Tag Archives: travel

Travel, hotels, and senior citizens

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In this my final holiday season post, I have reflected on some of my thoughts about hotels and other matters. (This should have appeared in August, but due to flight timings has been delayed until September)

Senior citizens are travelling much more than in the past, and often well into their 80s. For the most part many don’t need accessible rooms, but a few minor adjustments might make the experience more rewarding.

Hotel bathrooms

Firstly, the shower – Can the bottles of shampoo and bodywash be read by those that wear glasses?  I have to use my glasses to find out which bottle is which. Larger lettering or some other form of identification would be helpful

Grab rails and even a built-in seat would be useful when it comes to washing one’s feet. Many senior citizens, myself included, are not as supple as we once were.

Rooms – hotel information should indicate if any rooms are over two floors. It’s great to be rewarded with an upgrade, but not if you have to climb stairs to reach the bedroom. One might certainly think twice before booking such a room.

Light controls near beds should have some form of soft light indicator for ease of switching on at , as many senior citizens may need to use the bathroom during the night, sometimes more than once and fumbling for the light switch is a nuisance

Food and drink

Offering the children’s menu might attract more custom from senior citizens, as some portions are too large for the third meal of the day. The other option is to skip the meal, meaning the hotel can lose money they might have made. Bar meals don’t seem to be a good alternative, as the menu is often restricted and carbohydrate high.

QR codes

Many senior citizens don’t use these, so an alternative might ensure business isn’t lost.

Toilets

Having to read the instruction book before using a Japanese style toilet is an interesting challenge that then requires remembering what each symbol means. Still, it is a better option than long-drop or compost toilets senior citizens encounter on tours to more remote areas.   

Receipts

These are increasingly being offered as emails. A printed version allows for any issues to be picked up straightaway. Of course, if you haven’t bought anything other than a room paid for in advance, not viewing the bill might be a saving in time, especially if checking out at a popular time.

Staff

As with so many other areas in life, a few words with staff often pays dividends. Saying hello to housekeeping staff when you see them in the corridor might just ensure your room has extra attention to it even where you have stuck the wooded eco-friendly label about cleaning on the door.

Travel

Senior citizens now benefit from free travel in some cities. Certainly, tap on and tap off, using a credit card, has made using local travel so much easier, even though it means no human contact. However, timetables are often difficult to read and being replaced by the dreaded QR codes in some places.

Some coaches and minibuses have very limited legroom. It is worth checking before booking a tour or asking you travel agent to check. Five hours coach travel with less legroom than on an economy airflight is no joke.  

Not back to normal, and once again posts about education

5 smiles and the MBacc

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Congratulations to everyone that has received their examination results this summer. The waiting time is always a nervous one, especially for those that are experiencing the wait for the first time. So, to my third holiday post.

Staying in a range of hotels and two overnight train trips, set me thinking about how hotels have traditionally been classified, often by using a star grading from one to five. There is also an alternative of rosettes.

On this trip, I wondered about a classification based on smiles? One smile for the quality of the greeting by the door staff – earned if you are greeted with a smile and help with luggage. The second smile comes for the reception staff. Are they welcoming, however harassed they might be, do they make you feel welcome and build upon the feeling of enjoying the fact that you are using their hotel that started with the door staff?

Smiles three, four and five can be a little more general: housekeeping staff, if you pass them in the corridor,  food and drink service staff whether in the bar or restaurant and any other staff you might encounter, from car parking to pool or arranging excursions. Do they all treat you as a person and a welcome guest?

On this trip, we have encountered some really good service, and some that might be better forgotten about.

So, why call this post, 5 smiles and the Mbacc? Perhaps, because hospitality ought to one of the key strands in the post-16 offering, whether a young person wants to continue to take a degree in the subject or starting working in the industry at 18,  and hopefully before with a part-time job that allows the classroom theory to be experienced in practice.

Sadly, graduates, whether in hospitality of any other subject, will find accessing the working holiday vias scheme with Australia more of a challenge.

