April 28, 2005

Frontier Travel & Tours, Office on Aging team up to offer senior excursions

By Shari Kaplan
Times Editor

San Jose residents age 50 and older can now reserve spots on buses, trains, ships and planes at 11 senior and community centers, courtesy of the Office on Aging and Frontier Travel & Tours.

Local participants include the Almaden Senior Program at 7050 Bret Harte Drive, Southside Senior Center at 5585 Cottle Road, Evergreen Senior Program at 4860 San Felipe Road, Willows Senior Center at 2175 Lincoln Ave. and Kirk Senior Program at 1601 Foxworthy Ave.

Frontier Travel & Tours has partnered with the Office on Aging, which operates under San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, as a provider of recreational trips geared toward older adults. Volunteer tour escorts at the centers are available to answer questions and make the necessary reservations for a variety of excursions.

Assisting them are Frontier service representatives Noel Wall and Ed Henschel, both of whom have been arranging and escorting trips for many years.

The Office on Aging operated a popular travel program for San Jose seniors from 1969 to 2002. Following a temporary hiatus and a comprehensive selection process for a replacement travel provider, it chose Frontier based on the company’s high ratings in every category.

“Frontier Travel is pleased and honored to revive the San Jose senior centers’ travel program,” said David Lippincott, the company’s president. “We accepted the challenge to provide exciting travel opportunities for San Jose’s senior citizens. Since 1965, Frontier’s goal has been to provide senior citizens with travel opportunities that are fun, safe, educational entertaining and available at affordable rates.”

Among the upcoming day trips offered are a May 18 tour of Safari West on 400 acres in the Santa Rosa area, including a hosted lunch; a May 26 tour of Sacramento including visits to the state capital, California Railroad Museum, Discover Museum, Old Town Sacramento and a hosted lunch; and a June 24 tour of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, including admission to the newly renovated Conservatory of Flowers and a hosted lunch.

A two-day trip to see the Broadway hit musical “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” at the Eldorado Hotel Casino in Reno, Nev. takes place June 12-13 and includes overnight lodging, show tickets, complimentary dinner and breakfast buffets and cash back in the casinos. All trips depart from the various senior centers, are by deluxe motorcoaches and include driver gratuities and professional escorts. Extended trips to San Diego, New Mexico, the Mexican Riviera and Ireland are also available.

For more information, call (800) 698-7355 or (800) 955-2877, visit www.frontiertraveltours.com/sanjose or stop by a local senior center.