Many of us are ignorant about how much side benefits our daily spending can reward us because of the many complicated terms and conditions that come with signing on a credit card. But trust me, once you’ve figured out the one (or multiple) card that fits your lifestyle, you’ll wish you had started using them earlier.
Unless you are impossibly rich or are covered by your company, hardly any one of us would be willing to pay over $10,000 for a First Class seat for what may be a few hundred dollars’ worth of flight ticket.
But what if you had the opportunity of enjoying First Class without having to fork out actual money?
That is why accruing air miles on your credit cards is the way to go.
Your next question would then be: what are some of the most travel-friendly credit cards to use to convert as many dollars into air miles?
If you’re a serial traveller, or have a dream to be one, this is going to be one post that will help you re-evaluate your credit card spending with these points below.
I give you a breakdown below on the best credit cards to get the best (miles) bang for your buck with the least limitations.
Citibank PremierMiles Visa Card
With a Citibank PremierMiles Visa Card, earn 10 mpd for booking hotels online on Kaligo. What this card trumps over the other credit cards is that you don’t have to pay in foreign currency, there is no limit on spending per month, and you certainly don’t have to fully prepay your reservation online – that means you can cancel your hotel reservations anytime without incurring any charges!
Apart from hotel bookings, earn 2.4 Citi miles per S$1 overseas spend in foreign currency and 1.2 Citi miles per S$1 local spend.
1 Citi Mile = 1 Mile with KrisFlyer, Asia Miles, Royal Orchid Plus and etc.
For new customers – Get 30,000 bonus miles with an annual fee payment of $192.60 and when you spend a minimum of $7,500 within the first 3 months.
Earn 4 miles per dollar when you purchase air tickets online. Unlike other credit cards, this card doesn’t limit you to certain carriers you book with and there is no minimum monthly spending. The only drawback is that you can only spend $2K a month.
UOB Preferred Platinum Visa Card
An easy go-to card for everyday spending. Earn 4 miles per dollar each time you pay with Paywave/ Samsung Pay/ Apple Pay/ Google Pay on the go. The only limit is that you can only spend up to $1000 per calendar month, except where SMART$ are issued.
BOC Elite Miles World MasterCard
Earn 5 miles per dollar on your overseas currency transactions. There is no minimum or maximum spending, so this is one convenient card you can carry around while travelling and not have to worry about using to shop overseas!
Singtel Dash is now accepted in Thailand, Singaporeans’ favourite holiday destination!
Thanks to VIA, the new cross-border payment alliance, you can continue to make easy cashless payment in Thailand with your mobile phone!
Forget queuing at money changers or fumbling with multiple currencies. Just tap or scan with your phone while you eat and shop away! Enjoy the convenience of paying in Singapore dollars at highly competitive exchange rates, and view both Thai Baht and Singapore dollars just before you make payment — no fear of additional fees or charges!
Simply Simply look out for the VIA logo at thousands of participating retail and F&B stores in popular shopping destinations like JJ Mall, Chatuchak Weekend Market, Central World and more. Visit https://www.viaconnects.com for more details.
Download and sign up for a free Singtel Dash account via the App Store or Google Play Store now!
Available for a limited period only, check out these exciting deals when you pay by Dash!
10% Cashback1 for all your spends in Thailand (promotion ends 31 December 2018).
ReadyRoam 1GB 30 days Thailand at only $5 (U.P. $12)2 for Singtel postpaid mobile users (promotion ends 31 October 2018. SMS ‘1’ to 727840 for instant activation).
63% OFF3 Etiqa Travel Insurance for Thailand (promotion ends 31 December 2018. Enter promo code DASH2THAI upon checkout).
8% OFF4 on IUIGA’s travel & outdoor items (promotion ends 30 November 2018. Enter promo code DASH8 upon checkout).
