Best travel insurance for seniors in April 2024
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BLUEPRINT
Updated 4:00 a.m. UTC April 1, 2024
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Tin Leg and Trawick International offer the best travel insurance for seniors, according to our analysis of plans’ cost and coverage limits.
Best senior travel insurance plans of 2024
- Tin Leg: Gold
- Trawick International: Safe Travels First Class
- Seven Corners: Trip Protection Choice
- Generali Global Assistance: Premium
- Nationwide: Prime
Why trust our travel insurance experts
Our team of experts evaluates hundreds of insurance products and analyzes thousands of data points to help you find the best product for your situation. We use a data-driven methodology to determine each rating. Advertisers do not influence our editorial content. You can read more about our methodology below.
- 840 coverage details evaluated.
- 84 rates reviewed.
- 5 levels of fact-checking.
Top-rated travel insurance for seniors
Compare the best travel insurance for seniors
| TRAVEL INSURANCE COMPANY | TOP-SCORING SENIOR TRAVEL INSURANCE PLAN | Our Rating | Learn More | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Tin Leg | Gold | Compare Quotes Via TravelInsurance.com’s website | ||||||
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 Trawick International | Safe Travels First Class | Compare Quotes Via TravelInsurance.com’s website | ||||||
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 Seven Corners | Trip Protection Choice | Compare Quotes Via TravelInsurance.com’s website | ||||||
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 Generali Global Assistance | Premium | Compare Quotes Via TravelInsurance.com’s website | ||||||
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 Nationwide | Prime | Compare Quotes Via TravelInsurance.com’s website | ||||||
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Methodology
Our insurance experts analyzed cost and coverage data from 21 plans to determine the best senior travel insurance. For this rating, we only scored travel insurance plans that offer the option to buy “cancel for any reason” (CFAR) coverage.
The benefits we scored out of a possible 100 points include:
Cost: 50 points. We scored the average cost for each travel insurance policy for a variety of international trips and traveler profiles.
Medical expenses: 15 points. Travel insurance plans that offer travel medical expense benefits of $500,000 per person were given the highest amount of points.
Medical evacuation: 15 points. Travel insurance plans with emergency medical evacuation benefits of $500,000 or more per person were given the highest number of points.
Pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver: 20 points. Travel insurance plans that cover pre-existing medical conditions if the policy is purchased within a required timeline received points.
What is covered by travel insurance for seniors?
The best travel insurance bundles several types of insurance to provide financial protection before and during your trip.
A comprehensive senior travel insurance plan will include the following coverage types:
- Trip cancellation insurance.
- Trip delay insurance.
- Trip interruption insurance.
- Travel medical insurance.
- Emergency medical evacuation.
- Baggage loss and delay coverage.
What’s the most important travel insurance coverage for senior travelers?
Health is a top concern for older travelers. Travel insurance for senior citizens should have high coverage limits for trip interruption, travel medical insurance and emergency medical evacuation.
“Since Medicare doesn’t provide coverage abroad, it’s important for senior travelers to pay close attention to policies’ medical benefits, including emergency medical, medical evacuation and pre-existing conditions,” said James Clark, a spokesperson for the travel-insurance comparison site Squaremouth, the company behind Tin Leg travel insurance.
Older travelers should also pay attention to whether a travel insurance plan’s emergency medical coverage is primary or secondary.
“When traveling outside the U.S., seniors should know that it’s recommended to purchase a travel insurance plan that includes primary emergency medical coverage,” said Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection vice president, Carol Mueller.
“Senior travelers on Medicare who purchase a travel insurance plan with secondary medical coverage will need to first try to get Medicare to cover their emergency travel medical expenses, which in many cases is limited to no coverage,” said Mueller. “Avoid the hassle and choose a travel insurance plan with primary medical coverage.”
How to choose the best senior travel insurance
Senior travelers shopping for travel insurance should look for plans with these benefits:
- Emergency medical expense coverage of at least $250,000. This pays for emergency medical expenses you incur during your trip and includes medical coverage for COVID-19.
- Emergency medical evacuation coverage of at least $500,000. This pays to transport you to the nearest adequate medical facility for you to get the care you require when a physician says your illness or injury is severe enough to warrant it. Emergency medical evacuation coverage may also pay to fly a loved one to be with you and to fly you home for further treatment or recovery.
- Preexisting condition coverage. Some plans include a preexisting condition waiver as long as you buy travel insurance within a certain number of days of making your first trip deposit, you insure the full value of your trip and you are medically able to travel at the time of departure. Having a waiver will give you coverage for medical conditions documented in your health history in the 60 to 180 days before you buy your plan, with some exclusions.
