Travel Insurance for Seniors

Following. We bought the cruise insurance from Viking, but extending our stay in Italy, Spain & England for 3 weeks and I've been looking for the best information on this as well.!

I have not had to use it but I have an annual policy from Allianz. I’m a senior and it seems reasonably priced

I also suggest you go to squaremouth.com or insuremytrip.com to compare policies and prices. Each traveler is different so you need to figure out what you want covered. I particularly want medical coverage as well as med-evac services to get me back home if necessary.

We had a discussion about this at our local Rick Steves meet up yesterday and where you live and your ages may also dictate what you can purchase. Some of our group live in Idaho and some live in Washington where the choices are different based on the WA laws. Some of us are over 75 and rules change as you age.

Do you actually need your air fare to be covered? I book thru Delta and I can rebook with little problem or they offer a completely refundable fare.

I've never had to make a claim so don't know how they will be if something happens but I usually use Allianz or Travel Guard.

We've had a couple of claims with TravelGuard, and were please with the responses. Had to submit some paper work, but nothing unreasonable. You might want to check MedJet Assisst. It's not medical insurance, just evacuation insurance. They now have short term plans.

I use Travel Insured International, which I get through USAA. I am very happy with it and the price, although I've never had to file a claim (knock on wood). :)

You can get more information by doing a search on this forum for travel insurance, as the subject comes up quite a lot. You can also search the sites that Pam recommended above, like Squaremouth. I would also second her thought about what to include. For example, my flight for the upcoming trip was paid for with miles, and I could also get a credit if I can't use it, so I do include that.

I also travel with Delta and tend to purchase the changeable fares. I travel enough that if I need to cancel a trip, I could always use up the airfare credit within the year. Thus, I don't purchase insurance to cover the air.

I also do not tend to buy insurance for hotel rooms that might need to be cancelled because I typically book rooms that I can cancel up to 3 days prior and sometimes even less. We did have a situation in Sicily that we were stuck on an island because the ferry didn't run so we lost what we paid for a mainland hotel and had to pay for a night at a hotel on the island.

We were just in New Zealand and took a ferry between islands. Occasionally, that ferry can't run, so there would be another case where we physically would not be able get to the booked accommodation. Fortunately, there were no issues for us.

We know that our health insurance covers us outside the U.S. and it includes emergency evacuation so we never look to cover medical expenses either. It could change when my husband turns 65.

This fall, we are taking a 15 day cruise. That's pretty pricey, and their cancellation schedule isn't all that passenger friendly. I will definitely get insurance to cover the cruise only, in case we need to cancel for medical reasons for ourselves or a family member.

Point is, everyone's situation is different and every trip can be different. It does seem hard to pick and choose exactly what the traveler might want covered. So many of the policies are bundled with things we do not need. Thinking back to my last trip (New Zealand), somehow, I lost a pair of eye glasses. I'm not sure there is travel insurance that would cover that. Given how I tend to somehow lose things that could be something I explore for the future.