This excellent scheme that has allowed many Australians and Brits to visit the other’s country is now subject to a ‘slowing down’ by the Australian government in Canberra. The slowdown is a part of Australia’s response to a perceived need to cut immigration into The Commonwealth.

It will be interesting to see whether the UK government responds in any way. However, certainly for teachers, the numbers using the scheme are not what they were when it was first introduced. The link between the UK and Australia is not what is once was for generations such as mine, brought up on stories of the ‘outback’, Ned Kelly and Waltzing Matilda. Australia now looks much more towards the Pacific Region than the northern Hemisphere: one wonders about the remaining links with Britain and the future of the monarchy in Australia? Will Andy Burnham, the maker of the MBacc, also be the Prime Minister to preside over the ending of the links between the UK monarchy and Australia?

Planes, trains, but not automobiles

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This is the second of my more light-hearted summer posts. The title comes from the 1987 movie directed by John Hughes and starring Steve Martin and John Candy. Appropriately enough, this post is being written while I am on a Boing 777 travelling over the Indian Ocean. Unlike in the film, my traveling companion is not a total stranger, but my twin brother, and our trip was planned several months ago. Our jeopardy was the result of Donald Trump’s war, as our route involved a stopover in Dubai.

Long-time readers of this blog may recall that in 2019, PC – pre-covid – together with my brother I wrote a travel book called Twin Tracks. The bok was about our interrail tour around Europe – Amazon may still have a few copies for sale. That journey was by rail. This trip has so far involved planes, a failed train trip, but with more rail adventures still to come, but no automobiles

The plane journeys, on an Emirates A380 and Boing 777 can pass with little comment, except to say that I find the A380 a much more pleasant, and quieter aeroplane than the 777, at least in business class.

So, on to the trains. One reason for stopping in Dubai was to try the UAE’s new railway line. When we booked our trip last November, before the war, we expected the railway to be fully open by summer 2026, including the Dubai station. Sadly, it is not. At present, the service runs non-stop from Abu Dhabi to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, bypassing Dubai.

We could still have taken the train, but it would have required a two-hour bus ride to the departure point, and another two-hour ride back. Tickets were also extremely hard to come by, and booking online required a local mobile phone number. As a result, we had to rethink our plans.

While considering the options, I reflected that the passenger line in the UAE isn’t the only delayed rail project. In the UK, there is HS2, of which the less raid the better, although most people now overlook the fact that the now hugely successful Elizabeth Line in London was also not only late, but also over budget.

The less said about the California Hugh speed Rail project or the sa=tation rebuild in /Germany, the better.

Of more concern to me is the government’s failure to open the new railway from Oxford (where I live) to Milton Keynes, creating  a connection with the West Coast mainline. The line is currently one of the most expensive freight-only lines in England.

I won’t bother with an explanation here, but safe to say it is a good example of what was once called the British disease.

Anyway, back to Dubai and a decision to visit Fujairah by public transport, for a daytrip. Why, partly because it’s there, and partly after four visits to Dubai, I had never been to that Emirate. Research for the trip discovered a public bus – really a long distance coach – run by RTA the Dubai transport authority. Interestingly, traffic congestion in Dubai has led to the service being switch from the Bus Station at Union Square on the metro to the end of the Green Metro line at the oddly named E& station, whether the E700 now departs from the adjacent bus station. White elderly males are a rare sight on the Dubai metro and, I suspect an even rarer on the E700. Certainly, on our return trip we were the only Europeans we saw on either the metro or the bus.

The ride is through desert and the mountains that separate most of the UAE from the Gulf of Oman. There is a new bus station in Fujairah, and stands alone on the edge of the town, requiring a taxi ride to reach anywhere – so, we did use automobiles, even if not by desire, but like in the film, because of the force of circumstances.

