Air Canada offers free travel insurance to international travellers

Photo: Air Canada

An Air Canada employee cleans an aircraft prior to passenger boarding.

Air Canada is including free COVID-19 emergency medical and quarantine insurance for eligible customers booking round-trip international flights.

In a release, Canada's largest airline writes that the coverage is available for new bookings made in Canada from Sept. 17 until Oct. 31, 2020. It provides emergency medical and quarantine insurance designed to give customers added confidence when booking flights and travelling abroad.

"At Air Canada, we know people have personal, family and business reasons to travel. To give them greater confidence as they do so, we have engaged Manulife to offer all Canadian residents complimentary COVID-19 emergency medical & quarantine insurance when they book round-trip flights for travel outside of Canada. Combined with our industry-leading airport and onboard biosafety protocols, including Air Canada CleanCare+, and our flexible rebooking policies, customers can be assured that when they book and travel with Air Canada their safety and well-being is our top priority," said Lucie Guillemette, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Air Canada.

The coverage is available for new international, round-trip bookings for travel completed by April 12, 2021. 

If a customer tests positive for COVID-19 abroad, the coverage includes:

• Up to CDN $200,000 per insured for COVID-19 treatment medical expenses.
• Up to CDN $150 per person per day for quarantine costs (meals + accommodation); Up to CDN $300 per family per day up to a maximum of 14 days.
• Up to CDN $500 for expenses related to returning home if the advisory from the Canadian government goes from Level 3 to Level 4 while at the destination.

Keep in mind, however, that the insurance will not cover you if you visit a country where a Level-4 “avoid all travel” advisory is in effect. One-way tickets aren't covered, either. 

Customers booking with Air Canada Vacations will also be offered COVID-19 Coverage and Assistance Plan provided by Allianz at no additional cost designed to cover emergency medical and quarantine expenses if COVID-19 is contracted while travelling. It is available to all eligible customers who book an Air Canada Vacations package for travel by April 30, 2021, to eligible destinations. 

Meanwhile, the Canadian government is still advising residents to avoid non-essential travel outside Canada until further notice.