Best travel insurance for seniors in August 2023

Key points

• Trawick International offers the best travel insurance for seniors with its Safe Travels First Class plan.
• Travel insurance for senior citizens should have high coverage limits for travel medical insurance, emergency medical evacuation and trip interruption.
• The best trip insurance for seniors will cover preexisting conditions and COVID-19.

Best travel insurance for seniors at a glance

• Trawick International: Safe Travels First Class
• Cat 70: Travel Plan
• Seven Corners: RoundTrip Basic
• Tin Leg: Gold
• USI Affinity Travel Insurance Services: Ruby
• John Hancock Insurance Agency: Silver
• Travel Insured: Worldwide Trip Protector

Trawick International

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Via Squaremouth's website

Best plan for seniors

Safe Travels First Class

Average cost for seniors

$382

Covers COVID?

Yes

Medical & evacuation limits per person

$150,000/$1 million

What you should know

Trawick International’s Safe Travels First Class policy is the second-least expensive option of our top-rated plans. For an average premium that’s about 20% higher than our least-expensive option, this plan offers significantly more emergency medical, trip interruption and lost baggage coverage.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Second-cheapest of our best senior plans.
• “Cancel for any reason” coverage upgrade of 75% available.
• Best-in-class medical evacuation coverage of $1 million.
• Includes pre-existing condition coverage if you insure the full amount of your trip within 14 days of your first trip deposit.
• Baggage loss coverage of $2,000 per person is the best among our top senior plans.

Cons

• No “interruption for any reason” coverage upgrade available.
• Travel delay benefit takes 12 hours to kick in.
• Emergency medical coverage of $150,000 is below our $250,000 ideal.

Cat 70

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Via Squaremouth's website

Best plan for seniors

Travel Plan

Average cost for seniors

$436

Covers COVID?

Yes

Medical & evacuation limits per person

$500,000/$500,000

What you should know

Cat 70’s travel plan offers a lot of coverage at a competitive price.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Excellent emergency medical coverage of $500,000 per person.
• Good medical evacuation coverage of $500,000 per person.
• “Cancel for any reason” coverage upgrade of 75% available.
• Solid hurricane and weather coverage.
• Covers preexisting conditions, as long as you buy the plan within 14 days of your first trip deposit and insure the full cost of your trip.

Cons

• No “interruption for any reason” coverage upgrade available.
• Lowest baggage and personal item loss coverage of our top-rated senior plans.
• Lowest travel delay coverage of our top-rated senior plans.
• No rental car coverage available.

Seven Corners

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Via Squaremouth's website

Best plan for seniors

RoundTrip Basic

Average cost for seniors

$317

Covers COVID?

Yes

Medical & evacuation limits per person

$100,000/$250,000

What you should know

Seven Corners’ RoundTrip Basic plan lives up to its name: it’s a less-expensive plan with essential travel coverage.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Least expensive premiums of our best senior plans.
• Missed connection coverage of $500 per person for cruises and tours after three-hour delay.
• “Cancel for any reason” coverage upgrade of 75% available.
• Great “interruption for any reason” coverage upgrade of 75% available.

Cons

• No preexisting condition coverage.
• Emergency medical coverage of $100,000 is below our $250,000 ideal.
• Medical evacuation coverage of $250,000 is less than our $500,000 ideal.
• Travel delay benefit kicks in after six hours and caps out at $600.

Tin Leg

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Via Squaremouth's website

Best plan for seniors

Gold

Average cost for seniors

$436

Covers COVID?

Yes

Medical & evacuation limits per person

Gold: $500,000/$500,000

What you should know

Tin Leg’s Gold plan offers a lot of coverage at a competitive price.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Very good medical evacuation coverage of $500,000 per person.
• Excellent emergency medical coverage of $500,000 per person.
• “Cancel for any reason” coverage upgrade of 75% available.
• Includes coverage for sports equipment loss.
• Covers preexisting conditions, as long as you buy the plan within 14 days of your first trip deposit and insure the full cost of your trip.

Cons

• No “interruption for any reason” coverage upgrade available.
• Lowest baggage and personal item loss coverage of our top-rated senior plans.
• Lowest travel delay coverage of our top-rated senior plans.
• No rental car coverage option.

USI Affinity Travel Insurance Services

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Via Squaremouth's website

Best plan for seniors

Ruby

Average cost for seniors

$440

Covers COVID?

Yes

Medical & evacuation limits per person

$250,000/$500,000

What you should know

Rather than offer standout coverage for certain losses, USI Affinity Travel Insurance’s Ruby plan offers well-rounded benefits for travelers who like to cover all the bases.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Solid emergency medical coverage of $250,000 per person.
• Good medical evacuation coverage of $500,000.
• “Cancel for any reason” coverage upgrade of 75% available.
• Missed connection coverage of $750 for cruises and tours after a three-hour delay.
• Includes preexisting condition coverage if you purchase plan within 14 days of your first trip deposit.
• Travel delay benefit of $150 per day, $1,000 total, kicks in after six hours.

