Clients’ Age Influences Travel Insurance Purchasing Habits

Age matters to travel insurance purchase patterns, especially how a client approaches the decision of why they need it and when to purchase it, a new report shows.

The average age of a person who purchases travel insurance is about 60 years old, according to the report from travel insurance provider Arch RoamRight. That traveler will purchase insurance for a trip worth about $2,560, covering a trip length of an average of 10 days, the company’s data shows.

“The age of the traveler could shape an advisor’s strategy for successfully offering something like travel insurance,” said Tim Dodge, vice president of marketing, at Arch Insurance Group.

For example, travelers 60-74 years of age purchase travel insurance 120 days before their departure date, compared with about 90 days for travelers 40-59 years of age, and 70 days for travelers 25-39 years old.

For older travelers, “we see them booking more bucket list trips well in advance, and the larger cost of those trips – which results in a larger premium for the policy – may cause them to take more time to think about purchasing protection,” Dodge said.

The difference in number of days between the purchase of travel insurance and the first trip payment is much narrower. For travelers 60-74 and 40-59 years old, their insurance purchase is around 64 days. For those 25-39 years old, the difference is slightly fewer than 50 days.

“The younger travelers are booking and traveling closer in. The older traveler is booking much farther in advance, and this factors into when they’re open to hearing about travel insurance,” said Cory Sobczyk, Arch RoamRight’s vice president of business development.

In the case of the youngest cohort, they may have someone like a parent making the decision about purchasing travel insurance, and thus, the decision is made closer in to trip purchase and departure dates, said Sobczyk.

Travel advisors could potentially increase their travel insurance close rates by tapping into a sense of urgency created by critical dates that impact when travel insurance can be purchased, Sobczyk said.

“If the risk is you lose a $500 deposit early on in the planning cycle, yeah that stinks. But if your trip is worth $10,000, and you’re two days away from all of that becoming nonrefundable, that could trigger you to take action,” said Sobczyk.

In addition, travel insurance plans typically offer certain kinds of upgrades that are meaningful to a client only up to a certain point in the travel planning cycle. “A travel advisor providing a timely advance notice about deadlines could help their client avoid risk,” he said.

Travel advisors are uniquely positioned
Sobczyk feels that travel advisors are uniquely positioned to help travelers protect themselves and their travel investment. He advises agents to have casual conversations with their clients during the qualification phase, and whenever they can during the planning stages.

“If a traveler waits to purchase travel insurance until they have seen their doctor, and an issue is discovered at an appointment, at that point, it’s too late for them to have a pre-existing condition covered. This is one of the reasons that we advise travelers to purchase travel insurance sooner rather than later,” said Sobczyk. “That tends to be less of an issue for younger travelers.”

In many cases, the travel advisor has to become a detective, looking for clues about issues a traveler may have in their life that could cause them to cancel their trip or a risk that presents itself.

“Ask if they have an elderly parent or sick children whose condition could trigger them to have to cancel their trip if that person’s condition could worsen. These tend to be situations for older travelers who have more responsibilities. Protecting their trip may make more sense for them when they consider these possibilities,” he said.

He also believes that with the proliferation of travel protection plans and the different experiences and activities covered, advisors can also play a stronger role in helping clients navigate the marketplace.

“If we have too many offerings and make it too complicated for travelers to choose, we can lose the client,” he said. “If you have someone controlling the discussion, like an educated travel advisor, they can simplify the decision-making and steer the traveler in the right direction.

“The way we coach advisors, we tell them that the best way to offer travel insurance plans is to utilize stories that either you have experienced, or you have seen in the past with other clients. People can relate to a situation that they can see themselves in.”