Senior Travel:: Your holiday gift list for travelers
Other big-ticket ideas. If your travelers are heading for a foreign country where English is not the primary language, a good introductory-level computer-based language program could prepare them to communicate more effectively, or an advanced option could hone existing skills. Check any software outlet.If your travelers are heading for Europe or Japan, a railpass might be just what they want. Most passes have an extended post-purchase use "window," so you don"t need to know exact dates. Buy from eurail.com, jrpass.com, or any travel agent.
Get Orlando Sentinel"s exclusive 2012 shuttle calendar If you know a destination your traveler might like, go to a few of the "flash sale" coupon sites, where you can buy vouchers for upscale hotel and resort stays, valid for many months with specific dates to be arranged later. Check www.livingsocial.com, www.sniqueaway.com, www.voyageprive.com, www.yuupon.com, or others.
If you have some excess frequent flyer miles, you can have your airline issue awards in the names of the recipients. You may have to book a tentative itinerary, but most award trips are valid for a year and can easily be rescheduled.
Road warriors -- especially if they use one airline most of the time -- might be overjoyed to receive an annual membership in that line"s airport lounge club program. At $300 to $500 a year, direct from each airline.
Inexpensive. If you know where your travelers are heading next year, guidebooks and maps are no-brainers. Head for a good bookstore or log onto a few online book sites. If they"re dedicated European train travelers, the summer edition of the Thomas Cook European Timetable is invaluable for itinerary planning, available from online bookstores. (Sadly, Cook no longer issues the companion worldwide edition.) Foodies would love a Zagat guide or full-year subscription to Zagat"s online service (zagat.com).
If they haven"t decided where to go next, a subscription to a travel magazine can generate lots of ideas. My preference is Arthur Frommer"s Budget Travel (www.budgettravel.com), but the upscale slicks are also great.
If you know they need luggage, consider a roll-on suitcase or duffel. And, at least in my view, light weight trumps sturdiness and durability.
What not to buy. Holiday season travel publications are full of travel gadget gift suggestions -- many electronic. Despite heavy promotions, I hesitate to recommend them. All the tech-minded travelers I know have fixed ideas about exactly what they want in electronics, cameras, and such: Unless you"re filling a known "order," you could go seriously wrong. And many such items appear to be designed with the aim of looking cute in a display ad or a store rather than being truly useful. Even low-tech "travel store" gadgets are risky: Most travelers probably already have what they need and don"t need yet another voltage converter, travel alarm clock, or neck pillow.