Airlines in Hawaii Lower Age for Senior Fares

Hawaiian and Aloha Airlines have lowered the age requirement for senior fares from 65 to 60 on inter-island flights.

Mature travelers 60 and older can now purchase the unrestricted inter-island tickets for $43.95--lower than the popular kamaaina resident fare of $49.94 or the standard fare of $54.95.

Now that Hawaiian Airlines also lowered the age level from 65 to 60 on its fares from the West Coast to Hawaii, it gives the carrier a two-year advantage over other carriers on senior rates to Hawaii. All offer a 10% senior discount. (Aloha Airlines does not provide service from the West Coast.)

All other mainland-to-Hawaii carriers have a system-wide age level for senior fares starting at age 62, although most permit a companion of lower age to travel for the same 10% discount, traveling on the same flights.

Hawaiian Air and Aloha now use age 60, but, at present, neither offers a companion discount.

The new lower age level for Hawaiian Airlines is also good on its service from either the West Coast or Hawaii to Pago Pago in American Samoa. The senior fare from Los Angeles to Pago Pago is $738 round trip, or $430 round trip from Honolulu.

Grand Circle Travel, the leading direct-marketing tour and extended-stay vacation operator for mature travelers, is repeating its successful off-season program to Turkey.

The Boston-based tour company offers 17-day trips from September through May, 1991, beginning at $1,790 per person, double, from Los Angeles. Single supplement ranges from $280 to $380.

The $1,790 rate is for one January departure only; most other departures are in the $1,990-to-$2,190 range.

The itinerary includes four days in Istanbul, three days in Izmir on the Aegean Coast, then a coach to Pamukkale, site of the famous “frozen waterfalls” of limestone. After that it’s on to Antalya on Turkey’s Turquoise Coast for seven days.

Included in the price are air fare from Los Angeles, five-star hotels (except one four-star in Pamukkale), daily buffet breakfast, 11 dinners and tours in Izmir, Pamukkale and Antalya.

Though there is a good social and cultural program included during the weeklong stay in Antalya, side tours along the Mediterranean Coast (and to Ephesus from Izmir) are optional extras.

The program was designed especially for those age 50 and over, the same as Grand Circle has done for its other senior trips to Spain, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Switzerland and London during the last 30 years.

For more information on the Turkey trip or Grand Circle’s other extended-stay programs and tours, call (800) 248-3737.

In Las Vegas, the Dunes Hotel/Casino offers a $39 single or double rate for Sunday through Thursday, valid to the end of the year. The rate includes a $20 golf discount at the Dunes Country Club and a $5 showroom discount. For more information, call (800) 243-8637.

Senior tour group leaders and planners might want to check with Vagabond Inns about the chain’s new standards and updated procedures for servicing coach tours. For information on its Supercoach Service, call (800) 854-1744.

When is a senior discount not a senior discount?

At the “Time of Your Life Expo,” Princess Railtours was offering a “special” seniors-only introductory offer of $100 off the California Sun Express two-day tour to San Luis Obispo and the Hearst Castle.

It was a good deal on a nice trip. But the same $100 off was being offered to anyone of any age.

Baja California Tours in La Jolla, which normally sets up group tours for seniors, has an open two-day/one-night tour Aug. 13-14 to Ensenada and Tijuana.

Individual mature travelers can join the coach tour for $99. This includes an overnight at the Villa Fontana Hotel on Ensenada’s main shopping street, with continental breakfast included. There’s also lunch overlooking the Tijuana Country Club and time for shopping as well, plus wine-tasting at the Domecq vineyards in Baja’s Calafia Valley.

There are pickup points in Ramona, Carlsbad and Mission Valley. Baja Tours will also meet the 9:05 a.m. arrival in San Diego for those coming from more distant areas. For more information, call (619) 454-7166.

The La Jolla tour company can also arrange similar midweek tours at lower rates for senior groups of 20 or more.

The Senior Travel & Recreation Activities Council of California (STRAC) again has opened its membership to vendors who work with senior groups and would like access to the more than 2,000 senior travel groups with whom STRAC works. Contact Alice Ward, STRAC, P.O. Box 1142, Redondo Beach 90278, (213) 370-5094.