Travel insurance is always recommended when traveling, however, many individuals, especially those traveling in their 20s and 30s, see the price and take the risk of being uninsured in a foreign country.
While this is fine when you are young and unlikely to have health issues abroad, everything changes once you pass your 50th birthday. No matter where you are traveling or when, you should ensure you are insured in case the worst happens. Keep reading to learn more about travel insurance for older adults so you can choose the best path forward.
Do I Need Travel Insurance?
This is the question on most individuals’ minds when they prepare for their trip abroad. And the answer is, most certainly, yes. While we know that many in their 20s and 30s forgo it, no one, at any age, should.
Why?
We’ve traveled a lot, and met a lot of individuals who ended up having unscheduled health issues abroad. One woman was in her 20s and unexpectedly got Dengue Fever while in Nepal, which required hospitalization. Fun Fact about Nepal? Hospital stays aren’t cheap and she had to pay the full cost of her stay prior to leaving. Although it wasn’t as expensive as the US, she did need to pay several thousand dollars prior to leaving the country. Something which would have been covered by health insurance.
Still not convinced? A friend of ours was traveling in Africa, which she did frequently (due to her boyfriend being Kenyan), and she was only in her late 40s when she suffered a stroke, which almost ended her life. No one could have predicted she would need to be flown to France for care when she experienced complications. Though she did have travel insurance, it took months for her to sort everything and get the $40,000 emergency flight paid for.
The reality is, you can’t predict health issues and no matter how old you are, you should have some sort of insurance when you travel. You never know when you might need a flight to save your life.
What Kind of Travel Insurance Should I Buy?
First and foremost, you need to consider how frequently you travel. For those who only travel once per year, we recommend temporary plans like those offered by Allianz. They are affordable, tailored to the location where you plan to travel, and excellent to work with. We’ve never had a major issue when using them, though note that the coverage can vary widely depending on what you are willing to pay.
Individuals who travel multiple times per year will probably find it more cost-effective to add travel insurance to their regular health plan. While this won’t be tailored to each country you visit, it can usually be rolled into your already existing plan, and once it’s set up, it will just be there until you cancel it (unlike Allianz, where you need to enroll each trip). Americans especially benefit from this option because their insurance is already so expensive; it’s possible to add travel insurance to most plans for as low as an additional $30-$50 per month, depending on your provider. It is important to note that Medicare and Medicaid do not offer travel insurance.
Of course, many credit cards also provide travel insurance for their holders, namely American Express. So, if you already have a credit card provided by American Express, check to see if they have any provided coverage and work from there.
What Does Travel Insurance Cover?
While we specifically spoke about health care in this article, travel insurance covers much more than just medical help if you need it. Plans vary by provider, but below are some of the options that may be available when you buy travel insurance:
- Reimbursement of hotels and meals if your flight is cancelled
- Reimbursement if your bag is lost by the airline
- Refunds if you have to cancel your trip due to health issues
- Medical care and emergency evacuation
Keep in mind that travel insurance doesn’t cover things like acts of God, or weather, so you still may lose money if there is a major weather event in the location you plan to travel. However, in our experience, travel insurance does provide peace of mind in most locations.
Are There Downsides to Travel Insurance?
Like anything in life, there is a downside to travel insurance, and that is that it can often be difficult to file claims. This is why, even if you have travel insurance, you’ll want to make sure you have an emergency fund while traveling. It doesn’t have to be huge, but you might find yourself needing to pay something out of pocket while waiting for reimbursement, like the friend we mentioned above in Nepal.
Do You Need Travel Insurance to Travel?
In short, you don’t need travel insurance. And, if you are headed somewhere like Europe, where healthcare prices are regulated, you might be okay to skip the travel insurance as long as you have a few thousand dollars to pay for a doctor’s visit in the country you are in. For example, in Switzerland, if you have an emergency and need to go to the ER, you can be seen for about $600 USD. While this won’t cover an emergency surgery or something as serious as a broken leg, you can get help if you need it, even without insurance. (Though we 100% still recommend it! Those ski rescue helicopters can cost over $5,000 per ride!)
But, if you are traveling to places with less infrastructure like Nepal, or the bush in Kenya, you never know when you might need that emergency flight, so you should 100% have some sort of travel insurance.
Overall, when traveling as an older adult, you 100% should have some form of travel insurance, even if it is only a temporary plan for a single trip. Without travel insurance, you leave a lot up to chance, and that is a risk that you shouldn’t be taking at this age. Still, with travel insurance, you can enjoy traveling even in your later years.
Related: Healthy Travel as an Older Adult
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