flight.
Those of us over age 70 aren’t that feeble! Buy compression socks. Upgrade the seats for more room, preferably with the ability to raise your feet. Walk around frequently. They always say to hydrate with water and avoid alcohol. I rarely follow that advice especially when I’m in business. I do love my wine!

 

[OrangeBirdGirl]

Everyone chimed in quite a bit on the actual flight, but also make sure your dad is up to the activities in the destination. Not sure where you are planning on going. If it's to rent a house someplace and relax in the countryside taking in the views that one thing. If you are planning on staying in a city then just be prepared for lots of walking around. If he's not overly active now, get him out walking. Even take the subway around cities (lol or I guess it's called the Tube in London) you still have lots of walking from the actual subway platform to the nearest destination.

We went on a cruise with my inlaws a couple years ago. They were early 70's but not active. We had the cruise booked a year and half in advance. Told them to get out walking. Nope they were too lazy to do that. They basically spent entire time in their stateroom except leaving for meals because just walking around the ship took a toll on them.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Most of the comments relate to issues around the flight. I haven't seen much discussion about whether he has any serious/current medical conditions that might require seeing a doctor while out of the country. Depending on where you travel, medical assistance could be limited or a long distance away. Does his medical insurance provide coverage when out of the country? If you are in some remote place where no one speaks English, I can see all sorts of potential issues that need to be considered.

But that would be the reason to speak with his medicos prior to planning the trip.

 

[disneyfanforever]

Thank you all for the advice. We are planning to go next May at the moment, and he was so excited when we told him. Luckily he is in very good shape for his age. He and my mom walk all the time. The only injury he had recently was when he fell off his mountain bike riding too fast but he is okay. If anything, my husband and I need to get in better shape than he does. We are definitely going to try to upgrade from the basic economy, and I will talk to him about compression socks. We are planning on sticking to the big cities and day trips so we will not be far from medical help if needed. Thanks again. We are so excited!