Travel Support for Older Adults
A Professional Travel Companion for the journey, so the trip itself is the easy part.
Last updated: October 10, 2026
Portage provides a Professional Travel Companion for older adults who need, or would simply prefer, support on a journey. Your Companion is an experienced caregiver who travels with them door to door, managing the airport, the connections, the bags, and any personal care along the way, while a Portage Case Coordinator plans and books the whole trip. Most older adults travel with a Travel Companion.
What makes travel harder for older adults?
Most of the older adults we travel with are capable people. What has changed is the journey. Large airports mean long walking distances, crowded security lines, and tight connections, with bags to manage and announcements to follow. Someone with a mobility limitation, reduced stamina, or a lighter medical issue may handle any one of those things on their own, but a full travel day of them, with no one to lean on, is a different matter.
For some, that means they stop travelling. A Travel Companion is the alternative: the trip goes ahead, and the hard parts are handled by someone whose only job that day is the traveller.
When family can't make the trip
Often the problem isn't the older adult at all. It's that no one in the family is free to travel with them. We hear two versions of this all the time:
The family is busy with the event
A parent or grandparent is coming to a wedding, a milestone birthday, a graduation, or a reunion, and the people who would normally travel with them are the ones organizing it. There is no one spare to fly out, support them for the trip them, and bring them back.
The kids are too busy to come and get them
An older parent wants to visit their adult children in another city, but the children can't take the days away from work and family to make the round trip twice, and the parent needs support to make the journey on their own.
In both cases, Portage fills the gap. Your Case Coordinator arranges the trip with the family, and a Travel Companion meets the traveller at home, travels with them, and sees them safely to the people waiting at the other end. When it's time to go home, we do the same in reverse.
An example from a recent journey
An adult daughter in Calgary wanted to spend time with her mother, who lives in Montreal and needed support to travel. For years, every visit meant flying to Montreal, bringing her mother back to Calgary, and then repeating the whole trip to take her home — several flights and multiple days off work for one visit.
Portage met her mother at home in Montreal, travelled with her to Calgary, and reunited them at the airport. At the end of the visit, a Travel Companion took her home the same way. The daughter spent her vacation days with her mom instead of in airports.
Read how we work with families and caregivers.
What does a Travel Companion do for an older adult?
Your Travel Companion is with the traveller for the whole journey and adapts to what the day brings. On a typical trip, that includes:
Meeting the traveller at home and handling the bags from the front door onward.
Check-in, security, and boarding, with airline assistance and wheelchair support arranged in advance by your Case Coordinator.
Getting through connections and terminal changes without the traveller having to find their way.
Hands-on personal care during the journey, such as help with eating, the washroom, and getting comfortable on the flight.
Medication reminders at the right times. The traveller manages their own medications; the Companion makes sure they aren't forgotten.
Updates to family at agreed points along the way.
Arrival at the destination, whether that is a family member at the airport, a hotel, a new home, or a care residence.
Learn more about the Travel Companion service.
Does an older adult need a Travel Companion or a Medical Escort?
Usually a Travel Companion. Age on its own doesn't decide the level of support; the traveller's health does. A Travel Companion is the right fit when the traveller needs personal care and someone to manage the journey, and their medical needs are stable. A Medical Escort is the right fit when the journey needs clinical care in transit, for example after a hospital stay or when medications must be administered along the way.
You don't need to work this out yourself. We assess the traveller's needs with you during the free Navigation Call and intake, and recommend the level of service before anything is booked.
Common questions about travel support for older adults
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Yes. That is the most common arrangement. Your Case Coordinator plans the trip with whoever is arranging it, whether that is the traveller, a family member, or an agency, and the Travel Companion travels with them from door to door, with updates at the points you've agreed on. Family can meet them at the airport, or we can see them to a hotel, a new home, or a residence. If a family member wants to come along, that works too: the Travel Companion looks after the traveller so everyone can simply travel together, and we can make the arrangements for
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No. Airline wheelchair assistance is an option, not a requirement. Many travellers use it only for the long walks between gates, and some don't use it at all. Your Case Coordinator arranges it based on the traveller's needs and comfort, and your Travel Companion adjusts on the day to meet the traveller's needs.
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Any journey from one place to another: visits to family, weddings and reunions, seasonal travel between homes, a move closer to family or into a retirement residence, and the trip home from any of these. Most are commercial flights within Canada; we also support international journeys and, for shorter trips, ground transport for the whole journey.
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Portage is set up for the journey itself, to and from the destination. Ongoing support during a stay isn't part of the standard service, but we can discuss it case by case.
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As early as you can. Advance notice gives your Case Coordinator time to arrange flights, airline assistance, and ground transport that suit the traveller. Shorter timelines are often possible; call and we'll tell you what we can do.
Let’s plan the journey
Tell us about the traveller and the trip. We'll recommend the level of support, plan the journey, and have a Travel Companion ready to go.