Chinese New Year Holiday: Tips for Easy Travels During Omicron

As February 1 - the Year of the Tiger - approaches, many Singaporean residents will be making plans to celebrate Chinese New Year overseas.

The first two days of February are national holidays in Singapore, presenting an opportunity to enjoy some time away - especially if you can swing one or two extra days off to benefit from the weekend before or after. For example, if you can book 31st January off, you'll have five days to travel. If you take off the 31st, 3rd and 4th, you'll have nine whole days to play with!

For many thousands of people with family in Malaysia, either travelling north over Woodlands Causeway or flying into Kuala Lumpur will be the main objective. 

But of course, where once you could skip over to Johor Bahru or take a budget flight into KL, Covid-19 has made reaching Malaysia more challenging today.

The Vaccinated travel lane (VTL) between Singapore and Malaysia has presented a lifeline for permanent Long Term Pass holders and Singapore residents with connections to Malaysia.

Indeed, when Singapore-Malaysia VTL bus tickets covering the first six days of February went on sale, they sold out within hours - all 6,480 of them.

But to give you the best chance of having a smooth, trouble-free overseas trip for Chinese New Year, we've put together a few helpful tips

As part of the VTL deal, you'll need to take out adequate insurance with Covid-19 coverage. The minimum medical cover for Malaysia is RM100,000 - about S$32,000.
 
With Allianz Travel Singapore insurance, cover includes selected Covid-19 coverage* which far exceeds the minimum above, plus cover for epidemics and pandemics in general (when diagnosed with a disease). Medical and Dental cover limit is S$500,000 (Silver Plan), S$200,000 (Bronze Plan) and S$1,000,000 (Platinum Plan).

●       24/7 Emergency Medical Assistance

●       Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption and Travel Delay

●       Loss/theft/damage of baggage

●       Rental Car Excess cover (Silver & Platinum Plans only)

The Omicron variant has put many countries on alert again. In the case of Malaysia^[CB1] [ES2] , for example, this means you'll need to have a negative pre-departure test, followed by a test every day after arrival - for six days (and three of the tests are professionally administered).

Check more information on MySafeTravel

Travel insurance is a critical part of arranging your trip over Chinese New Year, so why not get a quote from Allianz Travel Singapore today? We’ll be on hand to help you if you’re affected by Covid-19, or if you’re injured or fall ill for another covered reason. Our policies also cover Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption and Travel Delay*.

And remember, we have different types of plan to suit a variety of suit travellers’ needs, including Annual, Family and Single-Trip Plans across our three policy levels – Comprehensive Bronze, Silver and Platinum.