Canada’s Best Credit Card Travel Insurance for Seniors

Best Travel Insurance Credit Cards for Seniors

If you are a 65+ Canadian it’s difficult to find a travel credit card with emergency travel medical insurance. Of course, you will find some travel credit cards that provide 3 to 4 days of travel medical insurance after for those over the age of 65.

But if you are looking for more than a week, it’s something almost impossible to come by. Even the higher end $799 annual fee American Express card provides no travel medical insurance after the age of 65. What’s more, the emergency travel insurance benefits totally stop after age 75.   

In search of the best travel insurance credit for seniors in Canada, I came up with one that seems to be beating every other credit card on the market. The best senior-friendly travel credit card in Canada is:

 
HSBC World Elite Mastercard

With the HSBC World Elite Mastercard, those 65 years and older get an unmatched 21 days of emergency travel medical insurance and it also does not stop once you are 75.

There are some other credit cards I found that offer 7 to 15 days emergency travel medical insurance as mentioned below, but these do not provide anything after 75.

National Bank World Elite Mastercard (15 days)

National Bank World Mastercard (15 days)

Meridian Visa Infinite Travel Rewards Card (15 Days)

Desjardins Odyssey World Elite (15 Days)

CIBC Aerogold Visa Infinite Privilege (10 days)

National Bank Platinum Mastercard (10 Days)

Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite (10 Days – May provide coverage after age 75, but read the pre-existing conditions terms and rules)

RBC Avion Visa Infinite Privilege (7 Days)

RBC British Airways Visa Infinite (7 Days)

As you can see, there are some emergency medical travel options for those over 65. However, before deciding on any cards, do your research and be mindful of the annual fees, terms and conditions, pre-existing conditions, and all other fine print.  

How to Pay TTC with A Credit Card or A Bank Debit Card

How to Pay TTC Fare with A Credit Card | How to Pay TTC with a Bank Card

The Toronto transit system (TTC), also called the Metro in many places, now accepts credit cards and bank cards to pay your fare. The various payment options available to pay TTC fare are:

- Visa

- Mastercard

- American Express

- Interac® Debit

- Visa Debit

- Debit Mastercard

- Apple Pay

- Google Pay

You can use mobile devices or smartwatches to pay TTC fares as long as they are equipped with Apple Pay or Google Pay.

There are no additional charges to use the convenience of using a credit card or bank card at TTC Presto reader machines. You will be paying the same $3.30 TTC fare (as of this writing) you would normally pay with your Presto card.

Also, you will enjoy a two-hour transfer when you use your bank or credit card on a Presto reader, the same as a Presto card.

When I charged my American Express card on a Presto reader, it only showed “accepted”. I tapped again after one hour – again it showed “accepted”. It looks like a Presto reader doesn’t show if you are within your two-hour period or past your two hours.

I checked my Amex account online and saw only a $1 charge. My guess is this just a pre-authorization charge and the actual charge will appear within a few days.

Paying with your credit card debit card feature is a good decision and it will make peoples’ life a lot easier, especially for tourists traveling to Toronto. I am thinking about not carrying my Presto card anymore to save space in my wallet.

I have a video documenting my experience paying TTC with a credit card (Video was recorded, edited, and published from my Pixel phone):

How to Pay TTC Fare with A Credit Card

Top 3 Travel Accessories We Used for Month-Long Philippines Trip

Best 3 Travel Accessories for Travel

We traveled in the Philippines for one month. There were a few travel accessories we packed, but we used some more than others. Today, I will go through the 3 most-used travel accessories that came in handy during the trip.

1. Travel Power Strip – This is a slim version portable travel power strip or extension cord with many USB ports, USB C ports, and regular outlets. It even has a fast-charging USB C port. This was the single most useful travel accessory that helped us a lot. Not every hotel has a power outlet near the table or bed and this piece was a lifesaver. 

