Booking travel for an elderly parent

A recurring conversation in Ghanaian families: getting an older relative to a clinic appointment, to church, to a family gathering across town. They may not want to deal with an app. They should not be negotiating a fare at a roadside. And you would like to know they arrived.

Topsy handles this well, provided you set it up rather than improvising each time.

Book it from your account

Put their name and phone number on the trip. The driver then knows who they are collecting and can call them directly rather than calling you across town. The fare settles on your account, so no money changes hands at the door.

They need no app, no account and no payment method.

Choose the vehicle deliberately

This is not the trip for the cheapest option. A saloon car with air conditioning, or something with an easier step in and out, is worth the difference. If there is a walking aid or a companion, the seat count matters too.

Write what the driver should know

The pickup note is where dignity lives. "Please wait at the gate, she walks slowly" prepares a driver properly and prevents the small indignity of being hurried. A driver who knows will help; a driver who does not may simply be impatient without meaning to be.

Share the trip

Share it with whoever is at the other end. A relative at the clinic can watch the car approach and meet them at the door. The link needs no account and expires on its own.

Make it a standing arrangement if it repeats

For a regular appointment, a recurring arrangement is less work than remembering. Topsy Teens is built around a guardian managing someone else's travel, and it works for an older relative for the same reasons: an arrangement you own, on days you choose, with the trips appearing in your account.

The part that matters most

Tell them the driver's name and the car before it arrives, and tell them about the PIN. Somebody waiting who knows exactly what to expect is in a completely different position from somebody waiting hopefully.