A travel companion for an older person travelling alone

The first is an escorted tour. Your parent books a place on a coach, rail or river trip with a group, and a tour manager travels with the group and looks after the itinerary, the hotels and the timings. The second is a holiday for single travellers, where everybody on the trip has come on their own and the company of the group is part of what is being sold. The third is to pay somebody to travel with your parent: a companion carer who comes on the holiday, helps with the journey and the days out, and is there for your parent rather than for a group.

A fourth option sits alongside these. Some hotels and charities run holidays with care included, where staff on site help guests who need it. Respite holidays compares those with bringing a carer of your own.

None of these is the right answer for everybody. A parent who still drives, walks for an hour and likes meeting people may love a singles holiday and find a paid companion fussy. A parent who has grown unsteady on stairs, is slower to find their way in a strange place, or has not been away since the funeral may enjoy a holiday far more with one familiar person beside them. Ask your parent what kind of trip they have in mind before you decide on the arrangement.

The table describes kinds of holiday, not any particular operator, and every tour and singles holiday is different. If your parent is leaning towards a group trip, ask the operator how far the walking is each day, whether there are lifts, what happens if somebody needs to rest, and whether a single room is available and at what price. If the answers leave gaps your parent would struggle with, those gaps are where a companion helps.

The two can also be combined. A companion can travel with your parent on an escorted tour, if the operator will take two bookings, so your parent has the group's itinerary and one person who is there for them. Book the companion's place at the same time as your parent's.

The journey is where a companion helps most. Stations and airports are tiring places for anybody, and harder for somebody who walks slowly, hears less well or worries about missing a connection. A companion carries the bags, keeps the tickets and the medicines together, finds the lift and the toilet, and keeps an eye on the time so your parent does not have to. On the train, National Rail's Passenger Assist can be booked for help boarding and leaving. At an airport, the Civil Aviation Authority's guidance on assisted travel says to request assistance when you book, or at least 48 hours before departure, and that a companion can escort your parent through the airport instead if you prefer.

Once you arrive, a day with a companion might look like this.

Companionship on its own covers conversation, walks, meals out, days out and reminders about medicines. If your parent also needs help with washing, dressing or the toilet, that is personal care, and the carer's rate reflects it. Be clear about which you need when you talk to carers, because some companions do not offer personal care and some carers do both. What a companion visit looks like describes the companionship side in more detail.

When you know what the trip needs, you can describe it in the trip form further down this page, or search for companion carers near your parent and compare their rates. Every carer on PrimeCarers is self-employed and agrees the work directly with your family. Before a carer's profile appears, their identity and right to work have been checked, they hold an enhanced DBS check (a PVG in Scotland, an Access NI check in Northern Ireland) issued within the last 2 years, and they have been interviewed online. Separately, carers are insured while they work. We do not check qualifications, training or references. Reviews and references on a carer's profile are not verified by us, so ask the carer about their experience of travelling with an older person and follow up the references that matter to you.

For a short break, the hourly route is usually the simpler one. You and the carer agree how many hours a day they are on duty, and the rest of their time on the trip is their own. Count the whole day: if the companion travels with your parent from nine in the morning and sees them back to their room after dinner, that is a long day, and it is fairer to agree it as such than to count only the hours spent on outings.

For a week or more, or for a parent who needs help through the whole day, a live-in carer for the trip may suit better. The weekly rate covers the carer being with your parent through the trip, with a daily break of their own, and live-in arrangements usually allow for the odd short waking at night. Can I take a live-in carer on holiday with me? covers rest and a room of their own on a longer trip, and the cost of live-in care explains the weekly figures.

On top of the carer's rate you will pay for the carer's own share of the holiday: their train or flight, a room, and their meals. Who pays for these, and how, is agreed between you and the carer before you book. Some families include the companion's room in the hotel booking and agree a daily amount for meals. Either works, as long as it is written down. Under the standard PrimeCarers contract, travel expenses are only payable if they have been agreed in advance and in writing, and other out of pocket expenses are refunded against receipts once agreed.

Travel insurance needs its own conversation. When you get a quote for your parent, declare every condition they have, because a condition that was not declared can lead to a claim being refused. MoneyHelper, the government-backed money guidance service, runs a directory of insurers who consider more serious medical conditions. Ask the companion what their own insurance covers while they work away from home, and whether they want travel insurance for the trip as well. If your parent is staying in England for a while, a GP practice can register them as a temporary patient, which the NHS guidance on registering with a GP surgery explains.

Tell us when the trip is, where your parent is going and what the companion would do, and give the town or postcode where your parent lives. The form is for trips in the UK, and carers are found near your parent's home, so the companion can travel with them from the start. You then read the profiles of carers who respond, talk to two or three, and agree the arrangement directly with the one your parent likes.

Before the trip, arrange for your parent and the companion to meet, even for an hour. A short paid visit or a video call is enough for your parent to decide whether they would be comfortable spending a week with this person. If they are not, it is far better to find out at home. Can you take a carer on holiday with you? covers the same planning when a relative is travelling too, and where to take an older person on holiday in the UK can help you choose the destination.