Credit card travel medical coverage changes with age, and it usually changes in a way the marketing page does not mention. The dollar limit stays where it is. What shrinks is the number of days of a trip the card will cover, and on some cards the coverage ends altogether at a stated birthday.
If you are over 65, the number to check first is not the medical maximum. It is the day allowance against the length of the trip you are actually booking, and then the pre-existing condition window against your own health history. Both are below, per card.
Every figure was read from the issuer’s certificate of insurance, which is linked on each row. This page reports what those documents say. Where it puts cards in an order, it says which single published figure it sorted on, because that is a sort of a column and not a judgment about which policy would suit you. It is not insurance advice.
What changes at 65, 70, 75 and 80?
Less often than most people expect, and not at the ages they expect. The only thresholds these 38 certificates actually use are 60, 65 and 76. Between those, nothing moves at all.
| Age | Cards still covering you | Longest trip covered | What changes at this age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | 36 of 38 | 8 to 31 days | Baseline. The longest trips any of these cards will cover. |
| 65 | 22 of 38 | 3 to 15 days | 9 cards stop: American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve Card, American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card, American Express Platinum Card, BMO Ascend World Elite Mastercard, BMO eclipse Visa Infinite, BMO VIPorter Mastercard, BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard, CIBC Aventura Gold Visa, Wealthsimple Visa Infinite Privilege. 5 more state no figure above 64, which is not the same as saying there is none: American Express Business Platinum Card, American Express Cobalt Card, American Express Gold Rewards Card, Tangerine Rewards World Elite Mastercard, Wealthsimple Visa Infinite. |
| 70 | 22 of 38 | 3 to 15 days | Nothing changes. Same cards, same allowances as the row above. |
| 75 | 22 of 38 | 3 to 15 days | Days and dollar limits do not move. The pre-existing condition window widens on 10 cards. |
| 76 | 20 of 38 | 3 to 10 days | 1 card stops: National Bank World Elite Mastercard. 1 more states no figure above 75, which is not the same as saying there is none: Rogers Red World Elite Mastercard. |
| 80 and over | 20 of 38 | 3 to 10 days | Nothing changes. Same cards, same allowances as the row above. |
The two rows that matter are 65 and 76. Everything between them is flat: a traveller of 70 is on identical terms to one of 65, and a traveller of 80 on identical terms to one of 76.
Read the last column carefully, because it separates two things that look alike. A card that stops has a certificate printing a zero at that age, which is an answer. A card stating no figure above an age has a certificate that simply goes quiet, which is not an answer and must not be read as one. Only the issuer can settle the second kind.
Which credit cards stop covering you at an age?
12 of the cards checked here end emergency medical coverage entirely at a stated age. This is not a shortened benefit. On the Amex certificates the insured person is defined as “age 64 or under”, so above that age there is no benefit to claim.
The limit column is worth reading beside the age column. A card can advertise a large emergency medical maximum and still cover nothing at all for a traveller past the cut-off, because the maximum describes the benefit and the age defines who is insured.
How many days are you covered at 65 and over?
On the cards that keep covering older travellers, the trip length is what moves. Under 65 the allowance runs from 8 to 60 days depending on the card. At 65 and over it commonly falls to between 3 and 15 days. A two-week holiday that is comfortably inside the allowance at 64 can sit outside it at 65 on the same card.
A dash means the certificate states no figure at that age that we could confirm. It is not a statement that coverage continues, and it should not be read as one. Where a certificate is silent, the issuer is the only place to settle it.
The second change, at 75
There is a second shift that has nothing to do with how many days you are covered for. Travel medical policies exclude conditions that were not stable for a set period before the trip, and that period widens with age. The days do not shrink again, but what counts as covered narrows.
