They’re always worth checking, but sometimes neither online travel sites nor bricks’n’mortar travel agencies always get the best hotel prices. Most effective for finding a lower quote can often be to call the hotel phone directly during business hours.

But be sure to call the hotel’s local phone number, never the 800 info line. Then you could get an operator in Timbuktu you can’t understand. Further, that person may have no authority to book you for anything but the highest advertised retail price.

Of course, the season has much to do with day-by-day rates. For lowest prices, book Miami in July, Aspen in August, Las Vegas in October and New York in February.

We in our sunset years want to keep up with the younger generations. We seek to have all those little electronic boxes that serve as phones, tv screens, shoppers, maps and other eyeball distractions.

However, as we see in the news almost daily, there are terrible accidents caused by car drivers who take their eyes off the road to peer in the little boxes. Even when they do it for only two or three brief seconds, traffic on busy city streets and highways can become deadly.

Seniors, whether they admit it or not, slow down mentally and have diminishing sight and hearing. Also, if you get a call while driving, pull over to safety before responding. Failure to follow safety rules makes for potential disaster when they’re behind the wheel of a car.

Fond memories among history buffs and seniors still linger about John F. Kennedy as skipper of PT-109. They recall how his combat heroics started him on the path to the presidency. Now, you can experience a ride in a similar vintage boat on the city’s Lake Pontchartrain.

PT-305, commissioned in 1943 and a veteran of the war in Europe, has been completely restored for the National World War II Museum. These days it takes regular sailings on the lake with passengers aboard. For fees, schedules and other info, go to pt305.org

A friend recently reported being driven from the airport in a Las Vegas taxi by a white-haired driver. She says she could tell by the wrinkled face and jerky-moves that he had to be at least 75 years old.

She was frightened and shaken as the driver raced along, watery eyes squinting into the desert sunlight. The taxi eventually got to her hotel, but only after some near-collisions on the busy streets.

Another incident involving a confused private plane pilot of the same age recently almost caused a collision while landing at busy Los Angeles Airport. His small aircraft came within a few feet of a taxiing passenger jet on the runway. 

The recording of the confused message to LAX air traffic has the private pilot, famed actor Harrison Ford, calling himself a Yiddish name for stupid. Therefore, if you ride in a private plane or city taxi, just make sure the pilot or driver isn’t a 75-year-old schmuck.