Snowbird glasses checklist: get ready for your Phoenix season

The best way to get your glasses ready for a winter in Phoenix is to pack a current copy of your prescription, bring a backup pair, plan for real prescription sunglasses, and check any eyewear that spent the summer in a parked car. If you need new lenses, order them early in your stay, because the shop gets busier as the season fills up. Here is the checklist we walk winter visitors through at our counter in Biltmore Plaza.

1. Bring a current copy of your prescription

This is the item people forget most, and it is the one that slows everything down. We are opticians, not optometrists, so we do not do eye exams. We make glasses from a prescription written by your eye doctor, and that can be your doctor back home in Minnesota or Ontario just as easily as one here in Phoenix.

• Ask for a printed or emailed copy at your last exam. A clear photo on your phone works too.
• Check the date. Prescriptions carry an expiration date set by your doctor. If yours has lapsed, book an exam before you leave home or with a local eye doctor once you arrive.
• Make sure the PD is on it if you can. We measure pupillary distance ourselves at the fitting, but having it on file never hurts.

If your prescription has an ADD power, you are a progressive or reading lens wearer, and the details matter even more.

2. Pack a backup pair

Glasses break on vacation at about the same rate they break at home, which is to say at the worst possible moment. A dog steps on them, a grandchild sits on them, or they slide off a lounge chair by the pool. If you have an older pair with a prescription that is still close, pack it in a hard case. It turns a crisis into a mild inconvenience.

If a frame does snap, bring it in. Plenty of problems are fixable, and Vince has seen nearly every way a pair of glasses can come apart. If it is beyond repair, we can talk about what it takes to replace it, and how long.

What happens to glasses left in a car all summer in Phoenix?

They often come out damaged. A car parked through a Phoenix summer gets far hotter inside than the air outside, and that heat is hard on eyewear. We see this every October: a winter visitor opens the glove box, finds the spare pair they left behind in May, and the lenses look cloudy or crackled.

What usually happens:

• Coatings craze. Anti-reflective coatings can develop a fine web of cracks that looks like a haze you cannot clean off.
• Plastic frames warp or loosen. Acetate softens in high heat, so temples splay and lenses can shift in the frame.
• Nose pads and hinges suffer. Pads can harden or discolor, and screws work loose.

A loose or crooked frame is usually a quick adjustment. Crazed coatings cannot be repaired, so the lenses need replacing. If you left anything in a car, casita or storage unit over the summer, bring it by and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth saving.

3. Plan for desert sun, even in January

Winter in the Valley is mild, but the sun is still bright, and most of your days will be spent outdoors. Golf in Scottsdale, patio lunches in Arcadia, a walk around the Biltmore, a drive out to the lake. If you wear glasses to see at a distance, non-prescription sunglasses over contacts or squinting through clip-ons gets old fast.

A dedicated pair of prescription sunglasses is often the pair winter visitors wear most. Polarized lenses cut the glare off windshields, pool water and pale concrete, and Maui Jim makes polarized lenses in your prescription. If you wear progressives, you can have progressive sunglasses too, so you can read a scorecard or a menu without switching pairs. Try a few lens colors outside in real sun before you decide.

4. Order new glasses early in your stay

Our busiest months run from October through May, which lines up neatly with the season. If you know you want new glasses or sunglasses this winter, come in during your first week or two rather than your last. That gives us time to make them properly and gives you time to wear them while you are still here for any follow-up adjustments.

A realistic picture of timing from our on-site lab:

• Readers and spherical single-vision lenses are in stock.
• Most other single-vision lenses can be ordered overnight.
• Single vision with astigmatism is usually ready in 1 to 2 business days, holidays excluded.
• Progressives and specialty lenses take longer, and we will give you a timeline when you order.

That last point is the one to plan around. Progressive lenses are measured and made for the frame you choose, and the first week or two of wearing them is when small adjustments help most. Leaving on a Tuesday and ordering on the Monday before is cutting it close.

5. Check your FSA or HSA calendar

Many people arrive in November with flexible spending money they need to use before the end of the year. Prescription eyewear, including prescription sunglasses, is generally an eligible expense, but rules vary by plan, so check yours. Our post on using your FSA or HSA on glasses has the details. Combine this with item four, since the end of the year is busy for everyone.

6. Know when it is not a glasses problem

Travel, dry desert air and a change of routine can make eyes feel tired or scratchy for a few days. That is common. But sudden changes in vision, flashes of light, a shower of new floaters or eye pain are not something new glasses will fix. See an eye doctor promptly, wherever you are. If you need a local referral, ask us. Many of our customers come to us from ophthalmologists and optometrists in the area, and we are glad to point you in the right direction.

Stop by when you get to town

Tager Optical is at 3126 E Camelback Rd, at the northwest corner of Biltmore Plaza next to Safeway, an easy drive from Paradise Valley, Arcadia and Scottsdale, with free parking out front. Walk-ins are welcome: Monday through Thursday 10am to 5:30pm, Friday 10am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to noon. Dogs are welcome too, so bring yours along.

Not sure what your prescription calls for, or whether that pair from the glove box can be saved? Text a photo of your prescription or your glasses to (602) 799-1345 before you come in, and we will tell you what to expect. Our visit page has directions.