Travel can be a risky venture for those over 65, over 70, and even over 75, because they are slightly more fragile than your average healthy 20-year-old. Seniors with medical conditions – and even those with no health conditions – need the right senior travel insurance coverage to protect them from financial losses.
Contents (click to jump down)
What are the risks for travelers over 65?
What coverage do you need as a senior?
When should you buy your senior travel insurance?
Where should you buy your senior travel insurance?
How can you be sure the travel insurance coverage is adequate?
What are the best travel insurance plans for senior travelers?
What are the risks for travelers over 65?
Some of the things that can go wrong for senior travelers include the following:
- A pre-existing condition reoccurs – simply by living longer, you are more likely to have a pre-existing medical condition. Should your condition reoccur while you are traveling, your medical coverage will be invalid unless you have informed the travel insurance company of the condition and purchased the pre-existing condition waiver.
- You experience a medical emergency – travel involves all kinds of new experiences: strange foods, foreign climates, and different surroundings. If you get ill or are injured on your trip, how will you arrange for emergency medical transportation in an unfamiliar region?
- Your tour is canceled – travel suppliers – including cruises, tours, and rentals – may have financial problems you don’t know about ahead of time. If they cease operations, how will you recover the money you paid them?
- You have to be evacuated – medical evacuations are highly expensive. If you are traveling in a region where the local medical facilities cannot adequately treat your condition, how will you arrange and pay for an emergency evacuation to a qualified medical hospital? After you are treated, how will you then get back home?
- Your luggage is stolen – thieves are highly resourceful and can steal luggage right out from under your nose. If you have important items – even those medications packed in your carry-on bag – how will you replace them and continue your trip?
- You need help or advice – anytime you are traveling in a new place, you could be in a situation where you need travel advice or emergency assistance. You may even need help communicating in a foreign language. If you need travel advice, legal advice, or foreign language assistance, who can you call?
Can a 75 year old get travel insurance?
Yes, you absolutely can! 75 is the new 55, haven’t you heard?
Travel at any age is more enjoyable when you know there’s a solid safety net in place in case anything goes wrong. Whether you’re planning a short visit to see old friends or new grandkids, you can buy travel insurance to protect yourself and your trip investment at any age.
If you’re planning a lot of trips domestic and/or abroad, purchasing an annual travel insurance plan can extend the same benefits all year long. The flexibility and security of an annual plan is that you only have to make the purchase decisions once and you’ll save some money too.
What coverage do you need as a senior traveler?
While the following is not an exhaustive list of all the coverages available with travel insurance plans, it describes those that are most useful to senior travelers.
- Medical coverage provides for emergency medical and dental care in the case of a sudden illness or injury on your trip. (Review the details of medical/dental coverage.)
- Pre-existing medical condition coverage provides protection against high medical costs that result from a recurring condition. (Review the details of pre-existing condition coverage.)
- Evacuation coverage arranges and pays for medically necessary evacuations or for the repatriation of a traveler’s remains. This coverage can also help a patient get home after they have been treated. (Review the details for evacuation and repatriation coverage.)
- Baggage coverage provides replacement value for items that are lost, stolen, or destroyed on your trip, including the bag itself. (Review the details for baggage coverage.)
- Financial default coverage provides reimbursem*nt for payments made to a travel supplier that completely ceases operations due to financial default or bankruptcy. (Review the details of financial default coverage.)
What is the maximum age for travel insurance?
Whether you’re cruiser or a museumgoer, the freedom to travel is one of the best things reaching this age group. You have the schedule flexibility and time to do it all, and it’s just not worth risking your financial status or your life to travel uninsured – especially if you’re traveling internationally.
Don’t assume that travel insurance is out of reach at any age. You can find affordable travel insurance as a senior at 70 and 80!
Why is travel insurance so expensive for senior travelers?
It’s the reality of things, unfortunately. Just as with any type of insurance, the price is calculated based on risk. Because senior travelers, as a group (not individually), are at a higher risk of having health issues, the cost of travel insurance rises with age.
But don’t be discouraged!
It is possible to find affordable travel insurance as a senior traveler.
Even if you’re an experienced traveler and in excellent shape, you never know what can happen. Travel insurance, like all other insurance plans, is designed to protect you from the unexpected. The events that can happen that no one could predict. It’s not just about your health either. With a good travel insurance plan, you’re protected from things that can happen that are entirely unrelated to your health, like tornadoes and terrorist attacks, for example.
5 Tips for Buying Travel Insurance over 65
The important thing to remember when buying travel insurance at any age is to assess your risk. Don’t think that travel insurance is out of your reach. Here’s how to buy travel insurance if you’re over 65:
- Think about your risks. Do you have a pre-existing health condition? Are you prone to any types of health issues? Are you spending a lot of money on this trip?
- Get a quote. The best thing about using a comparison tool like ours is that you can quickly and easily filter in or out the concerns you have and manage how much you’re spending on the travel insurance plan.
- If you’re not worried about losing your pre-paid expenses (maybe you’re getting the flight with miles and staying with friends, for example), then your focus is on covering emergency medical benefits and evacuation/repatriation costs.
- If the plans look expensive, take a second look at the amount of emergency medical and evacuation. You’ll need a good amount at a minimum (remember, Medicare doesn’t cover you outside the US) but at the same time, you may not need multi-millions in coverage. Adjust those filters a little and see what that saves you.
- Final tip: If you’re planning not one, but several trips, one of the best-kept secrets of saving on travel insurance is buying annual travel insurance. Just like when you add auto insurance to your home insurance plan, you save money on both. Annual travel insurance works similarly.
See how much travel medical and evacuation is enough to determine what coverage you need.
When should you buy your senior travel insurance?
Timing your travel insurance purchase is just as important as why you purchase it.
- When should I buy my travel insurance?
- What is the buying process?
- How much does travel insurance cost?
- What information do I need to buy it?
Remember that all travel insurance companies offer a free look period with a refund if you decide the plan is not what you need.
Where should you buy your senior travel insurance?
We recommend purchasing your travel insurance directly from a third-party company for a number of reasons.
- Buying Travel Insurance from a 3rd party company vs. through a travel agent
- Why buying Travel Insurance from a 3rd party company is better than buying from a Cruise Line
- Buying Travel Insurance Directly from the Company vs. Using a Comparison Site
Very briefly, you’ll have more choices and options in your travel insurance plan if you purchase from a third-party company using a comparison tool.
How can you be sure your travel insurance coverage is adequate?
These tips will help you determine whether you have enough coverage.
- 4 Steps to 100% confidence in your travel insurance plan
- Entering $0 Trip Cost is too risky
- Is ‘Cancel for any reason’ worth it?
Related topics
- 10 Tips for Seniors Traveling with Health Concerns
- Saving money with an annual travel insurance plan – ideal for senior citizens who travel a lot
- A safe cruise checklist for seniors, families, and couples
Damian Tysdal is the founder of CoverTrip, and is a licensed agent for travel insurance (MA 1883287). He believes travel insurance should be easier to understand, and started the first travel insurance blog in 2006.