Fortunately, taxis are cheap in the UAE, where petrol costs very little, so we asked our taxi driver to take us to a restaurant on the corniche coast road. An enjoyable fish lunch later, and we retraced our steps, avoiding spending any time out in the heat that reached over 110F while we were eating our lunch. Had I mentioned 110F some years ago, nobody would have has much notion of what such a temperature might feel like: not so now.

Free bus transport to age 16: a mistake?

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Rumours are flying around that our new Prime Minister wants to mandate free bus travel for everyone up to the age of sixteen. This would just leave those between 16 and some point in a person’s 60s paying for public transport.

Why do I question whether this policy is a mistake? Not because I think it is wrong, it isn’t, although it suffers from the same issues as any other universal benefit, by including those that could pay for the service, as well as those that benefit. Still, that issue can be dealt with through general taxation, something our previous Prime Minister never seemed to realise when creating the Winter Fuel Allowance debacle that set him on the road to the end of his premiership.

In the case of free bus travel, could this be something that Mr Burnham has looked at through the lens of an urban mayor, with little lifetime experience of rural areas?  

Free bus transport should be extended to age 18, not stop at 16, in order to come into line with the official, but not statutory, learning leaving age. If David Blunkett is advising Mr Burnham, he should be pressing this case as a former distinguished Secretary of State for Education.

If Mr Burnham wants to reduce the number of NEETs, making them pay to travel to college after Year 11 won’t help his case, especially in rural areas, where there may not even be a bus service. If Mr Burnham is to be a Prime Minister for the country, and not just a Labour Prime Minster, then he must understand the needs of all young people, regardless of where they live.

I have suggested before, that 16-18 year olds in rural areas wanting to go to college, where there is no possible bus route, face a real deterrent. My advice was to remove motor Insurance tax from vehicles taxed in the name of a 16-18 year old, and for their sole use.

Mr Burnham should also make it clear how any policy about free bus travel would link to parental choice of schooling? Again, free travel in urban areas means parental choice is not an issue, but it is in rural areas, where free travel to the ‘nearest school’ has been the norm since 2014.  

The small group that really needs a change in policy to align with the principle of free bus travel to 18 are those young people living in rural areas with selective schools. Kent, springs to mind, along with Essex, Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire.

In these areas, taking the selection test for secondary school is seen as a parental choice, and doesn’t therefore qualify for free transport. This is an attack on the less well off working and living in rural areas. If Mr Burnham wants to mandate free transport for all to age 16 or, as I prefer 18, anyone living in a rural area and passing the selection test for a selective school should be provided with free transport.

Of course, Mr Burnham could be really brave, and reintroduce the 1976 Education Act, associated with the late Shirely Williams, and require all secondary schools to be non-selective, except in few isolated cases of national schools for certain talents in music, ballet and dance. Mr Blair’s government never saw the need to make that change, but, perhaps, Mr Blunkett might now have his opportunity to make the change with such a large Labour majority at Westminster.

Free transport to 16, is good, but not good enough, please, make it free transport to 18, at least to an approved education facility.

Pay your bus fare to learn

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The government has responded to the House of Commons Select Committee report of earlier this year about bus services in England. I am sad to see that not only will free transport not be available nationally for those under the age of 22, but the government doesn’t even seem prepared to concede that there is an anomaly regarding free transport to school or college for those aged between 16-18.Buses connecting communities: Government Response

Recommendation 15

The Department’s review of the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme should consider piloting a free bus pass for under-22s, valid for travel at any time of day. This would support access to work and skills opportunities for younger people and help embed long-term public transport use.

Response from the government 

The Government recognises the benefits that free travel for under-22s could bring. However, we are operating in a challenging fiscal environment and the future funding for bus services has already been allocated through the Spending Review, with no funding available for such a scheme. Expanding concessionary travel would therefore be unaffordable within this SR period without diverting funding away from maintaining current bus service levels.

