Another fare hike for public transportation is coming from 23 December 2023, with fares expected to increase up to 11 cents. Here are some tips to save on your public transportation ride.
Using credit/debit card if you do not have a concession card
If you have a concession card, good for you as you get substantial savings. For those that do not have, you should consider switching to a credit card to pay for your fares as you would get some savings from it.
Credit cards to consider using
Here are some examples of no annual fee credit cards that give substantial cashback for transport:
| Card | Cashback | Effective cashback | Conditions | Cashback limit |
| UOB EVOL | 8% | 6.67% | Min S$600/mth spend for 8% cashback | $20 cashback – Contactless (S$250 spend) $20 cashback – Online (S$250 spend) |
Standard Chartered Smart card | 6% (or 5.6mpd) | 6% (or 5.6mpd) | Nil | 15,705 points (Equivalent to S$49 of cashback) |
You may also check out other credit cards that are eligible for public transportation spend by using heymax.ai and searching for SimplyGo.
Debit cards to consider using
If you don’t qualify for a credit card, you could use a DBS/POSB Debit Card where they are giving up to S$20 cashback on your public transport spend. You would need to sign up to participate in this program on the DBS PayLah! app and meet certain requirements. If you have not registered for PayLah! yet, use my referral code – ISASJF544, when you sign up for one to receive S$5 from DBS.
There are two ways to enjoy this promotion:
- For Singaporeans and Singapore PR earning an income below S$2,500, it is mentioned that you would be able to enjoy the cashback without hitting any spend requirements. It is recommended to have your salary deposited in DBS in this case for them to verify your income.
- If your income is more than S$2,500, spend a total of S$80 on your shopping and groceries using the DBS/POSB debit card to be eligible to receive the cashback.
Tap in to MRT stations before 7.45am on weekdays
If you need to be out in the morning, why not make it a point to go out earlier? You get to save 50 cents when you tap into the MRT before 7.45am. That’s a saving of at least S$10 per month if you do it every weekday.
Maximising your transfer rebate
Did you know that you can make up to 5 transfers within 2 hours? You would have to however tap in and tap out within 45 minutes. Since fares are charged distance based, it would all be considered as a single journey and the fares charged would be cheaper as opposed to having multiple new journeys.
This is applicable for bus/mrt transfers as well as bus transfers between different services. This means tapping in and out of the same station as well as boarding the same bus service you took earlier back to back would result in a new journey and hence increase the fares you have to pay.
Travel a lot? Consider getting a monthly pass
If you travel quite a lot, you should consider getting a monthly concession pass as it provides substantial savings since you just need to pay a flat monthly fare to have unlimited travels.
Concession card holders are able to either purchase a bus only, train only or a hybird pass which includes both basic bus services and train. Here is the cost structure:
| Types of concession | Bus only pass | Train only pass | Hybrid pass |
| School Smart Card (Primary) | S$24.00 | S$21.00 | S$39.00 |
| School Smart Card (Secondary/JC) ITE Student Diploma Student | S$29.00 | S$26.50 | S$49.00 |
| Undergraduate Private Education Degree NSF | S$55.50 | S$48.00 | S$81.00 |
| Persons with Disability Senior Citizen | Nil | Nil | S$58.00 |
| Workfare Transport | Nil | Nil | S$96.00 |
If you do not hold any of the above concession cards, you could get an Adult Concession card for S$128 monthly + a one-time fee of $8.10 (includes $5 card cost and $3.10 personalisation fee) if you’re getting this travel pass for the first time.
Frugal Penguin 
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