One day, I was chatting with my father-in-law about travel insurance. He was very proud to tell me that both he and my mother-in-law were staunch travel insurance advocates. Year after year, they secured themselves and their travel plans through one of TuGo’s key insurance distribution partners. He recalled being at a party (pre-pandemic, of course), chatting with friends about travel, when the conversation naturally shifted to insurance (oh, the joys of adulthood!).
The group started discussing how long their annual travel insurance policies actually covered them for. As my father-in-law and I flushed it out, I quickly understood why his group of friends, and likely many other travellers, could be confused about the differences between Emergency Medical coverage under a Multi Trip Annual Plan versus a Single Trip Plan.
Let’s break both down and hopefully clear up some common misconceptions…
How a Multi Trip Annual Emergency Medical Plan works
If you’re the type of traveller who takes more than one trip outside of Canada in a given year, whether for business, family or personal reasons, a Multi Trip Annual Emergency Medical Plan would be the best option for you. With this plan, you choose the trip length and can have coverage for unlimited trips for those number of days, for an entire year. It’s often the most efficient and economical way to be insured, rather than buying multiple policies throughout the year. You can even enjoy an additional discount if you opt to renew your Multi Trip Annual Emergency Medical Worldwide plan!
How many days can be purchased?
While policies differ amongst travel insurance providers, with our Traveller product, you can choose a trip length of 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 35 or 60 days. This comes in handy, depending on your travel needs:
- If you’re planning to cover frequent cross-border trips, you’ll likely choose a shorter trip length, say 2 or 5 days.
- In contrast, if you’re retired and travel abroad often for a few weeks at a time, you’ll likely choose a longer trip length, like 60 days.
- If you’re a frequent business flier, you might also choose a reasonable trip length, say up to 20 days.
Keen to travel but cautious about going abroad in light of the pandemic? Multi Trip Annual plans are also available for travel within Canada, so you can explore many natural and cultural destinations found all over our beautiful country and still scratch that travel itch!
When a Single Trip Emergency Medical Plan is the way to go
Heading for just one long vacation? Lucky you! If that’s the case, you’ll probably want to choose a Single Trip Emergency Medical Plan. These plans are available for worldwide travel, for worldwide excluding USA travel and for travel within Canada. The expectation is that you’ll be taking just one trip, but you’re welcome to visit multiple destinations on the same trip.
Note: If you choose a Worldwide Excluding USA plan, you’re covered for flight stopovers or layovers in the USA for up to 48 hours or transit through the USA for up to 5 days to your travel destination and up to 5 days to return home from your travel destination.
How many days can be purchased?
- If you’re 59 or younger, you can buy a Single Trip Plan for up to 365 days (366 during a leap year!).
- If you’re aged 60+, depending on your province, you can buy a plan between 182 to 212 days.
Adding extensions to your Multi Trip Annual or Single Trip Emergency Medical plan
Sometimes, your plan doesn’t cover you for that extra day or two you want to tack on. No problem! All you have to do is contact your local broker or your travel insurance provider and ask for an extension.
Here are a couple of scenarios where adding an extension makes sense:
- You’ve already purchased your Emergency Medical Multi Trip Annual plan with a trip length of 10 days, but you’ve booked a 14-day pre-packaged trip. You can either upgrade your policy to a longer trip length, or you can add a one-time extension to your trip length to be covered for this one trip.
- You’re already on day 6 of your 7-day vacation, on a Single Trip Plan. You’ve decided to stay a few extra days to lap up the sun, but your policy was only purchased for the days you originally planned to be away. No problem – just call your agent or TuGo Customer Service to extend before your policy expires!
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I hope all this information clears it up for you—and for my father-in-law 😉. If not, please leave your questions below and I’ll get you the answers you need!
Safe travels,
Melissa
