Virgin Atlantic will pay for your medical treatment, hotel quarantine, and even funeral if you catch COVID-19 while traveling

• Virgin Atlantic will offer free COVID-19 insurance to all of its passengers who travel between August 24, 2020, and March 31, 2021.
• The insurance covers medical expenses, quarantine costs, and repatriation if medically necessary.
• It also covers the cost of repatriating your body and your funeral if you die from the virus.
• While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer advises against nonessential travel, it does warn that "travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19."

In late July, Emirates announced that it would pay for travelers' medical treatment, hotel quarantine, and even funeral if they catch COVID-19 while traveling.

Now, Virgin Atlantic is introducing a similar policy.

The airline announced on its website that passengers will get complimentary coronavirus insurance of up to $654,000 (£500,000) for travel between August 24, 2020, and March 31, 2021.

Passengers are eligible for the insurance on Virgin Atlantic flights during this window whether or not they've already booked, according to the airline, provided their travel is booked through Virgin Atlantic directly.

Working with insurance company Allianz Assistance, Virgin Atlantic's website says that its COVID-19 coverage extends to all coronavirus-related costs, from medical expenses to mandatory quarantine. And, in a worst-case scenario, up to $6,533 (£5,000) of funeral expenses are covered, per the airline's website.

According to Virgin Atlantic, the insurance will take effect "with no restrictions on age, travel class, or length of journey." Once you land at your destination, you are free to use other modes of transportation and visit other destinations and still be covered, the airline's website says, as long as your return flight is also booked through Virgin Atlantic.

For one-way trips, the airline says the insurance will last 12 hours after the arrival time of the traveler's last flight. However, it's worth noting that this does not apply to one-way flights that take off on March 31 and land on April 1.

One other thing to note: The insurance covers all bookings made through Virgin Atlantic, even if flights are operated by partners such as Delta, Air France, and KLM. However, according to Virgin Atlantic's website, "If you purchased your ticket from delta.com or any another airline's website, even if they are a partner airline of Virgin Atlantic, you will not be covered, even if one or more flights of your journey is on a Virgin Atlantic aircraft."

According to Virgin Atlantic's website, the policy does not have any exclusions for those with pre-existing medical conditions.

With coverage of up to $655,000, the policy has a higher cap than that of Emirates, which says it covers up to around $176,000 through October 31, 2020.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer advises against nonessential travel, it does warn that "travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19."

You can find out more about Virgin Atlantic's complimentary coronavirus insurance on the airline's website.

Representatives for Virgin Atlantic did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.