My Gran’s sister lives in Cairns and is dying of cancer. My 87 year old Gran is adamant that she wants to go out to see her to say goodbye. I completely understand this desire and think that if it gives her peace and closure, it is her decision to make.
Obviously though, I’m concerned. Whilst she’s in relatively good health for her age and mentally very alert, I’m really worried about what this journey would do to her physically and emotionally and if she would cope.

We’ve spoken to an insurance company and have obtained a reasonable comprehensive quote to cover her (£350 ish). She’s speaking to her doctor today to see if her doctor thinks that she is ok to travel.

If the trip goes ahead, it will be me travelling with her as my dad has a heart condition and my brother and his girlfriend are expecting their first child in the next month.

I guess the reason I’m posting is to ask if anyone else has experience of travelling with an elderly relative and what I should consider to support her. She has been out there twice before (although not for 10-15 years) so is fully aware of what the journey entails. I also have no idea about how I should structure the trip, flights etc to suit her and anything I should be mindful of in relation to her health. To be honest, Australia has always been such a far off place that i’ve never even contemplated going there, or at least anytime soon.
Any particular tips for airlines? Stopovers etc?

I know it will be a stressful, draining trip for both of us – we had Gran for 4 days over Christmas and by the end we were all exhausted.

I’m not expecting a sightseeing holiday but as we are likely to be away for 2 weeks, I would hope to have a few days to take her out or perhaps get out on my own for a short while should the opportunity arise (we have other family out there who I’m hoping can help out).

Any recommendations/advice would be welcome.

My dad (87yr) regularly travels to Africa (no where near the same flight times I know), although he can walk okay he books wheelchair assistance as some airports have pretty long distances to get through them & the wheelchair assist usually gets you though any queues quickly too 😉 If she/you can afford it, the difference in taking business/first class is night & day especially if you are considering a really long flight. Although it can drag the whole process out I’d recommend a stopover for a day or two each way if you can – no idea where though for an australia trip

Regional airport to Dubi or Abu Dhabi, then on to Singapore then to oz, should make about 3 6-7 hr flights. Consider business class?
Stop over in each probably if you want to take it easy. Also check the cyclone season. If you get out by 23april take her to the wc, should be good fun
Edit world cup not the toilet

Hi,

Further to what Dicky said above perhaps try a ‘premium economy’ ticket. Generally this means the same meal and service as economy but with a considerably larger seat. Most flights are going to be routing via Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur I’d imagine, both worth a visit. I’ve not been to Cairns since 1983 (when I was 3…) but do have fond memories of the Great Barrier Reef. Good luck!

Gaidong

I don’t think you can get to Cairns without doing 2 stops – probably Singapore & one of Darwin, Sydney or Melbourne.

You can do countless trips out to the reef from Cairns – definitely worth seeing as much of it as you can (which will mean an overnight if you can get away with it).

Age isn’t really the issue, health may be. My FiL is mid-80s and flies long haul by himself, mostly Manchester to Denver which obviously isn’t as far as oz but involves a change and a lot of jet lag.

When I did go to australia many years ago we changed in HK, which could be an interesting place for a day or two stop if you want to break the trip, but TBH it is probably easier to get it over with in one go. You’ll sleep on the 2nd flight!

I’d go with the short stop option. It is knackering but are you are just sat down most of the time. I actually don’t mind it that much. Sat in armchair, films on tap and people bringing you food and drink. I think you can do it it 2 eg Heathrow-Singapore-Cairns but you will need switch airlines mid way which could be an issue and will take longer. Might be easier to do something like BA all the way to Sydney then a short local hop. I think we had about 45 mins in Singapore airport. Long enough for a leg stretch and wee but didn’t add much to the journey time.

You can prebook the better seats with legroom for a hefty fee. About as much as a nice hotel room which can seem excessive but might be worth it. Or look at traveller plus or even club. Depends how much spare cash she has. The seats at the front are an awful lot better but its hard to justify the expense.

Crazy left field option, what about a cruise? Similar price to Club Class tickets, somewhat slower at around 40 days, but really well geared up to catering for older people.

Yep just checked, cairns is very limited international. Brisbane would be a much nicer airport to do international to domestic transfer over Sydney. Melbourne is better but a long way out.

I flew to Cairns in 2007. LHR to Singapore, Singapore to Darwin, Darwin to Cairns. It’s a long old way.

Second the recommendations for a business ticket at the very least. An elderly lady is not going to have a pleasant trip in economy. The cruise idea isn’t a bad one either. Cost probably wouldn’t be a million miles away from business flights.

Two weeks is not a long time considering the jet lag, discomfort of the trip and heightened emotional circumstances. Don’t underestimate how knackered you might be.

Breaking the trip up is a tricky one – you might just be extending the perceived travel time because you’re knackered and jet lagged in Singapore for another 24 hours.

Fly to Singapore first and spend at least one night to break up the journey. You can probably get a 1 stop journey London to Cairns through Singapore airline.
I used to do long (40hours plus) journeys and tried to do it with minimal stopovers and ended up broken at the other end. A 12-24 hour stopover sleeping in a proper bed in the makes a huge difference at least on the way out.
2 weeks is going to be very hard on you especially considering it will be 4 or more days traveling in that time.

http://www.cairnsairport.com.au/new-flight-list/?type=D
Cairns international is very limited

Thank you for all the comments and links. There’s a lot to think about.