Cons

• Middling baggage delay coverage of $300 per person applies after 12 hours.
• No “interruption for any reason” coverage upgrade available.
• Specific item loss of $500 isn’t the most competitive.

John Hancock Insurance Agency

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Via Squaremouth's website

Best plan for seniors

Silver

Average cost for seniors

$436

Covers COVID?

Yes

Medical & evacuation limits per person

$100,000/$500,000

What you should know

For the price, John Hancock Insurance Agency’s Silver plan comes with competitive benefits for baggage and personal item loss, baggage delay and travel delay. Though the medical expense limit of $100,000 is lower than many travel insurance plans, it is primary coverage.

Pros and cons

Pros

• “Cancel for any reason” coverage upgrade of 75% available.
• Good medical evacuation coverage of $500,000.
• Travel delay benefit of $150 per day and $750 per person after three hours.
• High $1,000 limit for specific personal item loss.

Cons

• Emergency medical coverage of $100,000 is below our $250,000 ideal.
• Doesn’t offer “interruption for any reason” coverage.
• Doesn’t offer non-medical evacuation coverage.
• Baggage delay benefits require a 12-hour delay.

Travel Insured

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Via Squaremouth's website

Best plan for seniors

Worldwide Trip Protector

Average cost for seniors

$431

Covers COVID?

Yes

Medical & evacuation limits per person

$100,000/$1 million

What you should know

Travel Insured’s Worldwide Trip Protector plan is the only one of our top senior plans to offer non-medical evacuation coverage — and it has superb medical evacuation coverage, too. The trade-off is that you’ll get less emergency medical coverage than with similarly priced plans.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Best-in-class medical evacuation coverage of $1 million.
• “Cancel for any reason” coverage upgrade of 75% available.
• “Interruption for any reason” coverage upgrade of 75% available.
• Excellent non-medical evacuation coverage of $150,000 per person.
• Hurricane and weather coverage after only a six-hour delay.

Cons

• Emergency medical coverage of $100,000 is below our $250,000 ideal.
• “Interruption for any reason” coverage begins 72 hours after your trip starts, not 48.
• Baggage and personal items loss coverage of $1,000 per person could be better.

Compare the best travel insurance for seniors

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 to look for when choosing senior travel insurance

Older 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. The average cost of travel insurance for seniors who add CFAR coverage is $629.

Travel insurance for seniors typically costs around 7% to 9% of your total prepaid, nonrefundable trip expenses. Adding CFAR coverage can add 40% 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.

Average cost of travel insurance for seniors

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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 James Clark, a spokesperson for the travel-insurance comparison site Squaremouth, the company behind Cat 70 and Tin Leg travel insurance. 

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.

Methodology

Our insurance experts analyzed data from the travel insurance comparison website Squaremouth to find the best senior travel insurance plans. For this rating, we only scored travel insurance plans that offer a “cancel for any reason” (CFAR) optional upgrade. 

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 trips and traveler profiles:

• Couple, age 65, for a 17-day trip to Italy costing $6,000.
• Couple, age 70, for an 8-day trip to Mexico costing $3,000.
• Couple, age 65, for a 17-day trip to Italy costing $6,000, with CFAR coverage.
• Couple, age 70, for an 8-day trip to Mexico costing $3,000, with CFAR coverage.

Medical expenses: 10 points. Travel insurance plans that offer travel medical expense benefits of $250,000 or more per person were given the highest amount of points.

Medical evacuation: 10 points. Travel insurance plans with emergency medical evacuation benefits of $500,000 or more per person were given the highest number of points.

Covers COVID: 10 points. Travel insurance plans that cover COVID-related medical issues under medical expense coverage earned points.

Trip interruption: 10 points. Travel insurance plans with trip interruption reimbursement of 150% or higher were given points.

Preexisting medical condition exclusion waiver: 10 points. Travel insurance plans that cover preexisting medical conditions if the policy is purchased within a required timeline received points.

Why some companies didn’t make the cut

Travel insurance plans that don’t offer a “cancel for any reason” (CFAR) upgrade were not considered. Of the 21 plans we scored, those with an above-average price for senior travel insurance did not make the cut unless they balanced the additional cost by offering exceptional medical benefits.

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 

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What's the most important coverage in travel insurance for seniors?

Health is a top concern when it comes to travel insurance for seniors.

“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 preexisting conditions,” Clark said.

More: Best COVID travel insurance companies

Are travel insurance discounts available 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.

More: What does travel insurance cover?

Is travel insurance worth it for seniors?

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.

More: Is travel insurance worth it?

What travel insurance is best for seniors?

Trawick International’s Safe Travel First Class plan provides the best travel insurance for seniors for the price, according to our analysis. This is the only plan to merit 5 stars in our rating.

Can you get travel insurance if you're over 80?

Yes, you can get travel insurance over 80, but it will cost you more.

80-year-old travelers pay an average of 18% of their total trip cost for a senior travel insurance policy. That is considerably higher than the average cost of travel insurance for a 30-year-old, which is only 5%.

What is the age limit for travelers insurance?

Age limits for senior travel insurance vary by insurer. If you are concerned about finding the best travel 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.