The wording differs on every card, and the differences matter: some certificates widen the window at 65 and others at 75, some measure it before the departure date and others before the date the trip was booked, and on a few it applies only to trip cancellation rather than to medical expenses. Each row below quotes the certificate rather than summarising it, because a summary of this particular clause is how a reader ends up with the wrong number.
| Card | Stability window | What the certificate says about age |
|---|---|---|
| American Express Aeroplan Business Reserve CardAmerican Express · certificate | 90 days | measured before the departure date; before the effective date for Trip Cancellation |
| American Express Aeroplan Reserve CardAmerican Express · certificate | 90 days | measured before the departure date for Emergency Medical; before the effective date for Trip Cancellation |
| American Express Business Platinum CardAmerican Express · certificate | 90 days | measured before the departure date; for Trip Cancellation the 90 days run before the effective date |
| American Express Cobalt CardAmerican Express · certificate | 90 days | applies to any medical condition other than a minor ailment |
| American Express Gold Rewards CardAmerican Express · certificate | 90 days | measured before the departure date for emergency medical, and before the effective date for trip cancellation |
| American Express Platinum CardAmerican Express · certificate | 90 days | measured before the departure date for emergency medical |
| BMO Ascend World Elite MastercardBMO · certificate | 180 days | 365 days for insured persons sixty-five (65) years of age or older under Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance |
| BMO eclipse Visa InfiniteBMO · certificate | 90 days | the same ninety (90) day window applies to heart conditions treated with nitroglycerine and to lung or respiratory conditions treated with home oxygen or prednisone |
| BMO eclipse Visa Infinite PrivilegeBMO · certificate | 90 days | 180 days for insured persons 65 years of age or older |
| BMO Rewards Business MastercardBMO · certificate | 180 days | applies to the trip cancellation and trip interruption pre-existing medical conditions exclusion, not to any medical expense benefit; three hundred and sixty-five (365) days for insured persons sixty-five (65) years of age or older |
| BMO VIPorter MastercardBMO · certificate | 180 days | same 180-day window applies to nitroglycerine use for a heart condition and to home oxygen or prednisone for a lung or respiratory condition |
| BMO VIPorter World Elite MastercardBMO · certificate | 180 days | issuer product summary states the same period as 6 months; the 365-day period stated for insured persons 65 or older applies to trip cancellation and interruption, the only travel coverage open to that age |
| CIBC Aeroplan Visa InfiniteCIBC · certificate | 90 days | 180 days if age 65 or over on the departure date |
| CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite PrivilegeCIBC · certificate | 90 days | 180 days if age 65 or over on the departure date |
| CIBC Aventura Gold VisaCIBC · certificate | 90 days | — |
| CIBC Aventura Visa InfiniteCIBC · certificate | 90 days | 180 days if age 65 or over on the departure date |
| CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite PrivilegeCIBC · certificate | 90 days | 180 days if age 65 or over on your departure date |
| RBC Avion Visa InfiniteRBC · certificate | 90 days | one hundred and eighty (180) days if you are 75 years of age or older |
| RBC Avion Visa Infinite PrivilegeRBC · certificate | 90 days | 180 days if you are 75 years of age or older |
| WestJet RBC World Elite MastercardRBC · certificate | 90 days | 180 days if you are 75 years of age or older |
| WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard for BusinessRBC · certificate | 90 days | one hundred and eighty (180) days if you are 75 years of age or older |
| Scotia Momentum for Business VisaScotiabank · certificate | 180 days | 365 days where the person is 75 years of age or older; measured before the date the Trip was booked |
| Scotiabank Gold American ExpressScotiabank · certificate | 180 days | 365 days where the person is 75 years of age or older; measured prior to the date the Trip was booked |
| Scotiabank Passport Visa InfiniteScotiabank · certificate | 180 days | 365 days where the person is 75 years of age or older; measured prior to the date the Trip was booked |
| Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Business CardScotiabank · certificate | 180 days | 365 days where the person is 75 years of age or older; the period is measured in the days prior to the date the Trip was booked |
| Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite PrivilegeScotiabank · certificate | 90 days | 90 days before the departure date if under 75 years of age; 180 days if 75 or over |
| Scotiabank Platinum American ExpressScotiabank · certificate | 180 days | 365 days where the Insured Person is 75 years of age or older; measured before the Trip departure date for Travel Emergency Medical |
| Tangerine Rewards World Elite MastercardTangerine · certificate | 180 days | 180 days prior to Trip departure for Travel Emergency Medical Insurance; 180 days prior to booking for Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption |
| TD Aeroplan Visa Business CardTD · certificate | 90 days | 180 days for Insured Persons 65 years of age or older |
| TD Aeroplan Visa InfiniteTD · certificate | 90 days | 180 days for Insured Persons 65 years of age or older |
| TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite PrivilegeTD · certificate | 90 days | 180 days for Insured Persons 65 years of age or older; the Medical Condition must have been Stable throughout the period immediately before the Coverage Period begins |
| TD Business Travel Visa CardTD · certificate | 90 days | applies to Insured Persons under 65 years of age; 180 days for Insured Persons 65 years of age or older |
| TD First Class Travel Visa InfiniteTD · certificate | 90 days | 180 days for Insured Persons 65 years of age or older; measured immediately before the beginning of the Coverage Period |
Frequently asked questions
Does credit card travel insurance stop at 65?