2. Small Power Bank – This is a Mini 10000mAh fast charging Power Bank. This Portable Charger is small and lightweight. We kept it with us all the time to charge our devices. It is especially helpful when you are out on a long day tour.

3. Portable Travel Fan – This is a small travel fan that folds into a power bank and also works as a flashlight. We used it all the time, as it was too hot in the Philippines. We also used it as a flashlight at night in Boracay where some streets were not well lit.

I have created a video to visualize all these items in the link here: Our Top 5 Travel Accessories & Apps For Month-Long Philippines Trip

I do not do any affiliated, paid, sponsored, or Patreon reviews in order to give you honest and unbiased opinions. To purchase any one of these products, please search on Google and find the most suitable one according to your preferences. 

Top 3 Travel Apps for Traveling to The Philippines or Asia

Our Two Most-Used Phone Apps for Philippines Travel

We traveled to the Philippines for a month. We used many smartphone apps, travel and non-travel, on a regular basis. However, some of the apps helped us so much that we wanted to share here and in this video: Top 5 Travel Accessories & Apps For Month-Long Philippines Trip

Kayak Mobile App – Kayak, the online travel company, owned by Priceline (who also owns Booking.com, Agoda). Kayak Mobile, which is free and truly incredible, can do a lot more than search for hotels and flights.

The Kayak Mobile App can track flights and the best feature which many do not know about is that it can create an itinerary of your trips automatically when you email your hotel or flight bookings to trips@kayak.com. You can visualize your trip day-by-day in chronological order, so you will have a clear idea of your entire trip without double booking or overbooking anything.

We had hotel change every 1 or 2 days for our month-long trip, so the Kayak Mobile App helped us a lot in organising all our bookings together. Also, at the airport the Kayak Mobile App alerted us about flight delays, gate changes, and even our airport baggage carousel numbers long before they became available on the display board.

Grab – Many Asian countries don’t have Uber, but they have Grab. It’s a very handy app to call a taxi or bike if you don’t want to get scammed and avoid any hassle. We used Grab almost every day in the Philippines and it saved us a lot of time also.

Airalo – This is an eSIM provider that will save you a lot of time and hassle. You can install your destination country’s SIM before even leaving your home country and you will have the network when you land. We also installed a local physical SIM on our phones, but the pain and hassle will make me think twice before installing a physical SIM again.

How to Go to Boracay from Manila (Philippines)

Easy Way to Get to Boracay from Manila

If you want to go to the paradise island Boracay in the Philippines, this is your easy guide. You can also watch the video linked here: How To Go To Boracay From Manila

There are 2 ways to get to Boracay:

1. Taking the Ferry – This involves going to the Batangas (3 or so hours) and then ferry from the Batangas ferry port to the Boracay ferry port. This ferry could take 12 to 13 hours. As you can see, this whole trip is too long and not recommended unless you really want to enjoy the ferry ride across the ocean.

2. Taking A Flight from Manila – This can be done 2 different ways.

A. From Manila Airport Kalibo Airport: About an hour flight. Then take an hour-and-a-half tricycle (or other vehicle) ride to the Caticlan Jerry Port. From Caticlan Jerry Port it’s a 15-minute boat ride to Cagban Port on Boracay Island. Your hotel will be a 15-minute ride from Cagban Boracay Port.

B. From Manila Airport to Caticlan Airport: About an hour flight. Then take a 10-minute tricycle (or other vehicle) ride to the Caticlan Jerry Port. The rest is the same as Option A – going to the Kalibo Airport.

As you can see, Option A and B are very similar, except that from the Kalibo airport you have to take an hour-and-a-half ride, whereas from the Caticlan Airport you have a 10-minute ride.

Obviously, going to the Caticlan Airport can save you a lot of time and make your Boracay trip a lot better.

One thing to keep in mind is that you will save a bit of money in airfares by choosing the Kalibo airport, but this may be a viable decision if you think it’s worth it.