Travel insurance can kill a travel budget for anyone. We feel the pinch especially hard, since we’re buying travel insurance for a family of four.
*** quotes and details updated in 2024! ****
When I searched high and low for Canadian travel insurance comparisons and reviews for our upcoming trip, I found absolutely nothing to help me compare prices and insurance for our personal travel insurance needs (other than Kanetix (now called RATESDOTCA). So I had to do hours of legwork to get the best prices and policies for our family, and I’ve shared them in this review.
For six months of travel, for a family of four, we got quotes ranging from $892.08 (but with only $250,000 in travel medical insurance) to an eye-watering $5,760 for worldwide travel medical insurance, including the USA.
Because everyone’s needs are different, we can’t tell you what travel insurance is right for you, or that one travel insurance company or travel insurance policy is better than another.
On top of that, prices and policies can change almost overnight, so do your own research.
This travel insurance review just lists the results we got when searching for travel insurance for our own family’s needs, at one point in time. All prices are in Canadian dollars, although some companies cover people all around the world.
In our search, we found that insurance almost always meant medical travel insurance, which included a set amount of coverage (usually one to five million dollars per person for travel accidents and illness).
Tip! Read the terms and conditions of policy wording and description of coverage to decide if the policy you choose is right for you. Insurance policy wordings can be subject to change at any time, without prior notice.
Many travel insurance packages that we looked at included coverage for baggage, trip cancellation, trip interruption and even emergency dental. We chose to only buy what we personally needed, and I think we saved a lot of money.
TuGo Travel Insurance
TuGo (formerly called Travel Underwriters) is one of Canada’s biggest travel insurance companies, and they surprised us with one of the best rates for our family.
To find more about TuGo travel insurance, click here.
- $1,627.11 for six months, for a family of four. The plan includes travel to the USA.
- $5 million emergency medical insurance.
- $300 USD deductible
- There was also an All Inclusive Holiday Package, for an eye-watering $5,760, that included:
- a medical plan benefit limit of $5 million
- 24-Hour Accident Benefit Limit $25,000.00
- Air Flight/Common Carrier Benefit Limit $100,000.00
- Baggage Benefit Limit $500.00
- Sum Insured After Departure $25,000.00
- We could also get additional non-medical plans, including optional baggage coverage, car rental protection optional coverage (for $2,506), trip interruption, accidental death and dismemberment, or trip cancellation & trip interruption.
Heymondo Travel Insurance
Heymondo travel insurance covers people worldwide, regardless of residency. You can get 24/7 worldwide assistance, with medical expenses coverage of up to 10 million USD. There are no deductibles or out-of-pocket expenses. There’s even a Heymondo app with a 24 hour medical chat and free emergency assistance calls. Heymondo is the first travel insurance company to offer a travel assistance APP worldwide.
You can see our Heymondo review here.
I really loved how easy it was to get a quote with Heymondo. I just selected the type of insurance (regular or annual multi-trip), chose my country of residence and destination, start and end dates, number of travellers, and email, and BOOM, my quote appeared on the screen. There was no need to painstakingly enter birthdates and names for each of the four of us, which I LOVED!
- For worldwide, excluding USA insurance, the cost for Heymondo Medical was a really competitive $1,680.10 USD ($420.02 USD/traveler)
- There is no deductible!
- That included a whopping $10 million USD emergency medical and dental expenses overseas. PLUS medical transport and repatriation home. The medical transport and repatriation home is a big deal to me, because if something really serious happens, I’d want to be transported back to Canada.
- You can also get insurance for worldwide, including the United States. For that, Heymondo Medical insurance was $2,082.42 USD, or $520.60 USD/traveler. That included $10 million USD emergency medical and dental expenses overseas, and medical transport and repatriation home.
Click here now to find out more about Heymondo travel insurance.
You can also get Heymondo premium insurance, which includes everything Heymondo Medical offers, plus different levels of insurance for baggage, travel disruption, cancellation and interruption. There’s also optional electronic, adventure sports, and cruise insurance.
One thing I personally really like about Heymondo is that you can buy insurance for a minimum of 90 days, even if your trip has already begun, and renew if you need.
Safety Wing
Safety Wing is a (relative) new comer to the travel insurance space.
SafetyWing insurance specializes in expat travel health insurance (called Remote Health Insurance), and global travel medical insurance (called Nomad Insurance), which we think is a great option for longer term travelers.
There’s one huge catch for Safety Wing insurance, though, and it’s a big one for Canadians.
SafetyWing won’t sell Canadians travel insurance while you’re physically located in Canada. You can cross the border in any way and buy insurance immediately when you have left Canada.
However, it’s the perfect choice if you’ve already left Canada and forgot to buy travel insurance, or you want to buy better coverage.
SafetyWing Insurance is available to anyone from any home country in the world (unless your home country is Iran, Syria, North Korea or Cuba, or if you have Cuba as your citizenship).
The base price for insurance is $56.28 for four weeks of coverage, not including coverage in the USA. That’s for one person, aged 18-39 years.
