Travel Insurance for Seniors Over 70

Special Considerations With Over 70 Travel Insurance:

When taking a trip in your later years, it’s important to consider the unique risks and challenges that you may face along the way. As you compare policies for your upcoming adventure, be sure to take into account the following factors:

Pre-existing Medical Conditions

When exploring the world later in life, it’s possible you may be traveling with a chronic or existing health issue. Unfortunately, many travel insurance policies exclude coverage for pre-existing medical conditions, leaving you financially responsible if a flare-up occurs during your trip.

However, some travel insurance plans offer a Pre-Existing Condition waiver, which removes this exclusion from the policy and extends medical coverage to your pre-existing health issues. In order to qualify for a waiver, you must meet your plan’s eligibility requirements. This may include the following:

• Purchase Plan During Time-Sensitive Window: Most plans require you to buy your travel insurance within 10 to 21 days of your first trip payment
• Insure 100% of Your Travel Expenses: You must purchase a comprehensive travel insurance plan and insure all of your prepaid, non-refundable trip costs
• Be Medically Stable During Lookback Period: There can be no changes to your condition during your lookback period, which is typically 60-180 days prior to your departure date
• Be Fit to Travel: You cannot be experiencing symptoms, receiving treatment, or under medical advice that would reasonably prevent you from taking your trip at the time you purchase your policy

Plan Types

When searching for travel insurance, it’s important to be aware of the fact that there are multiple types of plans to choose from. The best plan for you is one that meets your travel needs, fits your budget, and provides peace of mind for the duration of your trip.

• Comprehensive: This is the most popular, and most expensive, type of coverage available to travelers over 70, as it provides financial protection against last-minute cancellations, medical expenses, emergency evacuations, delays, and other common disruptions.
• Travel Medical: These policies place a focus on medical coverage abroad, and are not designed to protect your travel investments in the event of a cancellation. This results in cheaper premiums, but less robust protection.
• Annual: These plans provide coverage for multiple trips over a 12-month period, usually with a limit on the duration of each trip (typically 30 to 90 days). They’re ideal for frequent travelers looking for continuous protection without the need to buy a new policy for every trip.

The vast majority of travelers over 70 opt for comprehensive plans with high medical coverage. This type of coverage is highly recommended due to the unpredictable nature of traveling at this age.

Price Factors

There are multiple factors that can impact your travel insurance premium, including your age, trip length, travel expenses, and destination. Another determining factor is whether or not you choose to apply add-ons or upgrades to your plan.

Some travel insurance companies allow you to enhance your policy through optional add-ons and coverage upgrades during the checkout process. Some of the more popular ways to enhance coverage among senior travelers include:

• Cancel for Any Reason: Provides partial reimbursement for your insured travel expenses if you choose to cancel your trip for a reason not already covered by standard trip cancellation coverage.
• Interruption for Any Reason: Provides partial reimbursement if you choose to end your trip early for an uncovered reason.
• Rental Car Damage Protection: Covers the cost of damage to, or theft of, a rental vehicle during your covered trip.
• Coverage Upgrades: Allows you to increase coverage limits for select benefits, like Emergency Medical and Medical Evacuation, for a small fee.

What Does Over 70s Travel Insurance Cover?

Comprehensive travel insurance covers the most common traveler concerns, like cancellations, medical emergencies, delays, and lost luggage.

For travelers over 70, travel insurance is particularly important, as it can help offset the high costs of medical care abroad and provide peace of mind throughout your trip. Below are the benefits you can expect in a comprehensive travel insurance plan.

Trip Cancellations

If you suffer a medical emergency before your departure date, your travel insurance policy’s Trip Cancellation benefit can reimburse you for up to 100% of your prepaid, non-refundable trip costs.

Other reasons to cancel a trip through this coverage include an unexpected death in the family, inclement weather, terrorism, natural disasters, and civil unrest.

Medical Emergencies

Regardless of your age, there’s always a risk of getting sick or injured while traveling. If you’re overseas in a country where U.S. health insurance doesn’t apply, these medical expenses can quickly add up.

Emergency Medical coverage is designed to reimburse you for unexpected medical expenses incurred during your trip, such as hospital stays, doctor visits, and prescription medication. For travelers 70+ years old, we recommend plans that offer at least $100,000 in travel medical coverage.

Medical Evacuations & Repatriation

Emergency medical transportation, either domestically or abroad, can be extremely expensive. Depending on the severity of the injury and distance from a medical facility, it’s not uncommon for these services to exceed $100,000 in cost.

Medical Evacuation is a common benefit included in most plans, and is designed to cover the cost of emergency evacuations to the nearest adequate medical facility. This benefit can also help cover the cost of repatriation services in the event you, or a travel companion, pass away during a covered trip.

Senior travelers over 70 should consider travel insurance policies that offer at least $250,000 in Medical Evacuation coverage.

Travel Delays

Flight delays and cancellations are an all too familiar part of travel. Unexpected delays due to weather, airline issues, or other covered reasons can leave you stuck in transit and facing unplanned expenses such as meals or overnight accommodations.

Travel Delay coverage reimburses you for meals, lodging, and transportation expenses if your trip is significantly delayed. We recommend plans that provide coverage for flight delays of at least 3 hours.

Missed Connections

If a flight delay causes you to miss a connecting flight, cruise departure, or tour, Missed Connection coverage can reimburse you for rebooking costs or alternative transportation to catch up with your trip.

This benefit is especially valuable for cruise passengers, travelers with tightly packed schedules, or those on multi-leg trips. We recommend choosing plans that offer coverage if a missed connection causes a delay of at least 3 hours in your itinerary.