I read the dead hand of HM Treasury here. Perhaps the Select Committee could also have sent the recommendation to the Department for Education for their views, although I suspect the answer would be the same. Local authorities serving rural areas cannot afford to subsidise 16-18 travel as might be the case in the large urban areas.

My previous post showed how out of line education in Oxfordshire is compared with other key indicators for the districts within the county. Should the NHS pay more to support children with SEND? | John Howson This is a missed opportunity by the government to improve education for those in rural areas living in poverty. Sadly, it seems like a missed chance. Both a lack of ambition and a lack of resources seem to be the reasons.

Paying more for school transport

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The County Councils Network has recently released a new report which analyses the challenges county authorities face in delivering home to school transport services, including the impact of the record fuel price increases. Councils face difficult decisions as spiralling fuel prices impact on school transport services, report warns – County Councils Network

With fuel prices hitting record highs this month, the CCN is warning that this is having a significant impact on school transport services, with councils facing having to pay providers significantly more for operating school services and providing taxis.

According to the County Councils Network the local authorities that supplied data to this study transported 248,000 pupils for free last year, of which 51,000 were young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The report calls for short-term support for local authorities to help weather the storm of rising fuel prices, which has, according to the research, led to transport companies re-tendering for contracts up to 20% higher than last year.

Even before the fuel price increase, county authorities were facing yearly increases in costs in home to school transport services, particularly for SEND pupils.

Released ahead of the government’s long-awaited SEND Review, the report by the County Councils Network urges the Government’s review of SEND to address the root causes of a rise in costs and demand in SEND services, including home to school transport. The report finds an increasing number of pupils becoming eligible for Education, Health and Care Plans and an increase in young people attending special schools.

Based on data from 28 CCN member councils, the report finds:

  • County authorities spent a total of £555.6m on free school transport last year, up from £472.6m in 2016/17. This increase is largely down to a 33% rise in expenditure for pupils with SEND – up from £250m five years ago to £336m in 2021. This is the equivalent of 11% of on average council’s entire children’s services budget.
     
  • The number of pupils using SEND free school transport has increased from 41,185 in 2016/17 to 51,558 in 2020/21 – a rise of 10,373 pupils. Over the last three years, the average cost of individual pupils has increased by £206 to £6,099 a year – due to rising costs, such as fuel price increases.
     
  • Almost two-thirds of councils (60%) who responded to a separate survey for the report said that their expenditure on SEND school transport was ‘unsustainable’ and 34% said it was ‘difficult.’ Just one said it was ‘manageable’. Costs for taxis, private hire, and minibuses for these pupils had increased from £175m in 2016 to £244m in 2021.
     
  • Despite yearly growth in population numbers, and rising costs, councils’ expenditure on mainstream home to school transport has remained the same throughout the period – £212m in 2016 to £208m in 2021.

Council taxpayers have to pay the cost of any transport not covered by government grants and that is a burden not carried by those living in urban areas where most home to school transport costs fall on families.

As a result of cost pressures, many councils have had little choice but to reduce eligibility for free school transport for mainstream home to transport due to facing significant financial pressures over the period, including in SEND school transport. There were almost 20,000 fewer mainstream pupils using free transport to their school in 2021 compared to 2016/17.

Especially mean cuts are where only transport tot the ‘nearest’ school is provided and there is a system of selective education. The selective school will rarely be the nearest school and so families may not be able to take up a place at a selective school if they cannot afford the transport costs. As a twin, I understand how this can impact on some families.

The situation is even worse where the selective school is an academy in another authority as face children, for example, on Canvey Island, part of Castel Point local authority and where the nearest selective schools are in the city of Southend-on-Sea.

Councils need to publish data on how much of their home to school transport to academies is funded by government grant and how much by council Tax payers and through business rates.  

The government might also need to consider help for small rural schools that are using oil for heating, as those costs have risen sharply as well. It would be unfair if the present world situation hastened the end of rural primary schools and thus forced costs for transport even higher, threatening other local services as cash had to be diverted into supporting yet more school transport.