1Promotion is valid till 31 December 2018. 10% Cashback is capped at $5 per customer. Full payment must be made with Dash QR Code payment through VIA or Dash Visa Virtual Account through Visa payWave. Terms and conditions apply. 2Promotion is valid till 31 October 2018. The 30-day plan is valid upon activation and non-refundable once commenced. Auto renewal will apply upon exceeding the 1GB quota within the 30-day validity period (per local time). Terms and conditions apply. 3Promotion is valid till 31 December 2018. Promo code must be entered at point of purchase on Etiqa’s website. Promo code DASH2THAI is only applicable for travel insurance for Thailand. Full payment must be made with Dash Visa Virtual Account. Terms and conditions apply. 4Promotion is valid till 30 November 2018. No minimum spend required. Promo codes are applicable for all products under Travel & Outdoor except luggage. Full payment must be made with Dash Visa Virtual Account. Terms and conditions apply.
Being connected while you travel is an essential nowadays. How else do we search for directions to that hyped café, museum, or that amazing rooftop view? Although there are many alternatives for data coverage in the market, it is also important to select the most cost effective option, and therefore, we recommend ChangiWiFi for your travels, a Wi-Fi router service which covers more than 70 well-travelled countries, with packages for multiple countries as well.
ChangiWiFi’s service started back in 2015 with intentions to offer affordable data roaming services to its customers. Here are 6 reasons to select ChangiWiFi amongst your choice for data roaming.
1) Convenience
Booking a ChangiWiFi router is simple, head over to ChangiWiFi’s official website and place a reservation, choose your point of collection at one of the Changi Recommends counters across all 4 terminals in Changi Airport and submit your booking! Collection points are located at the Public Area of each terminal and can be collected right before your departure. Being able to collect it right before your trip is a bonus, as it does not require you to stay at home twice — to receive and to return your routers as required by other Wi-Fi rental companies. This takes away the trouble of time wasting if the delivery personnel happens to be late and you have other important things to attend to. Upon return, you can drop off your router at any one of the Changi Recommends booth too.
As service booths are open 24 hours every day, you can simply pick up or return your routers at the airport before your check-in, or after your arrival in Singapore.
2) No Bill Shock
If you are someone who opts for your data roaming plan while you travel, you may have experienced extra data costs which were excessive from overusing your data, or accidentally forgetting to terminate your roaming plan. However, choosing to use a Wi-Fi router may just take away these problems. Furthermore, Wi-Fi routers do not have a limit to how much data you can use, and if your problem is retaining your mobile number for important calls and texts, a Wi-Fi router allows you to do that too!
Here is a comparison between ChangiWiFi’s router and other Telco’s roaming plans.
3) Value For Money For Group And Business Travellers
One of the many benefits of a Wi-Fi router is being able to share data connection on more than 1 device. As seen in the above table, ChangiWiFi’s router can be connected to up to 5 devices. This means cheaper connection if you are travelling in a group, as you can split the cost of the rental fees with up to 5 travel buddies!
If you are a business traveller who owns many phones and needs to connect them to the internet for communication, or your laptop, having a Wi-Fi router may be an option for those who always search for internet connections. Besides, not all hotels offers great Wi-Fi access right? It is definitely time and money saving if you think of the bother.
4) May Be Cheaper Than SIM Cards
Yes, you read right. If you compare SIM card charges for certain countries to ChangiWiFi’s router rental fee, you might just end up paying lesser. Here is a comparison of buying a SIM card for a one week trip to Japan, or renting them from ChangiWiFi (with promo code benefits).
Most SIM cards for Japan is only available for purchase for 8 or more days of travel, that means paying a hefty price for a SIM card for those who are travelling to Japan for a shorter period of time.
Above is the cost of renting a Wi-Fi router from ChangiWiFi! As you can see, you are actually paying lesser for your one week trip, and for those who are travelling for 8 days even, it is still cheaper than a SIM card! What’s more, you can share the price of the router rental with your peers who are going with you on the trip. That’s a score if you ask me!
5) Ensure Smooth Internet Access While You Travel
ChangiWiFi offers 24 hours customer service and technical support for their Wi-Fi rentals. If you have any trouble overseas with your router, you can just email or WhatsApp them for assistance. This means that you can contact them during the weekends or public holidays as compared to other router rental services!
