As more Canadians turn to artificial intelligence (AI) tools to plan their trips, Manulife is bringing travel insurance quotes directly into ChatGPT, opening up a new way for consumers to explore coverage options without leaving the platform.
The insurer launched its CoverMe plugin in late September 2026 through an agreement with OpenAI. According to Manulife, it is the first travel insurance plugin of its kind available in ChatGPT and the company's first such offering globally.
The company points out that travel planning is increasingly happening in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered environments. “This launch builds on Manulife’s focus to leverage AI to improve customer experiences by making information and services easier to access when and where customers need them,” the statement adds.
Pamela Wong, head of affinity markets at Manulife, tells the Insurance Portal that the company first looked at providing travel insurance quotes within ChatGPT to reach customers and create value “in the moments that matter.”
“The goal of what we’re doing is to provide eligible travellers with a simple, easy way to learn about coverage, receive a personalized quote and basically make sure that when they’re travelling, they’re covered, as well,” she says, adding that those with more complicated protection needs would be directed to one of Manulife’s licensed advisors. “This is really complementary.”
Consumer behaviour
She adds that the company is always looking at how consumer behaviours are evolving. “We have seen more and more Canadians using AI-powered tools to research and plan many things. Definitely travel,” she says. “ChatGPT stood out as an opportunity to connect because it is one of the most widely used AI platforms.”
Will McAleer, spokesperson for the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada (THIA) says the development is not surprising – one that is about time, he adds, noting that the risks associated with AI-powered sales are likely similar to those risks present when an individual calls a live agent to obtain a policy. He also says the development could help create greater coverage certainty for travellers.
“The ability, through an AI agent, to ask further questions, if you were to compare it to an online purchase where everything is static, the ability to ask further questions and get that answer and that response in real time is really an interesting development that could help increase the confidence in travel insurance for the Canadian traveller,” he says.
After enabling the ChatGPT plugin and answering a series of questions about their trip, customers can obtain a personalised travel insurance quote, powered by the company’s quote generation capabilities.
Conversational commerce
“What’s really critical about this solution or this offering is that the customer actually isn’t getting a quote generated by ChatGPT,” Wong says, calling the program instead an opportunity for conversational commerce. “It’s basically the conversational interface needed to collect the information needed to generate a quote, but the quote actually comes from our quote engine on CoverMe.com.”
To ensure would-be clients represent themselves properly when purchasing insurance, she says the experience is built to guide travellers through the appropriate and requisite information needed to generate a quote. “With any purchase in any forum, customers have to provide complete and accurate information. We have actually built into our plugin some of those disclaimers and explanations so that it’s top of mind for the customer as they are purchasing,” Wong says.
“Travellers whose insurance needs require additional information or coverage options will also be directed to CoverMe.com for a more tailored quote experience,” the company’s statement about the plugin launch adds.
McAleer meanwhile points out that it was a big deal when companies first began offering policies online without the help of an agent. “Being able to have greater breadth of clarity and query when you’re making that policy purchase through an AI agent, that seems to be pretty interesting,” he says. “Particularly when we start to think about some of the more current generational groups who don’t want to call in to get satisfaction or to purchase products.”
The sentiment is echoed by Wong, who states that “launching this is really an example of how our customer insight-driven approach to developing products and services is really about meeting customers wherever they are. As travel planning continues to evolve, we are looking for ways to make it easier for Canadians to access information and protection that they need.”
Although Wong says the company doesn’t currently have plans to use a similar plugin to power sales in other business lines, Manulife’s statement does suggest it is watching the development closely.
“Agentic commerce is quickly becoming a customer preference to find and choose products and that shift is global,” Jodie Wallis, Manulife’s chief AI officer said in a statement. “We’ve spent the past several years building the AI and data foundations to move at this speed. This is the first time we’re putting them directly in front of customers in a conversational channel. The foundations behind it are enterprise-wide, so what we learn here compounds across our markets.”
