Travel Insurance 65 and Over: What Your Credit Card Covers
- Credit Card Insurance


From age 65, your credit card’s emergency medical insurance covers shorter trips: 15 days with the National Bank World and World Elite cards, 10 days with the Scotiabank Platinum Amex and 3 days with the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite+. Beyond that, you extend the coverage or buy separate travel insurance.
For a two-week trip, we suggest the National Bank® World Elite® Mastercard® or the National Bank® World Mastercard®: they cover travellers aged 65 to 75 for up to $5,000,000 for 15 days. For a snowbird winter in Florida or Arizona, you will need to add private insurance.
To protect your health, you need to be insured, even when you travel within Canada.
Healthcare costs vary from one province and country to another. If your care costs more than your provincial health plan pays, you pay the difference. Travel insurance covers that gap, at any age.
The travel insurance offered by most good credit cards covers this need.
Credit card travel insurance includes several components. Emergency medical services provide coverage, but they have exclusions based on age at the time of departure and the duration of the trip.
It’s your responsibility to read your insurance contract carefully, to check for any minor exclusions. If in doubt, call your credit card company.
Travel medical insurance covers medical care in the event of injury or illness outside the province for the cardholder, their spouse, and dependents during the trip.
For example, the National Bank® World Elite® Mastercard® covers you for up to $5,000,000 per person, depending on your age:
If the coverage period isn’t enough, some cards let you buy extra days.
For example, the Scotiabank Passport® Visa Infinite+* Card covers 3 consecutive days from age 65, up to $2,000,000, but its certificate of insurance provides an optional extension to request before departure. We explain the process in our tutorial How to extend the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite travel insurance.
Another option is to take out separate travel insurance.
The affordable insurance from soNomad specializes in emergency medical care. It offers coverage for pre-existing medical conditions for Snowbirds, as well as for individuals aged 65 and over.
Travel accident insurance acts like life insurance in the event of serious bodily injury (loss of sight, hand, foot, etc.) sustained on board a common carrier.
The fare must have been paid in full or in part with the credit card.
Trip cancellation and interruption insurance also requires that we have paid for all or part of the trip with our credit card: plane ticket, car rental, vacation package, for example.
It covers the non-refundable portion of unused services, as well as transportation if the trip is interrupted or delayed for a reason covered by the insurance plan.
The reasons must be serious and justified, such as illness, death in the family, etc.
Depending on the credit card, the delay must be between four to six hours for it to take effect.
If your next flight doesn’t leave until the following day, you’ll probably have to eat or sleep in a hotel for the night. This can happen, for example, in bad weather or when the aircraft breaks down.
These expenses are covered to the extent that you purchased the ticket, in whole or in part, with your credit card. Keep your invoices in case you need to make a claim.
For lost, stolen or delayed luggage, you should be aware that credit cards have clauses covering purchases to replace necessary items, as in the case of flight delays. In the event of loss or theft, offers vary from card to card.
A few cards cover you long enough for a two-week trip, with no extra insurance. Here is what each issuer provides for travellers aged 65 and over.
| Card | Days covered from age 65 | Maximum per person | If your trip is longer |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Bank World Elite Mastercard | 15 days from 65 to 75, no coverage from 76 | $5,000,000 | No coverage for the entire trip |
| National Bank World Mastercard | 15 days from 65 to 75, no coverage from 76 | $5,000,000 | No coverage for the entire trip |
| Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Privilege | 10 days | $5,000,000 | Extra days available for purchase |
| Scotiabank Platinum American Express | 10 days | $2,000,000 | Extra days to buy before departure |
| Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite+ | 3 days | $2,000,000 | Optional extension in the certificate |
The National Bank® World Mastercard® and the National Bank® World Elite® Mastercard® cover travellers aged 65 to 75 for 15 days, up to $5,000,000 per person. The World card requires a personal income of $50,000 (or $80,000 household) and costs $115 a year. The World Elite requires $80,000 (or $150,000 household) and costs $150.
Note: if your trip lasts longer than 15 days, National Bank states that no coverage applies, not even for the first 15 days.
For a longer stay, or from age 76, you will need private travel insurance for the entire trip.
Desjardins Odyssey cards, including the Odyssey Gold Visa, follow a similar schedule:
If the duration of the trip exceeds the number of days listed above, you must contact Desjardins to extend the coverage for this person. Otherwise, they will not be covered for the trip at all.
The Scotiabank® Platinum American Express® Card covers you for up to $2,000,000 per person for the first 10 consecutive days of your trip, from age 65.
As with the Passport Visa Infinite+, you can buy extra days from the insurer before you leave if your trip exceeds 10 days.
Before you buy a policy, we encourage you to check whether your employer, or former employer, offers retirees a health plan that includes travel.
You can also get an online quote from a private insurer such as soNomad, which offers products for snowbirds and travellers aged 65 and over.
The vast majority of travel insurance providers will ask you about your past and current health status, as well as a “stable” condition for 90 or 180 days depending on your age, in order to insure you. It wouldn’t stop you from going but you might not be covered for that specific condition. Some even provide coverage up to 85 years old! However, make sure to ask about the cost of deductibles.
For a winter in the sun, private insurance covers your whole stay, from the first day to the last. No card in this guide covers more than 15 consecutive days after age 65.
To lower your premium, we suggest you look at these three options:
Our guide Snowbirds: how to save on travel insurance explains these options in detail.
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