6) No Fair Usage Policy For Countries Like Australia, Japan, South Korea, And Taiwan
Although fair usage policy varies from country to country, there are some countries who do not enforce this rule like the above. However, some Wi-Fi router rental companies offers rentals for Wi-Fi devices for parts of the world instead of single country usage, and this limits the 4G/3G coverage of the device per day to 500MB before becoming extremely slow. Therefore, if you happen to rent those for a one city visit, it may not be feasible for group vacations or a heavy data user. ChangiWiFi though, offers Wi-Fi rentals for each country you visit, and for that, you would get unlimited data for the above countries!
ChangiWiFi Rental Rates And Promotions
ChangiWiFi rental rates are highly affordable for everyone. Prices starts from $5 a day depending on country and Changi Recommends tries to constantly add on more cities for everyone’s convenience. For those travelling to China, do not worry about VPN access as ChangiWiFi has got them covered for you too! Oh yes, did I mention you do not have to pay for your rented router till your return? You would only need to deposit $1 on your departure and pay upon your return.
Also, they are running a promotion currently which offers 2 days free ChangiWiFi rental for your trip! This promo code runs till January 2019, for travels up till February 2019.
To book a ChangiWiFi Router, visit ChangiWiFi’s official website. Do take note that walk-in rentals are available, however, subjected to availability of routers.
The next concern that would raise its head is how you both can make your honeymoon full of life and romance; this is not even the hard nut to crack because we have got 5 ways to make your trip luxury and romantic.
1. Make Sure It Is Heartfelt
Your enchanting trip should be heartfelt for both of you. What this means is, if you really want to visit the Andes and discover about the Atacama people, but she doesn’t like it, then don’t try to make that your romantic journey.
Find a thing that is going to be special for both of you.
One reason why you’re together is actually that you share similar likes and dislikes on some levels. Find all those parallels and search for a special experience that can complement those.
You can experience some adventures in your own state or area. Therefore, you don’t need to make a huge investment decision to go somewhere exotic. You can easily create that unforgettable, enchanting trip and save your valuable money.
2. Research Online
Search engines like google today is a great source to find destinations. In past times, you would have to get in touch with a tour operator or go to the local library to find details about vacation spots. Today, you just visit google.com, type in the search terms for example “romantic places in Singapore” and click the search button.
You can easily search for some romantic vacation trips in your neighbourhood or even find a location that is thousands of miles away. You can also find the best prices for each trip depending on the distance and facilities provided by the tour operator.
The online world can certainly help you define your choices based on your capacity to pay, exactly where you wish to go, and what you want to do.
3. Increase Your Savings
If you want to go outdoor next year, then you better increase your savings now. By putting away a modest amount of money regularly, you’ll have the ability to pay for a truly passionate getaway without having to be concerned about expenses. You really want your adventure to be unforgettable with romantic, happy memories, but not with nerve-racking anxieties about how exactly you’re planning to pay for every little thing.
Most of the couples spend a lot in the local parties and outings. Well, if you want to go somewhere away from your world and enjoy the different and adventurous experience then saving money right after your marriage will be the best bet for you.
4. Gear and Equipment Are Important
It is best to buy the right travel equipment and gear while you leave for your first adventure, and most of the other items that you may need must be in your luggage as well.
Most of the sites provide a list of important items which are needed mostly for some places around the world. For example, if you are heading to Bali, then bringing some bikinis, colourful beach hats and beach sandals will be the necessary items.
You are a newly married couple, and you don’t want to leave a formal touch in your dressing the way you were both in your wedding function. Well, trust me, that would look awkward. You don’t have to dress up formally when going out for the trip, just think about some easy to wear and easy to carry stuff. Go for small sized things such as travel outfits or footwear, baggage, accessories; all are available in the market specifically designed for backpackers or travellers.
5. Spend Money on Experiences but Not on Material
Do not forget that your experience is a lot more important than what was bought. So, spend on your special experiences during the romantic trip instead of concentrating on buying the things.
A honeymoon trip is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and you don’t want to lose it. Saving right after you got married counts a lot because it is a common rule of nature that responsibilities start knocking the door when it comes to managing a happy married life. There will be a long list of basic expenses, and you may never make your trip happen later in your life.
Just make your getaway a thing you’ll both remember. You will certainly be thrilled to do another one.
