My 3 Favorite Travel Hacks!

My Top 3 Travel Hacks!

As we approach the last quarter of 2018, it’s going to be the holiday season soon. With the holiday season, what comes to mind is traveling!

Everyone loves to travel to experience the overseas culture, travel for the environment or travel just to de-stress.

Imagine sipping on a beach, worry free with a pina colada on hand. #life

Travel Photo By FreePik

But when it comes to traveling, things can get expensive really quickly. Currency rates changes, exorbitant exchange rates from banks or even losing money overseas.

Here are my 3 hacks that I use to ensure that I make the most out of my money!

*This is not a sponsored post, it’s things that I have tried or will be trying in the next few weeks! *

1) UOB Mighty FX

If you guys haven’t heard about this, UOB recently came out with a MightyFX account. 
What this does is, to allow you to change currencies on the fly. Like having a mini money exchange in your phone! 
From the app, you will be able to see the live rates of the currencies that it supports!
Since I’m headed to New Zealand end October 2018, I have gone ahead and made some exchanges. To my disbelief, the rates are as good as the ones at your money changers!

So if the rates are as good as money changers, why would I want to use MightyFX?

1) Risk of getting robbed or picked pocket.

• Having the MightyFX card means that my money is stored in my debit card. If I lose it, all I need to do is to call the bank and my card will be put on hold.

2) KrisFlyer

• The MightyFX card comes with a KrisFlyer account as well! This means, everything you spend on it, you will receive some miles, which can give you tickets for your next holiday!

3) Instant Exchange

• If you have some foreign currencies left, you can exchange it back into SGD or any currencies that is support by MightyFX!

Some of the other benefits that comes with the KrisFlyer Card

MightyFX now supports 11 currencies like EUR, USD, HKD, NZD, AUD, SGD, CNY, CHF, JPY, CAD, GBP

Disclaimer: Since it’s a debit account, you can draw cash via any MasterCard support ATM. However, there’s a $5 charge for cash withdrawal.

Which brings me to my next point!

2) CashChanger.co

When we travel, there will be times we will have to use physical cash. For example, some rural area that does not have internet connectivity will require payment in cash. Hence, we need to hold on to some cash as well!

But which money changer has the best rates?

I use CashChanger.co to check out the latest rates within the last 15mins. It’s pretty close.
I changed some MYR for my upcoming trip to Ipoh next week. It seems that the rates of the site are as accurate as it can get.

CashChanger Interface

It allows you to sort by rate, by area or even money changers near you!

3) Travel Insurance

Finally, insurance. The worst thing we want is to lose our baggage, fall sick, injure ourselves and have a delayed flight.

With unpredictable weathers nowadays, I do believe that some form of insurance is always needed especially if we are going to countries that might not be as safe as Singapore.

Previously, I use to purchase whenever I fly overseas. But I realized that it becomes pretty costly. Hence, I have opted for an annual travel insurance that cost about $400 for 12 months (AIG Travel Guard Supreme).

This covers me up to 90days in any country as long as I depart from Singapore! This seems like a steal to me. 

However, do speak to your own financial planner to find out if this is something suitable for you. As I'm not a qualified financial planner, but these are things that I have tried or will be trying!

What other travel hacks do you have? Share it with us by leaving a comment!
Otherwise, share these hacks with your family and friends!