- Trip interruption coverage of 150%. Trip interruption insurance reimburses you for unused, prepaid, nonrefundable trip expenses if your trip is unexpectedly interrupted while you’re in transit or at your destination. It can also cover travel costs associated with having to change your plans, such as needing to buy a last-minute economy ticket for a one-way flight home. Buying an extra ticket can push your claim over 100% of your original trip expenses, so it’s wise to look for a plan that reimburses up to 150%.
- “Cancel for any reason” (CFAR) upgrade available. For an additional cost, you can sometimes add “cancel for any reason” coverage to your travel insurance plan. This typically reimburses up to 75% of nonrefundable trip expenses if you decide not to travel for a reason not covered by your policy, as long as you cancel at least two days before you’re scheduled to travel.
How much does senior travel insurance cost?
The average cost of senior travel insurance is $434 per trip, based on our analysis of rates for older travelers. For senior trips with “cancel for any reason” (CFAR) coverage, the average cost of travel insurance increases to $629.
Travel insurance for seniors typically costs around 7% to 9% of your total prepaid, nonrefundable trip expenses. Adding CFAR coverage can add 45% or more to that cost.
How much you pay for travel insurance will depend on the age of you and your fellow travelers, the length of your trip and the total of your nonrefundable trip costs.
Compare senior travel insurance rates
| TRAVEL INSURANCE COMPANY | BEST TRAVEL INSURANCE PLAN FOR SENIORS | AVERAGE TRAVEL INSURANCE COST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Travel Insured | Worldwide Trip Protector | $431 | ||||
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| Tin Leg | Gold | $436 | ||||
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| Trawick International | Safe Travels First Class | $439 | ||||
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| Generali Global Assistance | Premium | $445 | ||||
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| Nationwide | Prime | $446 | ||||
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| Seven Corners | Trip Protection Choice | $483 | ||||
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Average senior travel insurance costs are based on rates for international trips for travelers ages 65 and 70, with CFAR coverage and without. Travel insurance plans have different levels of benefits, which can account for price differences.
Travel smart: Find cheap travel insurance that meets your needs.
How to save money on travel insurance for seniors
Travel insurance companies don’t typically offer discounts. But if you can get a senior discount on any of your travel itself, you’ll have a smaller trip cost to insure. This will lower the cost of your senior travel insurance.
Getting quotes from multiple travel insurance providers is also a great way to save money. Every policy offers more coverage in some areas and less in others. Depending on what coverage is most important to you, certain policies will give you more value than others.
Get the coverage you need: What does travel insurance cover?
Is CFAR worth it for senior travelers?
CFAR coverage adds to the cost of your plan, but older travelers may want to consider a travel insurance policy with both trip cancellation insurance and “cancel for any reason” coverage, said Clark.
CFAR benefits offer maximum flexibility to cancel your plans due to illness, injury or any other reason and will reimburse a percentage of your nonrefundable trip costs, usually 50% or 75%. The only caveat is that you’ll need to cancel at least two days before you plan to travel.
When shopping for travel insurance, look for CFAR-related fine print. You often must buy CFAR within a certain number of days of making your first trip deposit, such as 14 days. You are also usually required to insure the full value of your nonrefundable trip expenses.
More travel insurance for seniors resources
- What is travel insurance?
- What does travel insurance cover?
- Average cost of travel insurance
- Is travel insurance worth it?
- Best COVID travel insurance
- Best cruise travel insurance
Best senior travel insurance FAQs
If you rely on Medicare for health insurance and you’re traveling internationally, buying senior travel insurance with excellent emergency medical insurance and emergency medical evacuation benefits is a good idea.
“One of the most important considerations for travelers with existing health issues is to find a plan that offers a preexisting condition exclusion waiver,” said Stan Sandberg, cofounder and CEO of TravelInsurance.com.
To qualify for the waiver, you’ll usually need to purchase your trip insurance policy within seven to 14 days of making your initial trip payment. Some premium policies may extend this coverage if you buy them before or within 24 hours of making your final trip payment, he said.
Even with a waiver, medical bills related to certain excluded conditions such as dementia or depression may not be covered, so read the policy carefully to see if your preexisting conditions qualify.
Tin Leg’s Gold plan and Trawick International’s Safe Travel First Class plan provide the best travel insurance for seniors for the price, according to our analysis. These are the only plans to merit 5 stars in our rating.
Yes, you can get travel insurance over 80, but it will cost you more.
Yes. If you’re shopping for travel insurance over 80, for instance, you’ll pay an average of 18% of your total trip cost. That is considerably higher than the average cost of travel insurance for a 30-year-old, which is only 5%.
Travel insurance for the elderly varies by insurer when it comes to upper age limits. If you are concerned about finding the best travel medical insurance for seniors over 70, start with an online comparison site like Squaremouth where you only have to enter your age and trip details once to see which policies are available to you.
Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
