To the point
Are you going on a trip for more than 25 days? Instead of purchasing insurance, extend your Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card Travel Emergency Medical Insurance and save.
The Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card comes with many benefits for frequent travellers: six free accesses in airport VIP lounges per year, no foreign currency conversion fees, and a host of travel insurance benefits.
Here are all the assurances offered by this card:
- Purchase Security and Extended Warranty
- Rental Car Collision/Loss Damage Insurance
- Lost luggage, delayed luggage and hotel/motel burglary insurance
- Trip cancellation or interruption insurance
- Flight Delay Insurance
- Common Carrier Travel Accident Insurance
- Travel Emergency Medical Insurance
To learn more about your card’s insurance, visit this page and find the certificate of insurance and product summary under the name Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card.
Scotiabank Visa Infinite Passport - Travel Emergency Medical Insurance Extension
Cardholders under the age of 65 receive Travel Emergency Medical Insurance coverage for the first 25 consecutive days of a trip. For those 65 years and older, the period consisting of the first 3 consecutive days.
If your trip exceeds 25 days, you can contact Manulife, the insurance provider, to extend your coverage. If you meet the requirements, you will be eligible for coverage for the entire duration of your trip and will only have to pay for the number of days in excess of the 25-day period.
I always use this extension option for my trips over 25 days. Rather than purchasing insurance for the entire trip, I just pay for the days beyond the coverage period.
In early 2023, I took a two-month trip to Colombia; I spent 63 days outside of Canada. Since my Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card provided coverage for the first 25 days, I called Manulife, the provider of emergency travel medical insurance, to extend my coverage for another 38 days.
Here are the steps to follow to extend your insurance:
- Call the number listed on your certificate of insurance to reach Manulife
- Submit your request to extend your emergency medical coverage
- You will be asked for your travel dates and some information
- The representative will verify with you your eligibility for insurance
- You will be required to pay the fees through a secure telephone payment (with your credit card)
- As soon as the call is completed, you will receive a confirmation email with your insurance policy.
Savings
Normally, 63 days of coverage for Travel Emergency Medical Insurance would cost me a minimum of $228. So I easily saved $91 in insurance costs for my trip to Colombia alone.
It was the same for my trip to Mexico; I was going for a total of 38 days so I only needed to pay for 13 days of emergency medical insurance extension, which cost me $47 in total.
These are of course examples from my personal experience; the cost of travel insurance varies depending on many factors such as age and health condition.
Since I take several long trips during the year, these savings alone justify paying the $150 annual fee for the card.
Combined with no conversion fees for my extended stays abroad, and six free airport lounge accesses, the Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card has enough benefits for me to keep it in my wallet year after year.
Bottom Line
The Scotiabank Passport™ Visa Infinite* Card offers excellent insurance for frequent travellers and digital nomads, with an option to extend emergency medical coverage that is ideal for long-stayers.
As with any insurance, it is important to check your eligibility for each category when planning and booking your trip (accommodation, flights, car rental, transportation, etc.). Charging these purchases to the correct credit card will ensure that you are covered. If something goes wrong, it will make all the difference.
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