Older travellers face less choice and higher prices for holiday essentials
Older customers are bearing the brunt of travel insurance price hikes, as well as facing extra fees and restrictions when they hire a car.
New research from Which? Travel has found that travel insurance premiums have risen disproportionately for older travellers since the pandemic began, and that many car hire companies still make older drivers pay steep surcharges, or bury onerous age requirements in their terms and conditions.
Soaring travel insurance premiums
When we obtained quotes this summer, we found that insuring a week’s holiday to Spain could cost a 64-year-old £10.50, but an 85-year-old in perfect health could have to pay 15 times more for their cover - £162.
The law allows travel insurers to charge higher premiums to people of different ages, but we found older people have faced steeper price rises than other age groups during the pandemic.
The table below shows the average prices paid by different age groups in 2019 and 2022. Holidaymakers aged 25 to 54 paid 33% more for a week’s cover in Spain this year than in 2019, according to figures that we obtained from Moneysupermarket.com.
Yet travellers aged 75 to 84 paid 60% more on average, while anyone aged 85 or over saw their premium rocket by 169%.
Travel insurance price rises
| Age group | Average premium paid in 2019 | Average premium paid in 2022 | % increase |
| 25-54 | £7.98 | £10.65 | 33% |
| 55-64 | £9.93 | £14.01 | 41% |
| 65-74 | £15.89 | £21.81 | 37% |
| 75-84 | £27.68 | £44.23 | 60% |
| 85+ | £40.15 | £107.99 | 169% |
Data from Moneysupermarket.com showing the average premium paid by customers for a single-trip policy for a week in Spain, purchased in July 2019 and 2022.
Restricted choice for travel insurance
Older holidaymakers are often abandoned by travel insurers altogether. Many refuse to cover their customers when they reach a certain age - usually 70 or 75, but sometimes as young as 65.
We scrutinised 199 policies and found that most have a maximum age for new customers - only nine providers didn’t.
Those who get their travel insurance as part of a packaged bank account are also stripped of cover when they’re deemed too old. They then have to pay the same monthly fee for fewer benefits or switch accounts.
The exceptions are Nationwide, Natwest and RBS, which allow you to keep your insurance for an additional annual fee of £65 or £75 from the age of 70.
See our guide to How to find travel insurance if you are over 65
Car hire age restrictions
We also found that some car hire companies make older travellers pay extra. These ‘senior driver fees’ ranged from €60 to €252 for a 14-day rental from Malaga airport, when we checked - almost double the cost of the rental.
Some rental companies also ask older travellers for tricky-to-obtain paperwork or simply turn them away. And these restrictions are often buried in the T&Cs.
When we looked for a rental car for a 75-year-old on Avis, Budget, Enterprise and Hertz’s websites, they only checked if we were over 30. But when we read the small print, we discovered that, for example, you can’t hire an Enterprise car if you’re over 75 and that Sixt adds on a €6.50 daily fee for over-70s.
Enterprise told us: ‘We would always advise people to check the terms and conditions and key rental facts which appear on the website prior to the booking being completed.’
Sixt says: ‘All information and regulations can be found during the booking process.’
Find out which car hire firm to choose: Best and worst car hire companies
Confusing car hire T&Cs for older travellers
Car hire companies’ age restrictions often vary from place to place. Budget, for example, has different upper-age limits depending on whether you’re hiring a vehicle in the mainland UK, Jersey, the Isle of Man or the Shetland Islands.
There’s no age limit if you rent a Budget car from Belfast airport, but over-75s must provide a letter from their doctor stating that they’re in good health, and a letter from their insurance company proving they’ve had no accidents recently. They may also be required to undergo a driving assessment.
Ian Sanderson, 80, fell foul of Budget’s rules when he booked a car via easyJet in May. He hadn’t noticed the auto-ticked ‘age 30-69’ button and on arrival at Budget’s Belfast desk, he was asked to provide a letter from his GP or insurance company confirming his fitness.
As he couldn’t produce a letter, Mr Sanderson wasn’t allowed to take the car he had paid £490 for and spent a further £500 to rent one from Europcar, who didn’t require extra paperwork. CarTrawler - easyJet’s car hire partner - initially refused to refund him, but reimbursed £390 as ‘a gesture of goodwill’ when we got in touch.
Budget told us: ‘Our maximum age limit can vary. We advise anyone over the age of 75 to contact our customer support team before making their booking.’
Digital discrimination
Some holiday companies make older travellers who don’t use the internet or own a smartphone pay more. We found five insurers offering a big discount to customers who bought a new policy online - including over-50s insurer Saga, which gives its online customers up to 30% off.
British Airways, Ryanair and easyJet all charge customers extra to amend a booking by phone, while Ryanair customers have to hand over £55 if they check in at the airport. Even renewing your passport costs £9.50 more if you use a paper application instead of a digital one
How to avoid paying over the odds
Don’t let age discrimination dampen your wanderlust - follow these five tips so you don’t end up being overcharged.
1. Shop around for travel insurance, and never just auto-renew. See which.co.uk/65cover for advice or let the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (Biba) put you in touch with a broker who will shop around for you.
2. Seek a specialist if you have a health issue. Government-backed MoneyHelper lists insurers who specialise in covering people with medical conditions.
3. When you hire a car, always input your age and beware of car hire companies or brokers that don’t ask for it. Before you book, scour the T&Cs for age limits, older driver fees, and any location-specific conditions.
4. Some hotel chains offer preferential rates for older customers. Marriott gives a discount to guests aged 62 and over. Other big chains offer a reduced rate at some hotels, such as Radisson, IHG (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza) and Best Western (but not its UK hotels). Select the ‘senior’ rate when booking.
5. If you’re not tech savvy, choose an airline that doesn’t penalise you if you book flights or amend bookings by phone, such as Tui, or Which? Recommended Provider Jet2.
