Travel Insurance for Senior Citizens: Get the Right Medical Cover After 60
- When travelling, you are generally considered a senior from age 60 to 65, especially by insurers.
- After 60, the rules change: pricing, coverage limits, exclusions and medical conditions.
- The real risk is not the cost, but a claim being refused.
- Pre-existing conditions and when you take out the policy are decisive.
- The average cost of senior travel insurance is around €8 per day.
- A poorly chosen policy can be useless, even if it has been paid for.
From what age are you considered a senior citizen when travelling?
There is no single definition of the term “senior”. In travel, it depends on who you are dealing with.
- Transport providers: from around age 60 (for example, senior rail fares).
- Airlines: an implicit medical threshold around age 65.
- Travel insurers: first adjustments from age 60, with full senior classification from age 65.
👉 Important conclusion: you may not feel like a senior, but your insurer may already treat you as one.
As travellers get older, insurers no longer look only at destination or trip length. Three factors become central:
- Medical risk (even without serious illness)
- Health history
- Ability to plan ahead (early vs late purchase)
This explains different coverage limits, more frequent exclusions and possible refusals if the policy is not well adapted.
What must a senior travel insurance policy absolutely cover?
A reliable senior travel insurance policy must include:
- High medical expenses abroad (at least €500,000, ideally more depending on destination)
- Hospitalisation and surgery
- Medical repatriation
- 24/7 assistance, ideally in your own language
- Trip cancellation and interruption (strongly recommended after age 60)
👉 Basic policies are rarely sufficient for this profile.
Coverage | Essential for seniors? | Recommended limit (by destination / trip) | Expert tip (what to check carefully) |
|---|---|---|---|
Medical expenses abroad | ✅ Essential | Europe: ≥ €150,000 Outside Europe: ≥ €300,000 USA / Canada / Japan: €500,000 to unlimited | ⚠️ Check age-related exclusions and especially pre-existing conditions, even if stabilised. A high limit is useless if the condition is excluded. |
Hospitalisation & surgery | ✅ Essential | Included in overall medical limit | Watch for daily sub-limits and exclusions after a certain age. |
Pre-existing conditions | ✅ Critical | Explicit cover or written acceptance | ❗ Stabilised ≠ covered. Any prior condition must be declared and contractually accepted. |
24/7 medical assistance | ✅ Essential | No usage limit | Prioritise assistance able to coordinate with local hospitals. |
Advance payment of medical costs | ✅ Essential outside Europe | ≥ €10,000 (ideally more) | In the USA or Asia, treatment may be refused without financial guarantees. |
Medical repatriation | ✅ Essential | Unlimited | Must be decided by the insurer’s medical team, not subject to age caps. |
Local treatment (without repatriation) | ✅ Essential | Included in medical expenses | Some policies favour rapid repatriation over necessary local care. |
Personal liability abroad | ⚠️ Strongly recommended | ≥ €1,000,000 | Often overlooked but vital in case of injury to a third party. |
Trip cancellation | ⚠️ Recommended after 60 | Cost of the trip | Check covered medical reasons, especially linked to existing conditions. |
Trip interruption | ⚠️ Recommended | Unused expenses + return | Useful in case of hospitalisation or early repatriation. |
Maximum trip duration | ⚠️ Monitor closely | 30, 60, 90 days or more | Many senior policies strictly limit duration, especially annual plans. |
Age-related exclusions | ❗ Must be analysed | — | Some benefits disappear after 70, 75 or 80. Always read age limitation clauses. |
👉 Key point: for seniors, the main risk is not the stated coverage limit, but a refusal due to age, medical history or late purchase.
Compare the best travel insurance plans designed for seniors.
What are the best senior travel insurance?
Compare the best senior travel insurance plans.How much does senior travel insurance cost?
Based on real, anonymised quotes, the average cost of senior travel insurance is around €7–8 per day, with wide variations depending on age, destination and trip length. It can drop below €5 per day for long trips, but exceed €15 per day for medically high-risk destinations such as the United States.
Contrary to common belief, prices increase with age but often remain reasonable for standard trips.
👉 The real danger is not paying too much, but paying for nothing.
Below are price examples based on real quotes obtained by travellers aged over 60, going from Europe to one of the country listed below :
Traveller age | Destination | Trip length | Amount paid |
|---|---|---|---|
63 | United States | ~2 weeks | €107.18 (~€7.60 / day) |
64 | Vietnam & Cambodia | ~2 weeks | €70.00 (~€5.00 / day) |
68 | Australia | ~3 months | €116.00 (~€1.30 / day) |
69 | China | ~10 days | €55.00 (~€5.50 / day) |
71 | Thailand | ~8 weeks | €224.10 (~€4.00 / day) |
73 | South Africa | ~2 weeks | €340.02 (~€24.30 / day) |
76 | Morocco | ~1 week | €26.00 (~€3.70 / day) |
77 | Argentina | ~1.5 months | €116.00 (~€1.90 / day) |
78 | United States | ~2 weeks | €225.00 (~€16.00 / day) |
80 | Uzbekistan | ~2 weeks | €98.00 (~€7.00 / day) |
👉 The prices above come from real, anonymised and aggregated quotes. They are not contractual offers, but provide a realistic benchmark before requesting a personalised quote.
- Ages 60–69: wide price range, from €1.30 to around €7.60 per day depending on destination and duration.
- Ages 70–74: gradual increase, especially outside Europe.
- Ages 75+: prices do not always skyrocket, but the number of insurers willing to cover the risk drops sharply, particularly for the USA and high-risk destinations.