On some cards it stops completely. 12 of the cards checked here end emergency medical coverage at a stated age, at 60, 65 and 76. On most cards it does not stop, but the longest trip it will cover gets much shorter: commonly 3 to 15 days at 65 and over, against 8 to 60 days below that. The dollar limit usually does not change at all, which is why the cut is easy to miss.
Which credit cards still cover travel medical after 65?
22 of the cards checked here still cover emergency medical at 65 and over, for between 3 and 15 days per trip depending on the card. The table above lists each one with its day count under 65 and at 65 and over, and links the certificate the figures were read from.
Does credit card travel insurance change at 70?
No. Not on a single card checked here. The age thresholds these certificates actually use are 60, 65 and 76, and none of them sits at 70, so a traveller of 70 is on exactly the same terms as one of 65: 22 cards still covering emergency medical, for 3 to 15 days per trip. If you turned 65 and read your certificate then, nothing has changed since and nothing will until 76. The figure to check is not your age on its own, it is the number of days your card allows against the length of the trip you are booking.
What happens to credit card travel insurance at 75?
The day allowance does not change at 75 on any card here, and neither does the dollar limit. What changes is the pre-existing condition stability window, which widens and so narrows what counts as covered. 10 of the 33 certificates stating a window name 75 in the clause itself: a card asking whether a condition was stable for 180 days before the trip may ask for 365 once the traveller is 75. Others apply the wider window at 65 instead, and some measure it before the booking date rather than the departure date. The wording differs card by card and is quoted in full above, because this is the clause where a summary most often gives the wrong answer.
What changes at 76?
One card stops entirely: National Bank World Elite Mastercard ends emergency medical coverage at 76, and it is the only card here that does so above 65. That takes the field from 22 cards still covering the traveller at 75 to 20 at 76, with the longest trip allowed running 3 to 10 days. Every other card that covers you at 65 keeps covering you past 76 on the same terms. This one matters most to anyone choosing a card in their late sixties, because the card with the longest allowance before 76 is also the one that ends soonest after it.
Which credit cards have the best travel insurance for over 80?
The same 20 cards that cover you at 76, on identical terms: nothing in these certificates changes again at 80, or at any age above it. Ranked by the longest trip each one covers at this age, the top three are CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege, CIBC Aventura Visa Infinite Privilege and Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Privilege. That ranking sorts on one published figure, the day allowance, because it is the figure most likely to decide whether a trip is covered at all. It is not a judgment about which policy would serve you better, which depends on your health history and the trip you are booking. Read the day allowance, the pre-existing condition window and the certificate before relying on any card at this age.
What can you do if your card stops covering you?
The coverage a card provides is set by its certificate and cannot be extended by asking. 40 of the cards checked here record that supplementary or top-up coverage can be bought to extend a trip beyond the included allowance, and standalone travel medical insurance is sold by brokers and insurers independently of any card. This page reports what the card certificates say; it is not insurance advice, and a licensed insurance advisor is the right person to compare a top-up against a standalone policy.