- A quote for one person for for six – four week periods (approx. six months) was $554.4 for six months, NOT including coverage in the USA.
- For all four of us, the cost was $892.08 for six – four week periods (approx. six months), NOT including coverage in the USA.
- A quote for all four of us for six- four week periods, which included coverage in the USA, was $1658.16.
- $250,000 medical travel insurance
Visit SafetyWing now to learn more.
RATESDOTCA (formerly Kanetix)
RATESDOTCA) is on online insurance quote consolidator. I’m a big fan, as I like that it lets me compare a number of travel insurance companies side by side, and they usually seem like a fairly good deal to me. They do all sorts of insurance, including home, auto, and tenant’s insurance.
To find out more about travel insurance on RATESDOTCA click here now.
Rates we found on RATESDOTCA were:
- For travel not including the USA:
- MSH International, $1,106.22, Canuck Voyage Single Trip, $7 million medical travel insurance, $0 deductible
- Allianz Global Assistance, $1,130.21, Single Trip NonUSA, $10 million travel medical insurance, $0 deductible
- Destination Travel Group Inc., $1,389.04, The Destination: Travel Leisure Plan, $5 million travel medical insurance, $0 deductible
- For travel including the USA:
- MSH International, $1,471.38, Canuck Voyage Single Trip, $7 million medical travel insurance, $0 deductible
- Allianz Global Assistance, $1,550.14, Single Trip USA, $10 million travel medical insurance, $250 deductible
- Destination Travel Group Inc., $1,389.04, The Destination: Travel Leisure Plan, $5 million travel medical insurance, $0 deductible
Click here now to find out more about RATESDOTCA travel insurance.
TD Meloche Monnex
We signed up with TD Meloche Monnex: Wide Horizons Solution on our last six month trip though Costa Rica, Mexico, Florida and Texas. Although we didn’t have to make a claim, their customer service was extremely professional and patient when answering all of my questions about the quote.
- Several years ago, we paid $947.80 for six months, for a family of four. Since we had home insurance with Meloche, we got a good discount on the premium.
- In 2024, I got an online quote for $2,434.40. That included $5 million for emergency medical expenses and 24/7 emergency assistance
BMO
BMO travel insurance is one of Canada’s biggest names in travel insurance, so I thought I’d try them out. From their website, I think you can only buy travel insurance with them if you’re a BMO customer.
- $1,809.54 for six months insurance for a family of four.
- $5 million medical liability.
- No trip cancellation, interruption or flight delay coverage.
What if you’re taking a short trip?
For trips of 60 days or less, you may already have coverage through a credit card with medical travel insurance perks. These often offer trip cancellation and interruption, along with baggage insurance. For Canada travel insurance, the cards we looked at were Scotiabank and BMO.
Note: If you decide to use only your credit cards built in travel insurance, make sure that you’re covered for the duration of your trip (you can often extend coverage for an additional fee) and that you qualify since some cards that include travel insurance have specific riders that might not cover you if you fall outside of their policies parameters.
Baggage coverage and personal effects coverage
Baggage coverage insures your bags while in transit (in airplanes, though this may extend to buses and taxis).
Personal effects coverage covers your belongings anywhere, on any portion of your trip. This sounds nice in theory, but I found that most policies had some serious exclusions. They would only cover losses with a police report (makes sense, but a police report can be pretty damn hard to get in a lot of countries). On top of that, most policies would not insure belongings that were unattended. That means that if your wallet is stolen from your beach chair while you’re body surfing, you’re out of luck. No coverage.
Even more important, most policies wouldn’t cover loss or theft of computers, cameras, or cell phones, or jewelry. Seriously. The only expensive things that most people travel with aren’t covered.
Here’s a little trick, though. If you have insurance on your home or tenant’s insurance, then your belongings might be covered on your trip. Usually there’s a limit (around 10% of the total coverage on your original policy), and your deductible applies to any claims while travelling.
Trip cancellation and interruption generally only cover the portion of your trip that you buy before you leave. Not especially useful for us, since we’re only buying a one-way ticket to Mexico before we leave, and the rest of our tickets will be bought once out of Canada. Not having a set itinerary means that we’ll buy onward legs (by plane, train, car, taxi, water taxi, ferry, cruise liner, or bus) as we need them. I couldn’t find a single travel insurance policy that would cover purchase of additional legs once we left home. Trust me, I tried. And tried.
A lot of Canada travel insurance reviews don’t mention this, but it’s important: If you’re gone for more than six months, ensure you get a written extension from your provincial health care plan (this applies only to Canadians).
Checklist for travel insurance:
- What is the amount of liability you cover?
- Is trip cancellation or trip interruption insurance covered?
- Is there a refund available for unused amount?
- What is the deductible?
- Do you offer a medical service assist, e.g., can you help me find a doctor or hospital?
- Is the policy good worldwide, including the USA?
- Can I top up my insurance once I’ve left on my trip?
- Can I buy my initial insurance after I’ve left on my trip?
Are you already overseas? Check out this post to learn how to get travel insurance if you’re already abroad!