Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
Travel delays, whether we like it or not, have become part of the new normal. Whether caused by a lightning strike or a natural disaster or a power glitch, it is a painful experience that most passengers go through when their flights are disrupted.
“People who travel business class or first class for their international flights at least have access to the lounge. Therefore, they have at least a slightly more comfortable waiting experience. But 95 percent of the people who travel economy don’t have access to that comfort by virtue of the ticket they have,” Oona Insurance founder and Group Chief Executive Officer Abhishek Bhatia said in an interview.
With this customer pain point in mind, Oona, which is operating in the country through a joint venture with Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd., one of the Philippines’ oldest life insurance companies, launched its innovative Smart Flight Delay Insurance (https://smart-flight-delay.myoona.ph/travel-delay/).
For only P149, or the price of one’s favorite iced coffee drink, Oona’s Smart Flight Delay Insurance – the first of its kind in the Philippines – alleviates the experience with an instant lounge voucher the moment a delay in one’s international flight is announced.
“Just by adding about $3 extra, you’re essentially saying that if the flight gets delayed, I’m not going to have a harrowing experience at the airport. I can get access to what the Premium Plus customers have access to,” Bhatia said.
This revolutionary and innovative insurance service allows paperless and instantly accessible purchase options on its website (myoona.ph), or via Whatsapp and its chatbot, all with GenAI capabilities.
“The last thing you want to do when your flight is delayed is to fill out lengthy forms and say, ‘Insurance company, please pick up the phone.’ So that task is upon our shoulders. If your flight is delayed by an hour, we will push the lounge voucher to your phone, which you can readily use,” Bhatia said.
The P149 insurance covers not just the departure, but up to four flights in the itinerary, including return flights, with a P10,000 cover for personal accidents resulting in either injuries or death. And if a person is traveling with family or friends, up to three additional persons can be added for only P119 each.
Insurance Commissioner Reynaldo Regalado, who attended Oona’s launch on September 7, hailed the innovative product.
“There are the kinds of products we want to see in the market. They are responsive to customer needs,” Regalado said.
For Bhatia, Oona takes pride in its tech-driven, innovative product that makes it different from other players in the market.
“We firmly believe that when the customer needs us is the moment of truth. The moment of truth is the claim,” he said. — Joyce Pangco Pañares
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Credit belongs to: www.manilastandard.net
