Filipino airline to offer Covid-19 cover
The Philippines’ airline Cebu Pacific (CEB) has launched insurance add-on Covid Protect to CEB Travelsure, to give travellers peace of mind when flying during this time
With Covid Protect, guests who test positive for Covid-19 will get up to ₱1 million coverage (US$20,800) for hospitalisation and medical expenses. This upgrade to the airline’s comprehensive travel insurance plan is available to all passengers travelling to and from all of CEB’s domestic destinations and to all CEB’s international destinations, for ₱270 ($5.62).
Coverage begins on the date of departure from origin and ends two hours upon arrival back at origin, with a maximum travel duration of 30 consecutive days. CEB Travelsure Covid Protect is underwritten by Insurance Company of North America, a Chubb Company.
Restarting tourism safely
"We are very pleased to launch the CEB Travelsure Covid Protect in line with our commitment to restart travel and tourism safely and sustainably. With Covid Protect, guests will be able to travel more confidently as they are assured of coverage, especially if they have essential travel scheduled,” said Candice Iyog, CEB Vice-President for Marketing and Customer Experience.
Passengers can access this offer when booking flights on the CEB website, while existing CEB Travelsure insured passengers can simply purchase the Covid Protect add-on up to two hours prior to their flight via the ‘Manage Booking’ portal on the Cebu Pacific website. Chubb also offers a 24/7 Emergency Assistance Hotline. While for claims that need to be filed, the passengers can make them online.
Airlines and airports have been working on making travel Covid safe, including Lufthansa requiring medical protective masks; British Airways extending its Book with Confidence policy; and Munich airport receiving a health certificate.
However, ITIJ notes that, as has been previously mentioned by both Canadian broker Marty Firestone and UK insurer Antony Martin (of ROCK Insurance) in an ITIJ article, the medical coverage offered by airlines is not very extensive, and will likely not cover travellers for very much when travelling to expensive medical destinations such as the US – where average cost of hospital care for Covid-19 ranges from $51,000 to $78,000, based on age, according to updated cost analysis data from FAIR Health.