Getting the best travel insurance Worldwide extended trip policies

Plane at sunset

Go on holiday prepared with a travel insurance policy

If you're travelling outside of Europe and intend to stay away for longer than 30 days, these travel insurance policies will give you the cover you need.

Single trip travel insurance lasting more than 30 days

Some providers won’t cover single trips of more than 30 days, or if they do offer extended trip insurance, the age limit is often 49. Here, we show suitable single-trip policies for people aged 50 or above, going on a trip lasting more than 30 days.

All of the travel insurance policies listed on this page meet stringent Which? criteria, including at least £5 million of worldwide medical cover, £1,500 of cover for baggage and personal belongings and £3,000 for cancellation or curtailment.

The upper part of the table features policies that scored particularly well for their all-round cover during our analysis of the 22 most important elements of your travel insurance policy. Along with the standard features, we've assessed insurers for their policies on missed departures, delays, holiday and airline failure, terrorism cover and volcanic ash. Policies are ranked by policy score rather than by price, and only those achieving a score of 75% or more are included in the upper table.

The lower part of the table features policies sold by agencies that are specialists in round-the-world flights. These have not been analysed by Which? for a policy score.

The cost of worldwide extended-trip travel insurance policies

The prices shown are based on official quotes supplied to us by insurers, for a 64-year-old with no pre-existing medical conditions. These sample prices may only be available online. The lowest price is shown in bold.

Bear in mind that an annual insurance policy may be more cost-effective for you, even if you plan to go away only a couple of times during the year. Providers such as ETA allow individual trips of up to 60 days.

Single-trip, long-stay, worldwide travel insurance policies
CompanyPolicyMaximum duration aPremium for a 55-day tripbPremium for a 178-day tripcStandard policy scored
Bought from insurance company
BIBAProtect12 months£170£64292%
SagaSingle Trip90 days£262n/a90%
Barclays BankTravel Plus60 days£227n/a87%
Age UKSingle Trip150 days£238n/a86%
Protectyourbubble.comPremier12 months£164£47784%
ChurchillSingle TripUp to 54yrs 12 monthse, up to 59yrs 90 days, 60+yrs 45 daysn/an/a82%
American ExpressSelect93 days£305n/a81%
Sainsbury's FinanceSingle Trip59 days£245fn/a81%
Insurefor.comPremier12 months£172£52080%
Clydesdale Bank RetailSingle Trip120 days£183n/a78%
AASingle Trip185 days£141£60577%
ETA Single TripUp to 64yrs 87days, 65-75yrs 31daysg£71n/a77%
MRL DirectInsure-All PremierUp to 64yrs, 548 days ; 65-79 yrs, 93 days; 80-89 yrs 24 days£107£31777%
esureSingle Trip59 days£160n/a75%
LV=Single Trip12 months£304£58775%
Post OfficeClassic90h£205£428h75%
Bought from flight specialist agenciesi
Bridge The WorldSilver6 months£199£449n/a
RoundtheworldexpertsCover-More Plan A12 months£179£460n/a
Roundtheworldflights.comRoundtheworldflights.com (Campbell Irvine Direct)12 months£192£359n/a
STA TravelGold Premier (Under 66)2 years£248£456n/a
TrailfindersTrailfinders Single trip12 months£145£299n/a
TravelbagCover-More Plan A12 months£223£575n/a

Full features table

Table notes

  1. For policyholders aged 50+
  2. 10 May-4 July 2011
  3. 10 May-3 November 2011; both quotes (supplied by insurers in February 2011) are for a single trip worldwide policy (including North America and Caribbean).
  4. Policy score: We have analysed the 22 most important elements of each standard policy to see which providers offer the best all-round cover. These include their policy on missed departures, delays, holiday and airline failure, terrorism cover and volcanic ash. Only insurers that have a policy score of 75% or more are included in the table.
  5. Explorer long-stay policy
  6. £192 for Nectar card holders
  7. The Senior policy for those aged 65-67yrs offers up to 90 days
  8. Long Trip policy allows trips of 88-365 days
  9. Although there is no Which? policy score for these policies, each one meets the Which? minimum criteria.
  10. Premium doubles for policyholders aged 66-69. Higher ages may be considered on referral.

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