Canadians - Travel Insurance

[LSKC]

Where do my fellow Canadians find reliable and reasonable travel insurance. Trip interruption/cancellation and medical?

 

Thx!

[Named-Tawny]

Manulife tends to be the insurer behind most travel insurance in Canada. Any travel agent should be able to help you with that. I think the CAA does travel insurance as well (also backed by Manulife, IIRC) but that might be emergency medical only.

[DirtyDawg]

If you find coverage that is resonably priced, please post the details here. The plans that I have found in the past have been pretty expensive and not worth the price.

[Named-Tawny]

Most of the all-inclusive (cancel/interrupt/med/connection/etc) have run about 10% of cost, from what I've seen. Obviously, depending on age and length of trip.

[BlueJai]

You can also look at the insurance that your credit card provides. I have used my BMO Mastercard for insurance a couple of times.Have to watch the amount insured vs. the cost of the trip with the U.S. exchange rate.

[ilovetotravel1977]

If you find coverage that is resonably priced, please post the details here. The plans that I have found in the past have been pretty expensive and not worth the price.

 

If you need to be medically evacuated off the ship in a helicopter, it might be worth the price to you...

[macandlucy]

I have bought travel insurance from CAA in the past and I thought it was reasonably priced.

 

Now we mostly just use the insurance from our credit card company (a BMO Mastercard).

[mattie00]

If you use the insurance offered by credit cards, be sure to check the upper age limit. We use Medipac for travel medical and generally Manulife for trip cancellation.:)

[LeDemonBlond]

If you look for Canadian travel insurance you will find a site that looks at a number of Canadian insurers quotes at the same time.

 

I have used Travel Guard, American Express and CAA (AMA) insurance in the past. It can be pricey but I think its worth it. Lots of stories of people having travel issues.

 

I'm not sure about NCL but I did once get insurance through Holland American where with no questions asked, we could cancel the cruise up to the day before and get our money back(accept for deposit which was small). Booked the flight as well with Holland American. Never had to use it but it was for a trip to Alaska and my father was not in the best shape so good piece of mind.

 

Check with your employer, I have medical blue cross coverage through work and they have a 30 day out of province travel medical plan that is part of the employee plan so its free for me.

[nikkiml]

My husband and I have been buying travel insurance through Blue Cross. An all-year travel medical insurance, under 55, for a maximum stay of 17 days per trip costs $174 per year. They automaticaly renew each year. We've been buying this type of insurance with them for the last 12 years, and luckily never had to use it. What I love the most about a yearly contract is that we can leave just for a day to the US and we know we are covered... many Canadians forget that they are not covered when go to the US even for a day. My husband travels internationnally for his work is also covered (the company usually buy an insurance, but it happened once that it was forgotten).

 

Very satisfied with Blue Cross until now.

[mattie00]

We also have a yearly plan that allows unlimited 30-day trips out of the Province and Country. A lot of Canadians also don't realize that their Provincial Health Care plans are really not portable to another Province. Every Province has a different rate schedule and your Provincial Plan will only pay out according to their schedule no matter where you are in Canada when you incur a medical expense.

[ilovetotravel1977]

Between my work and mastercard travel insurances, I think we are pretty much covered. The only time I buy Manulife insurance is if I buy my flights with Air Miles. It guarantees I get my miles back should I have to cancel.

[Ginnyfyr]

We've been buying Manulife's multi-trip/year long coverage for a few years now. We're in our late 30s/early 40s and do 7-9 day vacations 2-3 times a year, but I like that we're also covered if we decide to cross the border to the US for day trips. For us, the cost is about $150 each for the year for 10 day trip duration coverage. The last time we cruised to Alaska we were out of province for 11 days (7 night cruise with a few extra days tacked on in Vancouver) and when I called to add on coverage for the extra day, it was under $3 to extend our coverage (in fact, I think it was actually less than $2!) When we used to buy PC or RBC comprehensive travel insurance per trip, it was easily $120 each, so it's definitely a savings for us. No complaints here, and we're always covered! **edited to add - very easy to apply and get immediate coverage through their website!

