Canadian-based travel agency joining airlines offering COVID travel insurance
Posted September 13, 2020 12:07 pm.
Last Updated September 13, 2020 12:10 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — It seems as some travel agencies are getting on board with the idea of COVID insurance as the concept attempts to get more people travelling internationally once again.
WestJet made a splash on Friday in announcing its plans for COVID travel insurance through its destination travel program.
The airline will offer no-charge COVID-19 travel insurance for customers going to Mexico, the Caribbean and parts of Europe, including the U.K., as of Sept. 18.
RELATED: WestJet offering no-charge COVID-19 travel insurance
Now, a Canadian-based travel agency, Flight Centre, is offering COVID travel insurance as Vancouver-based VP Richard Job tells NEWS 1130 they too are offering COVID coverage.
“This was something that was missing in the industry, something that customers wanted to see. Obviously we offer travel insurance products, as we always do — but the product that we offer along with virtually every other travel insurance product in the market has an exclusion for epidemics and pandemics — which means that COVID was not covered,” he says.
Job says have customers vocalized their interest in travelling again but wanted “peace of mind” knowing if they went on holiday and they tested positive at their destination, they would have some coverage.
He adds it’s important to understand the coverage is related explicitly to COVID, so it doesn’t cover anything else.
“We still highly recommend having a regular travel insurance policy for everything else that could go wrong,” he says.
If you have to quarantine in your destination, the new insurance also covers the accommodation costs you incur.
“It covers you basically until you’re able to come home. That’s why the quarantine coverage is important. You’re obviously not going to be able to get on a plane if you’ve tested positive and won’t be able to do so until you’ve been cleared to travel back, so the coverage applies while you’re in a destination, up until the point when you’re cleared to return home.”
Flight Centre’s COVID insurance coverage is available to 50 countries around the world and has no additional costs when you book a holiday package.
