Annual travel insurance: Is it the right choice for you?

What is annual travel insurance?

Annual travel insurance protects you on every trip you take, for a whole year. Other insurers may call it multi-trip travel insurance or simply multi-trip insurance, but it’s the same type of coverage.  

Annual plans generally offer the same types of coverage you get with regular travel insurance. That coverage usually includes emergency medical care, such as hospital stays, ambulance and physicians’ fees, prescription drugs, and repatriation, among other things. You may also be covered for lost or damaged luggage and for trip cancellation/interruption.  

You have to choose a maximum trip length, which defines how long you’re covered on each trip. Each insurer offers different trip lengths. For example, with the CAA-Quebec Annual Plan option, you can choose trip lengths of 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, or 90 days. So if you’re planning to spend the weekend in New York and go on an all-inclusive Sun holiday in Portugal for two weeks, you should choose a trip length of 15 days.  

If you’re leaving for more than the number of days provided for in your insurance policy, no problem! It’s very easy to extend the coverage for a trip. 

Here’s a tip: before buying your annual travel insurance policy, check how much it will cost to extend it. Sometimes it’s cheaper to take out insurance for a period shorter than your longest stay and then extend the insurance for that trip. 

What are the benefits of annual travel insurance? 

What is annual travel insurance? 

With annual travel insurance, you can go on as many trips as you like during the year. You don’t need to know exactly how many times you will leave Quebec when you buy your policy.

What’s more, annual insurance costs less than taking out two separate policies.

Annual travel insurance is also very practical: all your trips are covered by a single policy, which means less paperwork. So you save time. Plus if you decide to travel at the last minute, you know you’re covered.

Another benefit of annual travel insurance is that it’s flexible. It can be tailored to your needs, for example, if you have to extend the length of your coverage for one of your trips.

Are all annual travel insurance plans created equal?

Although all annual travel insurance plans have some of the same features, they do differ. That’s why you should ask questions about the proposed coverage and the terms and conditions. Make sure you get coverage tailored to your needs and your budget!

Some insurance policies also offer additional benefits. For example, the CAA-Quebec Annual Plan option covers certain medical expenses within Quebec, such as ambulance fees. Of course, you have to be travelling at the time to be eligible for this coverage.*

Another big benefit with the CAA-Quebec Annual Plan option is that the maximum length of trips in Canada is unlimited. Even with four-day insurance, you can spend 47 days in British Columbia without extending your coverage.

Who needs annual travel insurance? 

You think annual travel insurance is only for people who travel a lot? Not true! It can be useful to almost anyone. 

• You go to the States to shop once or twice a year and you like to spend a week down South in the winter? It’s for you!
• You go on a number of business trips outside Quebec every year? It’s for you!
• You go to Europe every summer and often visit family members in Ontario? It’s for you!
• You like to take three- or four-day trips outside the province to attend football or basketball games? It’s for you!

This type of insurance is also perfect for people who tend to wait till the last minute to decide when and where they’re going. With annual travel insurance, they can go whenever they like!

Even if you only travel in Canada, annual travel insurance can be very handy. Why? Because healthcare costs are not fully covered by RAMQ (Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec) outside the province, especially prescription drugs, ambulance fees, and emergency dental care. 

To sum up, you should consider taking out annual travel insurance if you leave the province at least twice a year, even for short trips. 

* One night’s stay in a commercial establishment is required for the stay to be considered as travel within Quebec.