Mexico has beautiful Spanish colonial towns, white-sand beaches and mysterious Mayan ruins. Millions travel to Mexico each year to experience their history, culture and food. Some book a week in one of the luxurious riviera maya homes for rent while others spend their time backpacking around the country. But visiting Mexico can be a daunting experience, especially if it’s your first time. Keep reading and discover these essential travel tips to make sure your trip goes smoothly.
Staying safe in Mexico
One of the biggest concerns facing travellers to Mexico is the poor safety record in the country. Switch on any news channel and you’re bombarded with stories of gun crime and drug-related incidents. Others focus on how street crime and robberies target tourists. But this is usually blown out of proportion. Yes, Mexico does have a poor safety record. But not every town and city is the same. The vast majority of resorts such as Los Cabos and Cancun are completely safe. As are the smaller colonial towns in more rural areas. If you travel to Mexico City or areas that are notorious for drug trafficking routes, you should exercise a lot of caution. But for most tourists, vacationing in Mexico is no more dangerous than staying at home. Most of the hype you hear is just that – hype.
Brush up on your Spanish
If you’re planning to explore Mexico outside of the resorts, having a basic knowledge of Spanish is a must. While most people in and around the tourist areas can speak some English, it’s unlikely they will be able to in the local areas. Learning a few phrases can go a long way. And many Mexicans will appreciate that you’re making an effort to learn their language. Apart from putting a smile on the shopkeepers face, a bit of Spanish can unlock doors and allow you to experience the real Mexico. Knowing how to bargain in their lingo also reduces the chance that you’ll pay the tourist price. You don’t need to be fluent. Instead, grab a guidebook or watch a few videos on YouTube to learn a handful of basic phrases.
Make the most out of Mexico’s ruins
Egypt has the pyramids and Mexico has Mayan ruins. The ancient civilisation reigned in Central America for centuries leaving vast temples and cities behind. The most famous is Chichen Itza on the Yucatan Peninsula. But most towns and cities have ruins of varying sizes within a short drive of the centre. Tour companies offer an excursion to the nearby ruins. Or you can rent a car and visit them independently. If this is your first time, it’s a good idea to learn more about this ancient culture. Having the chance to visit the ruins and experiencing the best of Mayan traditions is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s strongly recommended to research which ones you want to visit. Don’t fall into the trap that other tourists do and see it as ‘just another ruin’. Instead, embrace the vast and diverse shapes and styles of the ancient Mayans in Mexico.
Always research tour companies
Signing up for a tour is one of the best ways to see Mexico. Most towns and cities, especially those near touristy areas, take visitors out to the sea, inland or to Mayan ruins. But because of the surge of visitors and an endless supply of customers, the quality of some have dropped dramatically over the last few years. The best policy is to shop around and don’t sign up for a tour just because it’s the cheapest. Research the company and read reviews on TripAdvisor. Some of the less professional agencies don’t meet the safety requirements, overcrowd buses and lack the knowledge to explain the attractions in depth. It might be better to splash out a bit more on a more reputable company. But the only way to make sure is to do a bit of research before arranging an excursion.
Want a bargain? Don’t forget to haggle
Because a large part of Mexico’s coastal regions rely on tourism, some of the more unscrupulous locals see international visitors as cash machines. When you ask for the price, they will often quote up to two or three times higher. This includes buying souvenirs, street food and pretty much anything outside of a shopping mall. The key is to haggle. Speak to somebody who you trust beforehand to get an idea of what the going rates should be. Prepare to pay slightly more, but be persistent to stop them from completely ripping you off!
Embrace the Mexican hospitality
Whenever you meet a Mexican, they will almost always greet you with a smile. Family life is the centrepiece of Mexican life and this transfers onto how they treat their guests. Striking up a conversation with a local is easy – especially if you know a little bit of Spanish. Most people that you meet will always be happy to practice their English on a tourist. And occasionally, this leads to an invite back to their house for a beer or shot of tequila. Travel around the country and you’ll be welcomed and receive excellent hospitality. Embrace it and show your warmth back to them in return.
Preparing for your trip to Mexico
Learn a few phrases of Spanish and be ready to barter for bargains. Always research tour companies and find recent travellers’ experiences before booking anything up. Take the chance to learn about their Mayan heritage and embrace the Mexican hospitality. And finally, Mexico is a lot safer to visit than most people think!