She’s going to call me tonight after she’s spoken to her doctor so that we can make a final decision about whether we go or not.
After that, I guess there will be a lot of planning if we go.

I’ve agreed to purchase 2 additional weeks leave from work so I may be able to stretch to 2 1/2 weeks but I also have my own family/work to consider so a cruise is out of the question.

I’ve seen that we don’t need visas for Australia but do you need them for just stopping over in countries?
I assume that with a 24hr+ stopover, i’d have to arrange a hotel and transfers etc or do airlines do an inclusive price?

You need an electronic travel permit for Oz. https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETAS3/etas
Easy one to do but do it in advance.
Stop over depends where, Singapore was done on arrival easily. Nice city to stop in.

You need an electronic travel permit for Oz. https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETAS3/etas
Easy one to do but do it in advance.

If you forget, then you can expect to pay a hefty fee at Singapore airport, and a nervous wait while they’re calling your flight.

There is a reason why I know this…

She has been out there twice before (although not for 10-15 years) so is fully aware of what the journey entails. I also have no idea about how I should structure the trip, flights etc to suit her and anything I should be mindful of in relation to her health.

I’d ask your Nan. If she’s been out there twice before then she’ll probably already know what works for her 🙂

And good work for going with her, as you get older (I’m a bit older) you realise how incredibly important this sort of thing is. You’ll never regret it 🙂

Not my own experiences….but a friend of mine moved to Australia over a decade ago.

Her gran visits whenever her Mum & Dad fly over & has done since they emigrated.
I think she’s 94 now so has been travelling over there every couple of years since her early 80’s.

So…as long as she is in good health I don’t think there is any reason why your gran can’t fly. Obviously see the doc first and take sensible precautions like plenty of water when flying etc.

My gran managed it aged 85+ with 3 triple bypasses, anaemia that could only be treated with blood transplants and a couple of doses of pneumonia behind her.

Just make sure you have adequate travel insurance – it may be a challenge to get but not impossible (EDIT – seen you’ve already checked this out and to be honest that price doesn’t surprise me – just make sure ANY pre-exiting conditions are declared and covered. Don’t need to give them any excuse to wriggle in the event of a claim).

Also check with the airlines – I know they wanted a Dr’s letter to confirm grannybgoode was fit to fly.

Airline-wise – the premium Far East carriers would be my choice. Singapore is a very nice airport to transit through as is Seoul Incheon.

As to do once your there. May be not for your nan (but no reason why not to be honest) but for you https://www.skyrail.com.au/ is not to be missed…

I would go with either Emirates or Singapore Airlines and if I could, I would book in Business class. There are some deals going at the moment especially if you fly at an unpopular time. Be sure to keep Granny hydrated and get her to walk around a bit from time to time.

I would also book a room in the transit hotel airside at the major hub.

When I lived in Cairns assorted elderly relatives flew out. Oldest being my grandmother at 86 on her own.

The advice about getting wheelchairs is good even if your grandmother is mobile. There’s a lot of standing around otherwise.

As for stops etc, she’ll probably have a pretty good idea of her capabilities, so be guided by her. Once you get there, the heat is likely to be the biggest issue as it’s harder to cope with. Plenty water and air-conditioning is the answer. This time of year can be ok though.

As for what to do there, there’s plenty tourist info available. My pick – the chairlift to Kuranda which gives stunning views and is worthwhile.

If the heat gets too much, just drive up to the cafe at Lake Morris to enjoy a cooler climate.

I’ve done the trip 8 times now and this would be my advice.

– If you have the time to stop over then do, it breaks up the journey and even a few hours in a proper bed between flights makes a huge difference.
– If you don’t stop over take a change of clothes and use the airport terminal hotels for a shower and change before the next leg.
– If you can afford to then upgrade your seats. Qantas premium economy is superb and is a proper half-way house between economy and business, (note: not all airlines do premium economy and some routes into Oz don’t use premium equipped planes so you might end up flying into Sydney or Brisbane then doing a short internal flight)
-Most airlines now let you pay an additional fee per journey for legroom seats, however a lot of these are over wing exits and there may be age restrictions on the people they allocate them to, best to check.
– Avoid booking seats near the bulkheads as these are generally allocated to families with young children/babies
– Unless you book all journeys on one ticket with the same carrier the internal flights carry a smaller baggage allowance so just be aware you might get stung when you put your 23kg+ international allowance bag on a 20kg internal flight.
– Lastly, use a decent travel agent for your flights, the last 3 times we’ve been they got us better deals than we could ever have found ourselves.

As others have said, premium or business is pretty much essential. Even for a fit, healthy(ish) and young(ish) traveller, it’s a hell of a long way!

Perhaps break it up for a couple of days with a stopover. Singapore can be nice and relaxing.

I flew to New Zealand in the late 90’s with my mum and my gran, We stopped over in Singapore for a few days and then travelled onto Wellington with a short stop in Sydney (change flights). Economy on long haul flights is not like the shorter European routes but I’m sure any additional comfort will be appreciated if cost is not an issue.