Best Travel Insurance for Seniors in 2025

How Much Does Senior Travel Insurance Cost?

On average, comprehensive travel insurance premiums cost roughly 5-10% of a traveler’s total trip cost. With that in mind, seniors can expect to pay $400-$450 for comprehensive coverage for their trips abroad.

The cost of travel insurance is determined by a variety of factors, including a traveler’s age, destination, trip length, and coverage amounts. Add-ons and policy upgrades can also increase the cost of a travel insurance plan.

Frequent travelers may benefit from an annual travel insurance plan, also known as multi-trip insurance. These plans provide many of the popular benefits found in standard travel insurance, but provide coverage for a 12-month period regardless of the amount of trips taken.

Annual policies are often cost effective for travelers that plan to take at least three international trips in a year.

Is Senior Travel Insurance Worth It?

Yes, travel insurance is strongly recommended for senior travelers, especially if they are planning an international trip. This is due to the fact that most domestic healthcare policies, such as Medicare, do not provide medical coverage overseas. In addition, overseas travel typically comes with higher trip costs and greater risks of delays, baggage loss, and other disruptions.

The cost of travel insurance is often small compared to the high costs of receiving medical care abroad or having to cancel a trip before it begins.

All major travel insurance companies offer 24/7 emergency assistance services. This can provide senior travelers with peace of mind and critical support if their trip takes an unexpected turn for the worse.

When Should Seniors Purchase Travel Insurance?

As with any age group, seniors should purchase travel insurance as early as possible. We typically recommend buying your trip protection within 10-14 days of making your initial trip payment, whether that be your airfare, hotel accommodations, or cruise booking.

This is especially important for those that wish to include time-sensitive benefits as part of their coverage, such as Pre-Existing Condition and Cancel For Any Reason.

Purchasing travel insurance early will also maximize coverage for travelers in the event a medical emergency, natural disaster, or other covered event happens leading up to a trip.

How Much Travel Medical Insurance is Recommended for Seniors?

For senior travelers, we recommend having at least $100,000 in Emergency Medical coverage and at least $250,000 in Medical Evacuation coverage. This amount of coverage generally offers enough medical protection for most trips. Keep in mind that exclusions, deductibles, and eligibility requirements may apply.

For senior travelers, we recommend having at least $100,000 in Emergency Medical coverage and at least $250,000 in Medical Evacuation coverage. This amount of coverage generally offers enough medical protection for most trips. Keep in mind that exclusions, deductibles, and eligibility requirements may apply.

Does Medicare Cover International Trips?

No, Medicare and other types of domestic healthcare plans do not typically cover bills relating to overseas medical treatment, which is why many seniors opt for travel insurance to cover potential overseas medical bills.

With that said, Medicare may cover medical emergencies that happen on U.S. soil or in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Limited coverage may also be available for seniors traveling to Canada. This information may be found in the fine print of your healthcare documentation.

Is There an Age Limit on Travel Insurance?

For the most part, travel insurance providers allow travelers of all ages to be covered by a policy. Providers that do enforce age restrictions will note them in their policy details if any apply. For example, a provider may state in their Certificate of Insurance that they don’t cover seniors that are over 100 years old. With that said, most seniors should be able to find a policy regardless of their age.

What Benefits Does the Best Senior Travel Insurance Include?

Almost 40% of all travelers who buy travel insurance through Squaremouth are seniors. This shows the popularity of travel later in life, and highlights the value of trip protection for those travelers.

Seniors looking for the best coverage for their upcoming trip should consider a policy with the following benefits:

• Trip Cancellation: If you get injured or fall ill before a trip starts and can’t travel, Trip Cancellation can reimburse your trip costs.
• Trip Interruption: Emergencies can happen when you are on vacation. Trip Interruption can help you cover the costs of returning home early for a covered reason, like a medical emergency during your trip. Most plans offer coverage between 100% and 150% of the insured trip cost.
• Emergency Medical Coverage: With medical coverage through a travel insurance policy, you may be reimbursed for costs related to treatment overseas, such as hospital bills, x-rays, ambulance services, and lab costs.
• Medical Evacuation: In the event of a medical emergency, a doctor may order you to be transported to another medical facility or return home for adequate treatment. Medical Evacuation insurance can cover these transportation costs, which can easily rise to tens of thousands of dollars.
• Travel Delay: If your flight is delayed, the Travel Delay benefit will cover food and accommodation expenses throughout the duration of the delay. To be eligible, the delay must meet the minimum amount of time outlined in the policy details, typically 3-12 hours.
• Missed Connection: Airline and railway delays can happen at any time, causing you to miss your connecting flights. Missed Connection coverage can help reimburse the costs you incur to catch up to your trip and reach your destination.
• Baggage Delay: Luggage can get lost anytime it’s checked, whether it is on an airplane or aboard a cruise ship. Baggage Delay benefits may help pay for emergency replacement items, including clothes and personal items, if your bags are lost for an extended period of time.
• Cancel for Any Reason: CFAR benefits helps you recover a portion of your non-refundable costs if you decide not to go for most uncovered reasons. This can include anything from canceling due to a grandson’s birthday party to bad weather reports.