Flying After 60: A Few Smart Moves Before You Head to the Airport
Air travel has become an obstacle course involving shoes, liquids, identification, medications, metal knees and the sudden need to remember which zippered compartment contains your boarding pass.
None of this means women over 60 can’t sail through an airport with the best of them. It simply means a little organization—and knowing what you are entitled to ask for—can make the journey considerably easier.
Here are five things worth doing before your next flight.
1. Be careful how you pack your medications
Let’s clear up one confusing bit of travel advice: TSA does not require solid pills to remain in their original prescription bottles on domestic flights. That means a pill organizer is generally allowed through airport security.
But that isn’t quite the same as saying a pill organizer is always the wisest choice.
Individual states may have their own prescription-labeling laws, and loose controlled medications—such as certain pain medicines, sleeping pills and ADHD drugs—can raise questions if you are stopped or need medical care. Once you travel internationally, the rules may become much stricter. Some countries restrict medications that are perfectly legal in the United States, and customs officials may expect prescriptions to be in their original labeled containers.
The safest approach:
Keep medications in your carry-on, never in checked luggage.
For international travel, use the original pharmacy containers.
Keep controlled medications in their original containers even when flying domestically.
Carry a printed medication list showing the drug names, dosages, prescribing doctor and pharmacy.
Pack enough for the trip plus several extra days in case you are delayed.
Check the medication rules for every foreign country you will enter—including countries where you only change planes.
If refrigeration is required, pack the medication and its cooling supplies together and tell the TSA officer before screening.
For a short domestic trip, you may decide to use a pill organizer. If you do, bring a pharmacy printout or clear photographs of the prescription labels. In an emergency, “the little round white one I take at breakfast” is not enough information.
2. Give everything an assigned seat
At home, we can put something in a “safe place” and spend the next three weeks trying to remember where that was. An airport is not the time to repeat the experiment.
Choose one secure, easy-to-reach pocket for your identification and boarding pass. Use that same pocket throughout the trip. After showing your ID, put it away immediately rather than dropping it into a security bin, coat pocket or open handbag.
The same principle applies to medication, glasses, hearing aids, your phone and anything else you may need quickly. A carry-on with several useful compartments is wonderful; a carry-on with 27 mysterious compartments is a scavenger hunt.
And don’t keep your passport, every credit card and all your cash in one wallet. It may feel organized, but if that wallet disappears, so does everything else. Keep one payment card and a little cash accessible, with a backup card stored separately.
3. Know when to ask for help
Airport assistance is not reserved for people who cannot walk. If long distances, balance, fatigue, arthritis, breathing problems or a tight connection could make the airport difficult, request wheelchair or cart assistance through the airline ahead of time.
For help specifically at security, TSA Cares assists travelers with medical conditions, disabilities and other special circumstances. Requests should generally be made at least 72 hours before departure by calling 855-787-2227 or completing the TSA Cares form online.
Passengers 75 and older may also receive modified screening procedures. Policies and airport equipment change, however, so listen to the officer’s directions rather than relying on what happened during your last trip.
Asking for help is not admitting defeat. It is refusing to begin your vacation exhausted.
4. Speak up about medical devices and implants
If you have a pacemaker, defibrillator, insulin pump, continuous glucose monitor or another internal or external medical device, tell the TSA officer before screening begins.
TSA advises travelers with internal devices such as pacemakers not to go through a walk-through metal detector without first consulting their physician. Depending on the device and your doctor’s guidance, you may be screened with other technology or receive a pat-down.
Artificial hips and knees may also trigger additional screening. A medical identification card can be useful for explaining your condition, but it does not automatically exempt you from screening.
If you need a pat-down, you may ask to have it conducted privately and may have a companion present. You can also ask the officer to explain exactly what will happen before it begins.
This is your body. You are allowed to ask questions, request privacy and take the few extra minutes you need.
5. Make personal security part of your packing list
Women are accustomed to thinking about personal safety, but travel creates moments when we are distracted, carrying valuables and surrounded by strangers who know we are away from home.
A few quiet precautions can make a difference:
Carry a handbag or crossbody bag that closes completely, and keep the opening toward your body.
Keep your phone charged and carry a small portable charger.
Share your itinerary and location with someone you trust.
Wait until you return home to post detailed vacation plans and photographs publicly.
Arrange airport transportation in advance when possible.
Before entering a rideshare, confirm the driver, car and license plate. Use a PIN-verification feature if the service offers one, and share the trip record with someone you trust.
Don’t display your home address on the outside of your luggage. A phone number or email address is sufficient.
At a hotel, don’t say your room number aloud or allow the desk clerk to announce it. When registering internationally, the State Department suggests using your first initial without “Mrs.,” “Ms.” or “Miss.”
Trust the little voice that says something doesn’t feel right. You do not owe a stranger politeness at the expense of your safety.
The State Department puts that last point even more directly: in an unsafe situation, speaking loudly and drawing attention may help. Being safe is more important than being polite.
That may be the most useful travel advice of all.
Pack the confidence, too
The goal isn’t to anticipate every possible problem or turn a vacation into a military operation. It is to remove a few avoidable worries before you leave home.
Keep your medications identifiable. Give important things a designated place. Ask for assistance when it would make the day easier. Speak up about your medical needs. Pay attention to your surroundings.
Then board the plane, find your seat, and begin the part of the trip you actually wanted—the adventure.