Dear Savvy Senior, My husband and I are interested in taking our two grandkids on a big trip this summer and are looking for some good ideas. Can you recommend some travel companies that offer special travel packages for grandparents and grandkids?
Doting Grandmother
Dear Doting, Grandparents traveling with just their grandchildren has become a growing segment of the multigenerational travel industry. Not only is this type of travel fun, it’s also a terrific way to strengthen generational bonds and create some lasting memories.
To help you with your traveling aspirations, there are a number of travel companies today that offer specialized grandparent/grandchildren and multigenerational trip packages. This is a nice way to go because they plan everything for you with most activities together, but some just for adults so you can get an occasional breather.
Available in various trip lengths and price ranges, these tours are designed for children, typically between the ages of six or seven up to 18, and are usually scheduled in the summer, or sometimes during winter breaks when the kids are out of school. Here are some top tour companies to check into that will take you and your grandkids on a fun, well-planned vacation.
Road Scholar (RoadScholar.org): This well-established not-forprofit organization has offered educational travel to older adults since 1975. They currently offer 83 different programs geared to grandparent and grandchildren. About 75 percent of the grandparent trips are domestic; 25 percent are international.
Some of the many popular trip destinations include the U.S. National Parks, Washington D.C., Canada, France, Italy, Iceland, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands. The average cost per person per night is around $265 for domestic trips, $365 for international.
Intrepid (IntrepidTravel. com): An adventure travel tour operator that offers “grandparent holiday” tours that bring together the young and the young at heart. They offer 35 one and two-week tours in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, as well as in Alaska and Wyoming. To find these trips, go to Intrepidtravel.com/us/theme/ family/grandparents.
Tauck (Tauck.com): This is a large tour operator that offers 19 foreign and domestic multigenerational trips called Tauck Bridges Family Tours. Some of their most popular trips are Costa Rica, the European riverboat cruises, and the Cowboy Country, which tours you through Wyoming and South Dakota.
Smithsonian Journeys (SmithsonianJourneys.org): They offer 10 different family journey trips to Iceland, New Zealand, Italy, Greece, Japan, Ireland, Costa Rica, South Africa, Yellowstone and a Rhine River cruise.
Journeys International (JourneysInternational. com): They offer customized multigenerational trips primarily to Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific.
Grandkids Travel
Depending on where you go and your mode of find out about these programs, ask the assisted living facility director, or contact his local Medicaid office (see Medicaid.gov) or the regional VA benefit office (800–827–1000). you should win the appeal. In that case, Social Security will reimburse you for the additional premiums by adding it to your benefit one month. If you are on Medicare but haven’t started collecting Social Security, you should see a credit on a future invoice.
If your request for a redetermination is denied, there are three additional levels of appeals you could try: to the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals, to the Medicare Appeals Council and finally to the federal district court where you live.
You should win the appeal. In that case, Social Security will reimburse you for the additional premiums by adding it to your benefit one month. If you are on Medicare but haven’t started collecting Social Security, you should see a credit on a future invoice.
If your request for a redetermination is denied, there are three additional levels of appeals you could try: to the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals, to the Medicare Appeals Council and finally to the federal district court where you live. Council and finally to the federal district court where you live.
For more information on the premium rules for high-income beneficiaries see SSA.gov/benefits/medicare/ medicare-premiums.html.