👉 Price is driven by a combination of age × destination × trip length × medical profile.
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Compare 100+ Plans in One ClickWhat senior travel insurance does NOT cover (or rarely covers)
Even the best senior travel insurance policies include important exclusions that should be understood before travelling:
- Undeclared pre-existing conditions, even if old or stabilised
- Planned or comfort treatments (check-ups, routine reviews, prescription renewals)
- Foreseeable worsening of a known condition before departure
- Ongoing treatments started before the policy (dialysis, chemotherapy, intensive follow-up)
- Non-urgent care without prior approval from the assistance service
- Incidents related to alcohol or drug use
- Risky sports or activities without specific cover
- Refusal of treatment or repatriation due to failure to follow medical instructions
- Expenses incurred without contacting assistance (a frequent and disqualifying mistake)
👉 Senior key point: it is not age itself that excludes cover, but failure to declare medical history and follow assistance procedures.
The most common mistakes in senior travel insurance
1. Not declaring an old medical condition
This is the leading cause of claim refusal in senior travel insurance.
What you need to understand:
- An old condition remains a pre-existing condition, even without recent symptoms.
- A “stabilised” condition is not automatically covered.
- An undeclared condition can lead to a total claim refusal, even without an obvious link.
Common examples:
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Kidney or heart history
- Long-term medical treatments
👉 Golden rule: any medical history must be considered relevant when taking out a policy.
2. Assuming “stabilised = covered”
This is a very common misunderstanding.
For insurers:
- “stabilised” does not mean “automatically insurable”,
- only the medical declaration and policy wording are binding.
👉 A stabilised condition may still be excluded if not explicitly accepted in the policy.
3. Buying insurance too late
Many senior travellers buy insurance after booking flights, sometimes just a few weeks before departure.
Possible consequences:
- automatic exclusion of pre-existing conditions,
- limited cancellation cover,
- refusal of enhanced medical options.
👉 The older the traveller, the more critical the timing.
Traveller aged 72, long-haul trip planned in three weeks. Insurance purchased late, after flights were booked. Result: a chronic but stabilised condition was not covered due to insufficient waiting period.
👉 What would have changed with earlier purchase: access to a suitable medical option and full hospital coverage.
4. Choosing an unsuitable annual policy
Annual policies are attractive for their simplicity, but are often poorly suited to seniors.
- insufficient medical limits for long-haul destinations,
- age restrictions on certain benefits,
- stronger exclusions on long trips.
👉 An annual policy only makes sense if it is specifically designed for senior travellers.
Traveller aged 68 with several trips planned during the year. Initial choice: annual policy. During a long trip outside Europe, the medical limit proved insufficient after an unexpected hospital stay.
👉 What changed: switching to a dedicated single-trip policy with a much higher medical limit and better coverage.
5. Relying only on your bank card insurance
Insurance included with bank cards has major limitations for seniors:
- low medical limits,
- short coverage duration,
- frequent age restrictions,
- cover conditional on paying for the trip with the card.
👉 It may complement travel insurance, but rarely replace it after age 60.
6. Underestimating age-related exclusions
Some benefits disappear or become restricted with age:
- reduced medical limits,
- exclusions for certain conditions,
- stricter conditions for hospitalisation or repatriation.
👉 Reading age-related exclusions is essential, especially for long trips.
Age: 78
Destination: Spain
Duration: 2 weeks
“Many insurers would no longer accept me. I had to carefully compare age limits and exclusions linked to my medical history.”
Insurance cost: between €8 and €15 per day
Essential at this age:
- compatible age limits (75–80),
- emergency medical cover only,
- medical assistance available 24/7.
📌 Key takeaway: after 75, prices rise, but above all the choice of insurers shrinks sharply.
7. Focusing only on the lowest price
The real risk in senior travel insurance is not paying too much, but paying for ineffective cover.
- major exclusions,
- insufficient limits,
- medical conditions incompatible with the traveller’s profile.
👉 The right policy is the one that truly covers you, not the cheapest.
Is my bank card travel insurance enough after age 60?
In most cases, no.
Travel insurance included with bank cards (Visa, Mastercard, Gold, Premier, etc.) has significant limitations for senior travellers.
- insufficient medical limits, often very low outside Europe,
- explicit or implicit age restrictions,
- no cover for pre-existing conditions, even if stabilised,
- short coverage duration (usually 30–90 days),
- no advance payment of medical costs, especially in the USA or Asia,
- cover conditional on paying for the trip with the card,
- less responsive assistance, sometimes outsourced.
👉 For seniors, these limitations can make cover inadequate or completely unusable in the event of a serious medical issue abroad.
FAQ
This depends on the insurer and the policy, but generally:
- ages 65–70: wide range of options available
- ages 70–75: fewer choices, gradually higher prices
- ages 75–80: specific policies required, tighter terms
- age 80+: cover possible, but very limited and often quote-based
No. Stabilised does not mean covered. Any prior condition (high blood pressure, diabetes, heart history, long-term treatment) is considered pre-existing and must be declared and accepted.
It is possible, but risky, especially after age 60. Late purchase usually means more exclusions and reduced medical and cancellation cover.
In most cases, no. Bank card policies usually have low medical limits, age exclusions and no cover for pre-existing conditions.
Contrary to common belief, annual insurance is often less protective for seniors. For major or long-haul trips, a reinforced single-trip policy is usually better.
Medical risk increases statistically with age, especially for hospitalisation and repatriation. However, price also depends heavily on destination and trip length.