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Why travel insurance is necessary for multigenerational vacationers
Multigenerational travel continues to be popular amongst Canadian families.
READ MORE: Allianz explains why no Canadian should leave home without travel insurance
Meaning trips that involve two or three generations of travellers, the trend is growing thanks to factors like grandparents wanting to spend time with their own children, and grandchildren on holiday. Plus, when mom and dad need a night off, the grandparents are there to look after the children.
However, as Allianz Global Assistance Canada points out, the bigger the family group, and the larger the age gap, the more planning is needed to ensure everybody has a safe and enjoyable vacation.
“Travelling with family members from different generations can be a very rewarding experience and create many shared memories, but it also raises a number of issues that should be addressed in advance,” says Dan Keon, vice-president, market management, Allianz Global Assistance Canada. “Organizing the itinerary so that each generation can enjoy the trip is challenging enough. But travelling families should also be mindful that children can be more prone to illness due to changes in routine, environment and diet, while seniors may have pre-existing medical conditions that could affect coverage, so having adequate travel medical insurance for everyone is vital.”
Get yourself some travel insurance
It doesn't matter if you're going across the U.S. border for some back-to-school shopping, or jetting off on a last-minute Caribbean holiday: travel insurance for everybody is necessary.
Over the past year, Allianz Canada has seen an increase of five per cent in the purchase of policies for multi-travellers and the Conference Board of Canada reported that among the 26.9 per cent of Canadians who travelled with a group of related adults and children, more than one quarter included more than two generations.
“For multi-generational travel, we recommend that one person be assigned to ensure that pre-trip details related to health and travel protections are managed, including everything from accessibility issues, vaccines, special dietary needs and age-appropriate activities,” adds Keon. “This approach will help ensure no one’s needs are overlooked.”
And, just because you're protected in your home province, doesn't mean that protection carries over on your travels.
“Provincial health insurance does not cover everything in other regions across the country,” says Keon. “Expenses for things like ambulances and paramedic assistance may not be covered by your provincial health plan while travelling out of province. Plus, it’s not uncommon for family members to come together at a destination from different cities, which makes the need for trip interruption or cancellation coverage beneficial to help protect your travel investment.”
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