Think of all the time you’ve spent saving and planning for your travel adventures. You may be using a travel itinerary and road trip planner app like Wanderlog to build, organize, and map your itineraries, or talking to family and friends to co-ordinate your agenda and destinations.
In years past, you’ve learned the value of travel planning. And the importance of protecting your travel investment and yourself with travel insurance. But just in case you could use a refresher, here are some travel tips and travel insurance tips to make the best of 2024!
Here are some great travel tips for your planning
Book Early!
So many more people are ready to travel often its important to book your trip up to a year in advance to get just the price, location, and vacation you want.
Make sure your passport is in order
Now that passport renewal is every 5 or 10 years, its harder to remember when your passport expires. Check, and if it may be close to expiring when you plan to travel out of country, double check your destination country’s entry and exit requirements to make certain your passport will meet their requirements.
Understand the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS)
Starting in mid 2025, Canadian passport holders will be required to apply online for the new visa-waiver program if you plan to stay in any of these 30 European countries for up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
Until then, Canadian citizens can enter Europe without any travel permit or visa and stay for up to three months, and after 90 days a visa is required.
And here are great travel insurance tips for your planning
Buy travel insurance as soon as possible
You can purchase travel insurance any time before the date of your departure, but it is best to purchase Trip Cancellation coverage as soon as possible after booking your trip. If you need to cancel your trip before your scheduled departure, trip cancellation insurance reimburses you for non-refundable, prepaid travel arrangements that can’t be recovered from another source. The insurance may also pay cancellation penalties that your provider may charge.
Getting to your departure point can sometimes be challenging, especially in the winter. Trip Interruption travel insurance may be able to help, by reimbursing you for the reasonable cost of alternate transportation between missed connections or getting you home quickly due to an emergency without the worry of additional costs for a new flight.
Click here for more information on what is and isn’t covered by Trip Cancellation Insurance.
Put emergency medical travel insurance in place
Injuries and illnesses can become extremely expensive out of country. If you have a serious health crisis, emergency travel medical insurance provides coverage for transport to the nearest appropriate medical facility, or back to a Canadian hospital. Don’t think it will happen to you? Read this for some real-life examples.
If you are planning to travel in Canada but outside your home province or territory, there are limits on how much your government health insurance plan will pay – and they typically only pay a very small portion of medical expenses incurred abroad. Costs that may not be covered include air and ground ambulance, emergency dental treatment and prescription drug expenses, and fees charged by hospitals or facilities.
Emergency medical travel insurance includes emergency travel assistance too – an invaluable support if you need it while away from home.
Planning on more than one adventure? Consider multi-trip coverage
If you are planning to leave your home province more than once in the next 12 months, consider putting multi-trip insurance in place. A multi-trip plan can provide coverage durations of 4, 10, 18, 30, 35 or 60 days per trip outside of your province or outside of Canada — as many times as you want throughout the year. A good rule of thumb is that if you travel two or more times a year, a multi-trip plan will save you money.
It’s the easiest and most cost-effective option for cross-border shoppers, business travellers or anyone who travels more than once a year. And, if you need to extend your trip (your one-month stay abroad just wasn’t enough?) you can top up coverage for any extra days you will stay beyond your original chosen trip duration.
Read this more information on multi-trip coverage.
Still not sure what travel insurance protection you need? Here are a few more tips to make it easy.
Plan your trip and plan your travel insurance
Go online to SBIS to learn about how you can choose from multiple travel coverage options in minutes. When you book your trip, don’t wait – get your travel insurance right away. You and your loved ones can rest at ease knowing that your trip is covered. Packages are available for Emergency Medical coverage for every member of your family. You can also purchase All-Inclusive insurance coverage for Emergency Medical, Trip Cancellation and Interruption, Baggage Loss, Damage and Delay, and Flight and Travel Accidents. If you require any assistance at any time in the travel insurance purchase process, you may call us at 1-800-667-0429 during our regular business hours or email us at general@sbis.ca for prompt service. Bon voyage!
