With fare hike for public transportation happening almost every year, 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 credit cards that give substantial reward for transport:
| Card | Reward | Conditions | Cashback limit |
| UOB ONE | 8.33 – 10% | Min S$500/mth spend for 8.33% cashback, min S$2000 for 10% cahsback on SimplyGo Bus/MRT | Refer to UOB ONE website |
UOB Lady’s Card | 4mpd | Selected category must be transport | Up to S$1000 for normal, S$1500 for solitaire |
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 Chocolate Visa Debit card where they are giving 2 heymax miles per dollar. Do note you have to sign up for both Chocolate Finance and Heymax, as well as link the card to heymax to earn the 2 heymax miles.
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.