Baggage Loss

Whether an airline mishandles your belongings, someone steals them during your trip, or they get damaged at your destination, travel insurance can help cover the cost to replace them.

Baggage Loss coverage reimburses you for personal items if your luggage is permanently lost or damaged while away from home. Your policy’s Baggage Delay benefit can cover the cost to purchase essential items if your bags are temporarily delayed en route to your destination.

What Is Not Covered by Over-70s Travel Insurance?

While travel insurance offers critical trip protection, it does have its limitations. Most standard policies for travelers over 70 will not cover the following:

• Known events: If a disruption, such as a hurricane, airline strike, or pandemic outbreak, is publicly known before you purchase your policy, related claims may not be eligible for coverage.
• Pre-existing medical conditions: Unless you purchase a plan with a pre-existing condition waiver, most policies will not cover medical treatment related to existing health issues. This is especially important for seniors managing chronic conditions.
• Government travel advisories or bans: If the U.S. government issues a travel advisory or ban for your destination before or during your trip, your policy may not cover cancellations or other disruptions related to that advisory.

Reading the fine print found within your policy’s Certificate of Insurance and understanding policy exclusions is especially important when traveling later in life. Comparing providers can help you find a policy that provides coverage for your entire itinerary.

How Much Does Travel Insurance for 70 Year Olds Cost?

On average, travel insurance for travelers over the age of 70 costs $48 per day.

This figure is based on proprietary Squaremouth data that takes into account travel insurance sales to individuals over 70 years old in the past 12 months. On average, travelers in this demographic spend $715 on travel insurance to protect a 15 day trip.

Travel insurance for travelers over 70 is slightly higher than the average cost for travelers across all age groups. As you get older, you can expect premiums to increase.

• Over 60: Premiums average $493, or $38/day
• Over 70: Premiums average $550, or $48/day
• Over 80: Premiums average $905, or $60/day

Comprehensive travel insurance plans are generally more expensive than medical-only policies. Among travelers over 70, travel medical plans that don’t include Trip Cancellation coverage cost just $146.

Recommended Travel Insurance Coverage for Seniors Over 70

Traveling in your seventies and beyond can be full of twists and turns. To mitigate the financial impact that disruptions have on you and your family, it’s always recommended to purchase a comprehensive travel insurance plan before you leave for your adventure.

When comparing different policies, it’s important to make sure it includes the following coverage:

• Trip Cancellation: Choose a plan that covers all of your prepaid, non-refundable travel expenses.
• Emergency Medical: Look for a policy that covers at least $100,000 in unforeseen medical expenses.
• Medical Evacuation: Opt for plans that include at least $250,000 in coverage for emergency evacuation services.
• Pre-Existing Condition: If you have an existing health issue, you should purchase a policy that offers a pre-existing condition waiver within its respective time-sensitive period.
• Sports & Activities: If you plan on participating in hiking, scuba diving, or other high-risk sports, it’s important that you find a plan that includes coverage for those activities
• Travel Delay: Consider plans that provide coverage after delays of 6 hours or less.

What is the Maximum Age for Buying Travel Insurance?

There is currently no universal age restriction for travel insurance. However, providers have the ability to impose their own age limits and restrictions. For example, some travel insurance companies may decide to not cover any travelers over the age of 75, while others stop offering coverage once you hit 80.

Age restrictions can vary significantly between providers. Even policies offered by the same insurer can have different age limits. Age restrictions for a specific policy can be found in the Certificate of Insurance.

FAQs: Over 70 Travel Insurance

Does Travel Insurance for People Over 70 Cover Pre-Existing Conditions?

Yes, travel insurance can cover pre-existing conditions if you meet specific requirements.

To qualify, you’ll need to meet the waiver’s eligibility guidelines, which usually involves purchasing coverage within your policy’s time-sensitive period, which is typically 10–21 days after your initial trip payment. Additional requirements typically include insuring 100% of your prepaid, non-refundable trip expenses and being medically fit to travel on your trip’s departure date.

You will also need to make sure your policy offers a pre-existing condition waiver. You can easily find these policies by using the “Pre-Existing Condition” filter when comparing quotes on the Squaremouth marketplace.

Is Travel Insurance Necessary if I’m Over 70 and Have Medicare?

Yes, travel insurance is still strongly recommended if you are over 70 years old and traveling overseas, even if you have Medicare.

Since Medicare typically does not cover medical expenses abroad, you will be financially responsible for any medical costs incurred overseas. For travelers over 70, this can result in thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.

Even if you are planning a domestic trip, a travel insurance plan with primary Emergency Medical coverage can address claims before your Medicare policy. This can result in faster reimbursement and avoid changes to your Medicare premiums.

With a dedicated travel insurance plan, you will be financially covered for unexpected travel expenses up until your policy’s coverage limit.

Can Travelers Over 70 Buy Cruise Insurance?

Yes, of course! Although a few plans may impose age restrictions, cruise insurance is generally widely available to travelers over 70. In fact, travelers in this age group account for more than 35% of all cruise insurance sales on the Squaremouth platform.

The best way to find these plans is to enter in your cruise details into a travel insurance comparison site. From there, you will be shown a list of reliable policies that can provide trusted trip protection both on land and at sea.

I’m Over 70 and Traveling With My Family. Can We All Be On the Same Policy?

Yes, adding family members to your plan is simple when done during the initial purchase. Most insurance providers allow you to include up to 10 travelers on your policy.

To add travelers to your plan, you will need to provide basic information such as their age, name, date of birth, and state of residence. Your premium will likely increase with each additional traveler you add.