AARP Eye Center
The Takeaway: Grandparents Paying For Family Travel
By Elizabeth Nolan Brown, March 5, 2012 09:23 AM
Picking Up The Tab For Family Visits: Travel professionals report an uptick in grandparents flying far-away grandkids in for a visit or paying for the whole family to vacation together. Ginger Mittelstaedt, owner of Wisconsin-based Free Spirit Travel agency, told USA Today she's been booking a growing number of multi-generational cruises or resort excursions since the beginning of the economic downturn. 
The grandparents are taking the whole family," she says.
One such grandparent: David Campbell, who said he's often paid for his two daughters and granddaughter to travel from New York to visit him and his wife in Virginia. Last year, he took all of them to Florida to see his 94-year-old grandmother.
It's getting to a point I'd like them to enjoy life," says Campbell. "And if they're going to enjoy it, they might as well enjoy it with me."
Looking for a trip the whole family could take without it costing a fortune? Check out AARP travel expert Peter Greenberg's guide, " Big Cities, Small Prices," for affordable urban getaways.
If you have children and grandchildren, who pays when you travel together?
Monday Quick Hits:
- Bill Bengen created "the 4% rule" for retirement withdrawals (withdraw 4 percent of your next egg in the first year, then increase the dollar amount by the inflation rate every year to make savings last 30 years) in 1994. Does he think it still holds true in today's turbulent stock market?
- Many elderly Japanese who lost their homes in last year's tsunami are still homeless. Groups like the 'Yarn Alive' knitting club are trying to bring them together for friendship, support and story-swapping.
- And the rise of multigenerational and one-person households: Two new books (The Accordion Family and Going Solo) explore U.S. housing and family trends.
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