May 26, 2020
Princess Grace (right) among the guests chats with other women who participated in the discovery of the Airbus A300, in Cannes, France on June 19, 1974.
Credits: KEYSTONE-FRANCE / GAMMA RAPHO.
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Princess Grace (right) among the guests chats with other women who participated in the discovery of the Airbus A300, in Cannes, France on June 19, 1974.
Credits: KEYSTONE-FRANCE / GAMMA RAPHO.
Have your parents or relatives made arrangements to visit you in the USA? This is certainly an exciting experience for them and for you. Everyone here will be anxiously waiting for them to arrive. When choosing the airline, one consideration may be whether the flight attendants speak their native language? For some travelers it is an additional comfort to be able to converse in their dialect with the airline staff. If they not comfortable traveling by themselves then don’t forget to search the Internet for a flight assistant who can accompany them from the departure airport till the arrival airport.
Are you parents reasonably handy with new technology? Their visit here it is a great opportunity to introduce them to modern communications like Facetime, WhatsApp, etc. Not only is the voice quality often better than the telephone, they can see and interact with the grandchildren. Once you get them confident in using these new methods the quality of communications, when they are back home, will be so much better! Are they worried about flying by themselves to visit you? If family and friends are not available to accompany them then look on the Internet for a friendly flight assistant who can help them from the departure airport till the arrival hall.
An intercontinental flight is an exciting part of any holiday. For the casual flyer, it may take a while to get to know everything about your seat and the aircraft. Did you know that newer aircraft on some airlines have a larger or ‘accessible’ toilet? Ask the flight attendants if there is one on your flight and its location. This slightly larger toilet is useful for people with minor disabilities and also when you have small children. Your family member traveling with you or your flight assistant may know about the accessible toilet. The seat map at the airline web site or at the SeatGuru web site, are also useful resources to check the availability and location. It could be anywhere – in first class, business class, economy class, etc.
Having relatives at your home for a few weeks? How are they going to occupy themselves when you are at work? My relatives have gotten used to using Uber and Grab at home in Asia, as convenient alternatives to taxis. Now, during the week, they can call a Uber to visit the mall or go for a meal by themselves with the grandchildren. They are pretty independent … but they are not comfortable flying on long trips by themselves. A flight assistant is a convenient alternative when family or friends are not available to accompany them. Don’t let a small hurdle stop a great family reunion!
The experience in the aircraft cabin is an exciting part of any holiday trip. Modern aircraft offer better amenities than their older counterparts. There are tens of movies to choose from on the monitor for your seat. These days there are USB ports even in the economy class seats to help power your personal devices. All these new fangled widgets might be a mystery to your parents or older relatives. The grandchildren would be delighted to help show them how to select from the tens of movies, and even how to operate the electrically dimmed windows (sans plastic mechanical shade) on the Boeing 787 aircraft. If there aren’t any family or friends to accompany these senior travelers, then search for a flight assistant who could help make their trip a comfortable and enjoyable experience!
November is coming soon and any Thanksgiving or year-end travel should be planned as soon as possible. My septuagenarian neighbor lives independently, after her husband passed way. She is still spritely and drives around town doing errands and groceries herself. However she is less confident about flying cross country by herself to the East coast, where most of her nephews and nieces, and extended family reside.
Sometimes she can pair up with a family friend who’s flying to the same destination. Otherwise it is a grueling 6 hour solo experience, and more so if she could not get a non-stop flight. I’ve suggested she research flight assistants on the Internet. With so many young people on the same flight, surely someone would be willing to accompany her from the check-in until the luggage hall at the destination, for a small compensation!
It is such a pity, she feels independent at home but not at the airport and this lessens the amount of family time. A flight assistant could be a remedy, without needing a favor from a friend or a relative!