Blue Cross All-Inclusive Travel Insurance

Blue Cross all-inclusive travel insurance puts emergency medical care, trip cancellation and interruption, baggage and accident insurance in a single contract. It is for Canadian residents who have non-refundable travel costs before departure and also want medical coverage, in a single contract. Protecto builds this contract with you, sells it and stays your contact after you buy.

What the all-inclusive contract contains

At Protecto, Blue Cross all-inclusive is a Single-Trip contract that bundles four coverages:

Cancellation and interruption: when you get paid

Before departure, the coverage reimburses your prepaid, non-refundable travel costs, up to the insured amount, if a covered risk forces you to cancel. For example:

• you, your travel companion or a family member become ill, are injured or die;
• you are placed in quarantine, unless it results from a pandemic;
• your home becomes uninhabitable after a natural disaster;
• an unexpected strike prevents you from leaving.

During the trip, if a covered risk forces you to cut short, change or extend your stay, Blue Cross pays for, among other things:

• the unused portion of the trip;
• extra economy-class transportation to get home or rejoin your itinerary;
• a subsistence allowance of $300 a day, up to $3,000, for lodging, meals and essential calls;
• the return of your vehicle, up to $5,000.

A missed connection is also covered in some cases: flight schedule change, a public transport mechanical breakdown, bad weather, a road accident or an unexpected strike.

Cancellation coverage takes effect on the start date shown on your certificate, or on the first payment for the trip if that comes later. So buy it when you book: an event already known on the effective date, or at the time of each later non-refundable payment, isn’t covered. If a covered event happens, call Blue Cross Travel Assistance within 48 hours.

Option: Cancel for Any Reason

This option pays you back if you cancel for a reason that isn’t on the list:

• up to age 74: 75% of prepaid, non-refundable costs;
• ages 75 to 85: 50%;
• a maximum of $4,500 per person in both cases.

It must be bought at the same time as Trip Cancellation and Interruption, within 5 days of booking the trip or before the supplier’s cancellation penalties apply. The trip must be cancelled at least 24 hours before departure.

Baggage

The coverage pays if your bags are lost, stolen or damaged. If your checked bags arrive more than 12 hours late, it reimburses up to $500 in toiletries and essential clothing. Replacing a lost or stolen passport, driver’s licence or visa is covered up to $250. The maximum is $1,500 per person per trip for all Baggage benefits combined.

Emergency medical and accident

The medical coverage pays for hospital, physician, tests, ambulance and repatriation, up to $5,000,000 per person. Accidental death or dismemberment coverage pays up to $300,000, depending on age and circumstances.

Who can buy it, and your health

You must live in Canada, be covered by your provincial health plan for the whole trip and be older than 30 days on departure. From age 55, some situations make you ineligible, for example kidney disease treated with dialysis, or home oxygen in the last 12 months.

Pre-existing conditions must be stable. For emergency medical care: 3 months before your coverage takes effect for ages 54 and under, and 6 months from age 55. For trip cancellation and interruption, it’s 3 months at any age. For ages 55 to 59 on trips of 18 days or more and for ages 60 and over, certain cardiovascular conditions diagnosed or treated at any time in your life, including pulmonary hypertension, and other specific conditions are excluded from emergency medical care unless your certificate says otherwise. Details in what “stable” means in travel insurance.

What the contract doesn’t cover

Exclusions include: pregnancy and childbirth within 9 weeks before or after the due date; certain sports or activities; abuse of medication, alcohol or drugs; criminal acts; war; suicide and self-inflicted injury. Each coverage also has its own exclusions, set out in the policy.

How much does Blue Cross all-inclusive cost?

The premium depends on the travellers’ ages, the destination, the trip length, the amount insured for cancellation, the deductible and, if applicable, your answers to the health declaration. Get your price online in under 2 minutes.

All-inclusive, à la carte or annual?

• All-inclusive: a prepaid trip for which you want medical, cancellation, baggage and accident coverage.
• À la carte: you already have medical coverage, for example through a credit card or work, and only need cancellation or baggage.
• Multi-Trip Annual: you travel several times a year.

For cancellation only, see Blue Cross trip cancellation insurance.

Buying through Protecto, and claims

1. Fill in the online quote in under 2 minutes.
2. One of our advisors may call to confirm the coverages and your health. They call to help, never to push.
3. Pay before the contract starts. You can cancel for a full refund before the contract start date, or within 10 days of purchase, unless you have submitted or intend to submit a claim, or the contract lasts 10 days or less.

While travelling, call Blue Cross Travel Assistance before receiving care. The claim form goes in within 90 days of the event; Blue Cross processes it within 30 business days of receiving all the documents. Claims are filed directly online, on the website of CanAssistance, the company mandated by Blue Cross, or by mail. Contact details are on our Claims and assistance page. If you have trouble reaching them, our advisors can help.

See also our travel insurance plans for Canadians and all our insurers. Protecto is a firm registered with the AMF (#602624) and licensed in Ontario (FSRAO 41378M), rated 4.9 out of 5 by more than 800 clients on Google. This summary doesn’t replace the policy: if there’s a difference, the Blue Cross policy wording prevails.