Travel Insurance For 65 Years Old And Over (updated February 7, 2016)
When we purchase travel credit cards, generally it will come with some sort of trip medical insurance, whether it be the first 10 days of your trip or the first 21 days of your trip. However, you will notice that most travel credit cards will only cover those who are 64 and under, and the reason for this is the same as for any insurance, there is a higher liability for the insurance company. This means travelers who are over 65 cannot take advantage of these benefits, even if they own a premium credit card.
As you get older, your travel insurance fees also increase as you become noted as a higher risk candidate. However, there are still many options available.
List of Credit Cards
After some researching, below you will find some Canadian travel credit cards which have some sort of travel coverage for those who are over 65.
| Credit Card | Medical Coverage |
Number of Days |
| TD First Class Travel Visa Infinite | $1,000,000 | 4 |
| TD Aeroplan Visa Infinited Privilege | $5,000,000 | 4 |
| TD Business Travel Visa Card | $1,000,000 | 4 |
| CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Card | $5,000,000 | 3 |
| CIBC Aerogold Visa Inifinite Privilege | $5,000,000 | 10 |
| CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite Card | $5,000,000 | 3 |
| CIBC Aventura World Elite MasterCard | $5,000,000 | 3 |
| CIBC Aventura World MasterCard | $5,000,000 | 3 |
| Scotiabank Gold American Express | $1,000,000 | 10 |
| Scotiabank American Express | $1,000,000 | 3 |
| Scotiabank Platinum American Express | $2,000,000 | 10 |
| RBC Visa Infinite Avion | $500,000 | 3 |
| RBC Visa Infinite Privilege | $500,000 | 7 |
| RBC Visa Platinum Avion | $500,000 | 3 |
| RBC British Airways Visa Infinite | $500,000 | 7 |
| Capital One Aspire Travel World Elite MasterCard | $500,000 | 8 |
As you can see, most travel credit cards will allow for three to four consecutive days of coverage. It seems that the Scotiabank Gold American Express card and the Scotiabank Platinum American Express card is quite generous with their coverage offering the first 10 consecutive days insured for travelers 65 and over.
If you’re planning for a longer trip, it is best that you also purchase personal insurance outside of the credit card coverage. PC Travel Insurance offers a reasonable travel package for single trips.
President’s Choice Travel Insurance
Based on the factors I used to fill in the form, it will cost the over 65 traveler approximately $118.00 to travel for 20 days on a single trip. You will receive unlimited hospital and medical coverage, $50,000 for travel accident, and $2,000 for baggage coverage. However, there will be no coverage for trip cancellation or interruption.
Travel Guard All Inclusive Package
Travel Guard insurance charges $184.68 for an all inclusive package and this is what it includes:
The Bottom Line
Those who are 65 and over will need to pay a higher premium for travel insurance, and sometimes may need to face rejection if they pose a health risk to the insurance company. If you’re planning a short trip, as you can see from the list I posted above, a handful of travel credit cards will cover the first 3 to 4 days of the trip, so this can save you from paying a bit of a premium with other insurance.
This is a useful, well-researched article, thanks!
It is really hard for anyone over 70 to obtain travel medical insurance. The only company I know that is reasonable is Medipak by manulife. They cover pre existing conditions always. With other insurance companies they do not give a senior over 70 a chance to purchase insurance. Wish they would not bother to send us info on this when we can not be covered.
Yes, insurance companies are not willing to take that risk.