Save on Palm Springs This Summer

Mature travelers who would like to visit Palm Springs will get an opportunity to do so at modest cost this summer under an off-season promotion called Sunsational Savings for Seniors.

A group of hotels has banded together under the helm of the Palm Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau to offer special incentives to visitors during the hot summer months. If you can stand daytime temperatures in excess of 100 degrees and want to savor the smog-free desert air, this promotion will permit you to enjoy the many attractions of Palm Springs and to relax poolside when the sun gets a bit too warm.

Savings in the Sunsational promotion include discounts of 10% to 25% off room rates, second or third night occupancy free, complimentary continental breakfasts, free use of bicycles and other inducements. A list of participating hotels and their individual offerings is available without charge from the Bureau. The program is exclusively for people over age 55.

‘Things to Do’

Along with the list you will also receive the Bureau’s regular publication “Things to Do and Places to Go for Senior Citizens,” also distributed free of charge. The bulletin lists free or discounted activities and sightseeing opportunities including the Desert Museum, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, fitness and dancing programs and participation sports. For copies of both of the listings write to: Palm Springs Visitors Bureau, 255 N. El Cielo Road, No. 315, Palm Springs 92262.

The Seniors Travelers Club, originally founded for members of the Irvine Senior Citizens Center, has extended an invitation to all mature travelers in Southern California to join their active travel club for a lifetime membership fee of only $1. Members receive the monthly publication, Irvine Senior Bulletin, and may attend the monthly meetings of the club, which are held at the center in Irvine on the third Thursday of each month.

Travel programs include travel films, lectures by travel authorities, cruise nights and films taken by club members on their travels. The Travelers Club is affiliated with Worldwide Travel of Irvine and also with Cruises Worldwide.

These entities offer local, national and international travel opportunities designed specifically for the mature traveler and range from a two-night stay at nearby Mammoth Mountain to a two-week tour of Israel and the Greek Isles. An Indian Country trip covering five states and five national parks proved to be so popular that it had to be repeated. There are fall foliage trips to the East, and cruises to destinations in Europe, the Mediterranean and the Orient. New travel offerings appear in each month’s edition of the Irvine Senior Bulletin.

Challenge for Travelers

For lifetime membership in the Irvine Senior Travelers Club send $1.00 to: Irvine Senior Travelers, 3 Sandburg Way, Irvine 92715.

Travelers who like the challenge of deciphering brochures and who are able to distinguish between small print, boldface print, italic typeface and footnotes can end up with some bargains on low-cost flights to Great Britain through what is called the Dollarstretcher, a British Airways Company. Dollarstretcher offers inexpensive flights to London, with lots of free goodies thrown in, with fares from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle starting at $599 round-trip. Prices will vary depending on the season. Dollarstretchers are not tours, but are rather designed for the individual traveler.

A bonus pack of free extras is part of the package at no additional cost and includes cocktails and wine on both legs of the round-trip flight, movies and stereo headsets, a duty-free voucher worth $7.50 for shopping when you leave Britain, a travel bag and a discount coupon book, which offers 10% off at thousands of London restaurants, theaters, stores and attractions. A 25% discount on Hertz auto rentals is also offered while in Britain, with rates beginning at $135 for a full week for a two-door compact. No mileage charge, you pay for gasoline.

Favorable room rates are also available only through Dollarstretcher in more than 160 distinguished Trust House Forte hotels throughout Britain. Rates begin at $28 per person per day and peak at $42, depending on the season. These are double occupancy figures. The small print indicates that no fewer than five nights must be purchased but a maximum of only two nights in any one hotel is permitted at the discount rate before rates revert to normal (i.e., higher) rates. However, a full English breakfast is included and is indeed a full and a memorable experience. Room prices quoted include service and the 15% value added tax, a great saving.

Free spirits who may want to assemble their own package from these components are invited to examine the Dollarstretcher brochure, which is offered at no charge. Simply contact Dollarstretcher, 11990 San Vicente Blvd. No. 310, Los Angeles 90049, phone (213) 820-3535.