How do Seniors (e.g. over 60s) book their holidays

mcirl2

Hi,

I am currently undertaking some research for a project to make online travel booking more accessible / user friendly for Seniors (for the sake of the study we are assuming anybody over 60 years old is considered a Senior).

The question I have for you is the following:

How do the Seniors you know book their holidays (e.g. through a traditional travel agent, over the web, do they get a son / daughter to book online for them etc etc)?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

P. Breathnach

You are presuming that those over 60 are less skilled in using online methods. And then you ask your question in an online forum. A bit of a mismatch, methinks.

I am a "senior". I do my research online; I put my own packages together; I book online. I also assist younger people to find their way about the web and the real world.

spurious

My mother's a senior, she books her own stuff online as well as for my brother who does not use the Interweb machine.

mcirl2

P. Breathnach,

Roughly what percentage of the seniors you know book online?

Thanks,

Mike

uriah

mcirl2 wrote: »

Hi,

I am currently undertaking some research for a project to make online travel booking more accessible / user friendly for Seniors (for the sake of the study we are assuming anybody over 60 years old is considered a Senior).

The question I have for you is the following:

How do the Seniors you know book their holidays (e.g. through a traditional travel agent, over the web, do they get a son / daughter to book online for them etc etc)?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.



Thanks,

Mike

My boss (definitely a 'senior' in your book) not only books all his holidays online, he keeps the rest of us informed about good deals and special offers.

P. Breathnach

mcirl2 wrote: »

P. Breathnach,

Roughly what percentage of the seniors you know book online?

I can think of one who doesn't. That's about 10% of those who passed through my mind. I can think of a higher proportion of "juniors" who don't book online; that's possibly because they have less travel experience.

But that links back to the point I made about asking the question in an online forum: I suspect that those of us who are computer-literate are a bit more likely to have friends who are computer-literate.

Berty

My in laws are the only seniors I know. My own parents have not hit that mark yet.

My in laws book their holidays through me. I cannot speak for anybody else although I would imagine they still use the the process of traditional travel agents.

mikedragon32

My parents use a travel agent and despite my offering to book things online for them, to date they have refused my offers!

My in-laws book everything online including flights, ferries, hotels etc. I can't recall the last time they used an agent.

P. Breathnach

mikedragon32 wrote: »

My parents use a travel agent and despite my offering to book things online for them, to date they have refused my offers!

They probably suspect that you know nothing about travel. Parents often find it difficult to accept that their offspring have grown up and become competent at things that they are not able to manage.

is_that_so

My mother also does her own research although she'd be inclined to leave the booking to others, mostly due to the sheer hassle of attempting to book and pay, a problem many "non-seniors" experience as well.

mikedragon32

P. Breathnach wrote: »

They probably suspect that you know nothing about travel. Parents often find it difficult to accept that their offspring have grown up and become competent at things that they are not able to manage.

Possibly, although they'll happily rely on me for a lot of stuff. I think it's more the safety net that if something was to go wrong, they at least have a rep they can deal with rather than having the stress of calling me and trying to find alternatives for them. Given how stressed they can get when a bus is a few minutes late, it may well be for the best!

Cruisy

I work with Older people (the pc term a lot, and there is a huge number of them who don't use the internet. Although some of the readers of this thread seem almost offended at your question I think it's fair enough. Those who are lucky enough to have access to a PC do often book online but a huge % of older people don't use a PC. I know that Every Monday www.everymonday.ie is a great source of info on older people's online activity, they might be able to help.

Golden Ireland

Our website www.goldenireland.ie did quite a lot of research on this though we looked more at the domestic market. We discovered that on average 30% of over 60's in Ireland use the Internet which is low but it has grown considerably (in the year 2000, just 8% of over 60's were online). The majority of older people book accommodation by phone rather than online.

shanagarry

Well my dad (still in his 50s so doesn't qualify yet) does all the bookings for older friends and relatives. However, they're 70+. I think you will see big differences if you break down your age groups a bit more. Given normal retirement age of 65, most people between 60 and 70 are either still working, or retired relatively recently and have a much higher chance of having being exposed to computers in the workplace.

Sundew

Father in law (76) gets us to books his holidays for him. he comes over to the house. tells us what he's looking for, we find stuff for him and then when he gives us the okay we book for him. By the way he does use the internet himself but would not have the proficiency to book online himself .

On a sidenote we have noticed that Ryanair are very user unfriendly towards old folks.
He is off to Spain for 2 weeks next month and he will have to print out his return boarding pass. We will print out the one for him leaving Dublin but there is some rule that says you can only print out a boarding pass a week before you depart. so we can't print out a return pass. Very awkward for a 76 year old. We now have to print it off and fax it to the hotel for him. He said this is the last time he will fly Ryanair.

black & white

Up to this year my Old Pair used to go into a Travel Agent and book. This year though they let me do it online for them when I convinced them of how much they could save. They are in the Canaries at the moment and are not due back for another month ( another attraction of booking Ryanair et al, they can book for more than 2 weeks) and I'd say they will let me book direct for them in future. They are aged 78 and 70.

My other half's Old Pair have done all their booking online for the last 4 or 5 years. They own a place in Spain so they have to deal with an airline website and a car-hire one. No problems so far though it's her Old Man that does it, if it was left to her Old Lady then my other half would have to do it as her Old Lady hasn't a scooby doo about computers etc. They are aged 72 and 71.

time42play

My mother, at 80 years of age, books online.

robinph

Sundew wrote: »

On a sidenote we have noticed that Ryanair are very user unfriendly towards old folks.
He is off to Spain for 2 weeks next month and he will have to print out his return boarding pass. We will print out the one for him leaving Dublin but there is some rule that says you can only print out a boarding pass a week before you depart. so we can't print out a return pass. Very awkward for a 76 year old. We now have to print it off and fax it to the hotel for him. He said this is the last time he will fly Ryanair.

You can print out the Ryanair boarding cards up to 14 days before the flights now, it's been that way for a good while now.

MrFrankie

I recently saw a survey which indicated that most people over 50 tend to book with a travel agent for reasons which include; trust, security and peace of mind. Of course there are a huge amount of people who book flights but they would tend to do the whole group/guide tour thing less

Pythia

My father (61) books all his own stuff online, however my grandmother (84) can't use a computer.

Golden Ireland

Yes, the number of older people online is very small but is definitely increasing. Trust, as you say, is a very important issue. We tried a discussion forum on the site but a very small number of people used it and I think it's just something that doesn't really appeal to an older audience - maybe it's a trust thing but I think it's also a privacy thing.

Leper

I love this subject. What percentage of people over 60 book their holidays online?

Well I can tell you - nearly all of them. We rent out our apartment in Spain to retired people every year especially in the low season. All of them are computer literate and are way ahead in telecommunications also than say the average Joe Soap.

I am a senior myself and to be honest, I leave my university educated offspring trailing behind when it comes to computer skills.

robinph

Computers are not a new invention, and neither is the interwebnet. Both have been around and used in offices etc for longer than the OP has been alive probably, although what you could do with the net back then may not have been the same as now.