Edited May 5, 2017 by Ginnyfyr
more info

[cargo13]

For cruise trip insurance try http://www.generalitravelinsurance.com

They are cost competitive and backed by Generali Global Assistance's network of medical facilities which saved us.

[LSKC]

For cruise trip insurance try www.generalitravelinsurance.com

They are cost competitive and backed by Generali Global Assistance's network of medical facilities which saved us.

Not for Canadians

[vav]

I have booked with tripinsurancestore.com two years in a row now.

 

Great customer service and they do have plans (Travel Safe) that Cdn's can get.

 

The best part about the insurance is the plan I purchased includes "cancel for work reasons" - so all you need is a letter from an officer of the company saying that your previously granted leave has been cancelled. Could come in handy in the right circumstance. I haven't had to use this so YMMV.

[DirtyDawg]

If you need to be medically evacuated off the ship in a helicopter, it might be worth the price to you...

 

Sorry, I was referring to trip cancellation travel insurance not travel medical insurance. Has anyone seen trip cancdellation travel insurance for less than 5% of the trip cost? If so, where?

[prmetime]

If it applies to you, make sure any plan covers pre-existing conditions.

[hisleepy]

I am interested in knowing the options for Trip Cancellation Insurance too. Can we put our flight on one credit card and cruise on another card, such that we have higher coverage?

[SuiteCruiser]

If you have group insurance through your work, it likely covers emergency medical and medevac. If your credit card has trip cancellation/interruption coverage, these 2 combined should cover all of your needs.

 

Might be worth getting a new card if your current one does not cover it.

 

For larger trip costs than my card will cover, I've used insuremytrip.com as well.

[jamkam97]

We too have just used the insurance for out of country via the employer and found it to be adequate. We haven't been concerned ever with cancellation of the trip.

[Scoobs9]

We use our TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite credit card.

 

It offers $1 Million medical, Trip Cancellation ($1500 pp), Trip Interruption ($5000 pp), Flight/Trip Delay ($500), Delayed/Lost Baggage ($1000), Travel Accident ($500,000) and Auto Rental Collision/Loss Damage insurance, among other perks.

 

We've only had to use it once in Florida and it covered a 3 hour emergency visit in Sarasota for $9,000 USD! I wouldn't leave the country for a day now without it!

[Named-Tawny]

We use our TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite credit card.

 

It offers $1 Million medical, Trip Cancellation ($1500 pp), Trip Interruption ($5000 pp), Flight/Trip Delay ($500), Delayed/Lost Baggage ($1000), Travel Accident ($500,000) and Auto Rental Collision/Loss Damage insurance, among other perks.

 

We've only had to use it once in Florida and it covered a 3 hour emergency visit in Sarasota for $9,000 USD! I wouldn't leave the country for a day now without it!

 

Yikes! I'd definitely be getting supplemental coverage if that's all I had. My trip is definitely costing more than $1500pp, and trip interruption can easily reach into the 5 figures if you need to get out of a ship or port fast.

 

My coverage with Manulife (through Flight Centre) has unlimited trip interruption, $5mil medical (which really isn't that needed) and coverage for the full cost of my trip. =)

[Scoobs9]

Yikes! I'd definitely be getting supplemental coverage if that's all I had. My trip is definitely costing more than $1500pp, and trip interruption can easily reach into the 5 figures if you need to get out of a ship or port fast.

 

My coverage with Manulife (through Flight Centre) has unlimited trip interruption, $5mil medical (which really isn't that needed) and coverage for the full cost of my trip. =)

 

Out of almost 30 cruises, I've never needed any of the above anyway and it's free coverage. If I had to "get out of a cruise ship" I assume the only reason would be for a medical emergency which we're more than covered for. Also, most of our cruises aren't over $1500pp. Not sure why I'd pay for extra coverage I don't need.

[Minoushka]

I have a Visa Desjardins card that covers cancellation , medical, luggage etc .I pay for it but I am covered for 21 days max which covers most trips

I have a TD card which covers a week at a time ....and cannot be extended ...so I use different cards depending on the trip ....my retirement plan alo has an insurance package

i recommend the Desjardins card ...they paid me back in fuull when I needed to cancerl a cruise because of a medical emergency