Club Membership Has Discounts and Benefits

A growing number of membership travel organizations are offering substantial savings for seniors. Several such organizations are described here.

* Alhambra-based Golden Tours is a senior travel club that offers every kind of travel experience--from one-day local bus tours to theaters, museums, presidential libraries and flower shows to extended trips via cruise and rail lines to such destinations as Australia and New Zealand, Great Britain and Canada.

One of the most popular programs at Golden Tours is Stay-Put Tours, which take the traveler to a base city for eight days/seven nights, then offer daily guided tours to visit nearby attractions. Prices of Stay-Put tours range $795-$1,015 per person, which includes some meals, hotel accommodations and admissions. Stay-Put cities include New Orleans, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C., plus several Canadian cities.

Golden Tour day-trips include the Ramona Pageant in Hemet, Tijuana, Coronado, Solvang, the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, San Diego and Santa Barbara. Weekend and overnight trips include Laughlin, Nev., and Las Vegas. And there are three- and four-day trips to Reno, Lake Havasu, Mammoth Lakes, Utah’s national parks, Napa and the wine country and others.

Minimum age to join Golden Tours is 50, and there is an annual $10 membership fee. One-day and overnight trips depart from the Golden Tours office; some day-trips depart from Pasadena. For membership information and a copy of the current tour list, call (213) 283-7876 or (818) 289-6271.

* Vagabond Inns, with 35 inns throughout California plus one in Reno, is offering economical guest room rates and senior vacations through their Club 55 senior program. Membership is free and includes a quarterly newsletter with travel tips, advance notice of special savings and updates on special events. With any application, prospective members will receive two coupons each, good for a $5 discount on guest rooms in addition to the regular 10% discount for members over the age of 55.

All Vagabond Inns feature free daily continental breakfast, 24-hour coffee-and-tea service, free weekday local newspapers and free local phone calls. In addition, most inns offer free shuttle service to local airports and attractions. Also included with the membership application is a free California highway map with descriptions, locations and rates for all Vagabond Inns.

Vagabond Inns also feature special “Fun 4 U” packages in conjunction with nearby theme parks and attractions such as Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo, Knott’s Berry Farm, Universal Studios, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Sea World, Magic Mountain or other attractions located near the inn of choice. For a membership application or for more information and reservations, call (800) 522-1555.

* San Francisco-based Golden Age Travelers (GAT), with more than 9,000 members, is observing its 25th anniversary of providing travel packages for persons over 50. GAT holidays include domestic trips across the United States, and tours and cruises to every continent of the world, utilizing major airlines and cruise lines. Membership includes a quarterly newsletter, bulletins on discounts, bonus points for discounts on future trips and roommate matching. The initiation fee is $10 for singles, $15 for couples. For a free copy of GAT’s current Quarterly Travel Digest that lists dozens of tours and cruises as well as membership information, call (800) 258-8880.

* AJS Travel Consultants of New York has announced the formation of the AJS “Fifty Plus Club,” featuring a series of tours and vacation packages to Italy and Switzerland for travelers over 50. The one-time membership fee is $25 per couple. AJS guarantees deluxe- or superior-class hotels on all tours, major airlines and frequent bulletins offering special tour and cruise opportunities.

Among the current AJS offerings is a 15-day spa tour of Italy, including the resorts at Abano Terme and Montecatini Terme, plus guided tours during stays in Venice, Padua, Florence, Pisa and Rome. Breakfast and dinner are included each day. The per-person price, including round-trip air fare via Alitalia from New York, is $1,799 plus $230 in service charges and taxes. Add-on fare from Southern California is $482.

For a brochure that lists all tour components plus a membership application for the AJS “50 Plus Club,” call (800) 221-5002.