Buy Travel Insurance

The price and benefits of travel insurance depend on three main things: your age, how much trip cost you cover, and when you buy it:

1️⃣ Age: Older travelers usually pay more. Prices go up a lot every 10 years after age 50. Purchasing travel medical insurance for travelers over 70 years old can be expensive. Furthermore, older travelers are more likely to have a pre-existing medical condition. To ensure that coverage for pre-existing medical conditions is included, older travelers should buy their policy shortly after booking the trip.

2️⃣ Trip cost covered: The price of a standard insurance policy typically ranges from 4–10% of the total trip cost. To be eligible for certain key benefits, such as a waiver for pre-existing medical conditions, you must purchase coverage for 100% of all nonrefundable trip costs. If you want “Cancel for Any Reason” (CFAR) coverage, it costs much more—about 50% more than basic insurance. However, CFAR coverage is limited in reimbursement, typically only paying back 50 to 75 percent of your prepaid trip cost.

3️⃣ Timing of purchase: The moment you purchase your policy is crucial because travel insurance is designed to protect against sudden and unforeseen events. To maximize your benefits—especially coverage for events like tour company or air-carrier bankruptcies or protection for pre-existing medical conditions of yourself or family members—you must purchase the policy shortly after making your first trip payment. Usually, you have 7 to 21 days after booking to do this. If you wait too long—for example, after a named storm—you won’t be covered for related claims.