In an effort to ramp up air travel and get passengers to pull out their credit cards, airlines have been showing that they are cleaning the aircrafts more throughly to ensure they are sanitized i.e. Air Canada’s “Clean Care+”, Westjet’s “Enhanced Cleaning” etc.
But wait, shouldnt that have been done all along anyway?
Now, another trend to get passengers on planes is to offer free COVID coverage. But are you adequately covered? The answer is “No” as we look into a few coverages. There are some benefits no doubt, but we will focus on the eligibility conditions/exclusions so you can be aware of when you are not covered.
Air Canada
COVID-19 Insurance provided and administered by Manulife
1. This applies for all international round trip bookings made between September 17, 2020 until October 31 2020 for travel completed by April 12, 2021.
2. You must be a resident of Canada
3. You must be covered by your local/provincial government health insurance plan for the duration of the trip.
4. It must be a new booking with atleast one flight marketed or operated by Air Canada.
5. Your trip outside of Canada must be 21days or less.
6. You must not have been advised by a physician not to travel.
7. Travel must originate in Canada to any international destination includinng USA.
8. There must not be a Level-4 “Avoid all travel” advisory in effect issued by the Canadian government at the time of departure.
Westjet
COVID-10 Emergency Medical Insurance administered by TuGo.
1. This applies for bookings made on or after September 18, 2020 for travel between September 18, 2020 and August 31, 2021.
2. You are a Canadian resident flying outside of Canada.
3. You must be covered by a valid provincial government health insurance plan.
4.Visitors to Canada flying into Canada on Westjet or a codeshare.
5. It is valid on vacation packages purchased on or after September 18, 2020 for travel between September 18, 2020 and August 31, 2021.
6. You have not been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the 30 days before departure.
7. You have not shown symptoms of COVID-19 in the 14 days before departure.
8. You are not travelling against a physician or other registered medical practitioner’s advice.
9. You have not been diagnosed with a terminal condition.
10. You are not receiving palliative care or palliative care has not been recommended.
11. It will not cover you if the Government of Canada changes to an “avoid all travel” advisory (level 4).
So, since we see there are a lot of limitations, exclusions and retrictions, what does one do to have adequate coverage? You need to look at the stand-alone pandemic medical insurance coverages offered by Insurance Companies for purchase.
Goose Insurance – COVID-19 Insurance
Goose Insurance Services in partnership with Lloyds of London and MSH International (Canada) Ltd. has launced such a stand-alone policy available for purchase.
You can be protected for up to $500,000 of coverage for pandemic-related emergency medical treatment while travelling for as little as $99 annually.
This covers you when you travel 200kms or more outside of your principal residence within your home country or anywhere in the world.
You can travek for an unlimited number of trips that are 30 days or less during a one year period.
You are also able to extend your trip length to 180 days – which will benefit Canadian snow birds.
Any catch? Yes – You have to be under 75 years of age and the destination doesnt have a war or terrorism travel advisory.
Its easy to apply and buy online in less than 60 seconds through the Goose Insurance Super-App, by visiting their website or calling their number at 1-888-347-6673.
This is an independent review of coverages/exclusion/eligibility between Air Canada, Westjet and Goose Insurance and there was no compensation received from any of the providers mentioned above.
Again, as always, at CanadaPointsGuy.com we still advocate safe, responsible and essential travel. Stay Safe and Stay Healthy and also Stay Protected.
Written by Dominic Fernandes aka CanadaPointsGuy.
Image Photo courtesy of Ashkan Forouzani on Unsplash