Another long weekend is coming up in Singapore in August: National Day. By taking time off on either the 7th and the 8th or the 10th and the 11th, you can enjoy a 5 day vacation. If you haven’t already planned out your vacation plans, it’s still not too late to start making some travel plans. There are many options available in Asia that are exciting, beautiful and financially affordable. Here are some tips to help you make your decisions.
14 Places You Can Fly To For Under S$300 Roud-Trip
According to Kayak, there are still 14 cities that you can fly to for under S$300 for a round trip ticket. Some popular options that stood out were Penang, Yangon, Bangkok, Phuket, PHnom Penh, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City. We looked up prices for non-stop round-trip flights from Singapore to various locations in SE Asia for both 5 August – 9 August trip and 9 August – 13 August trip. For those who are willing to splurge a little more, a flight to Bali or Maldives was still available for around S$600.
| 5 Aug – 9 Aug | Price (SGD) | 9 Aug – 13 Aug | Price (SGD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Town (Penang), Malaysia | 99 | Yangon, Myanmar | 171 |
| 2 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 144 | Phuket, Thailand | 223 |
| 3 | Yangon, Myanmar | 171 | Cebu City, Philippines | 231 |
| 4 | Bangkok, Thailand | 172 | Phnom Penh, Cambodia | 252 |
| 5 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | 195 | Bangkok, Thailand | 267 |
| 6 | Bandung, Indonesia | 227 | Manila, Philippines | 269 |
| 7 | Manila, Philippines | 258 | Krabi, Thailand | 269 |
| 8 | Jakarta, Indonesia | 270 | Langakawi, Malaysia | 280 |
| 9 | Phnom Penh, Cambodia | 274 | Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | 300 |
| 10 | Phuket, Thailand | 276 | Hat Yai, Thailand | 333 |
| 11 | Hong Kong, Hong Kong | 300 | Hong Kong, Hong Kong | 350 |
| 12 | Hanoi, Vietnam | 329 | Taipei, Taiwan | 468 |
| 13 | Krabi, Thailand | 357 | Guangzhou, China | 473 |
| 14 | Langakawi, Malaysia | 364 | Colombo, Sri Lanka | 500 |
| 15 | Mumbai, India | 414 | Male, Maldives | 549 |
| 16 | Taipei, Taiwan | 452 | HaiKou, China | 550 |
| 17 | Colombo, Sri Lanka | 500 | Denpasar (Bali), Indonesia | 622 |
| 18 | Perth, Australia | 528 | Dubai, UAE | 623 |
| 19 | Denpasar (Bali), Indonesia | 570 | Shanghai, China | 647 |
| 20 | Melbourne, Australia | 697 | Da Nang, Vietnam | 690 |
| 21 | Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia | 700 |
Airbnbs Can Help You Save +60% On Lodging
One downside to traveling to popular locations is that hotels are usually either booked out or prohibitively expensive. For many travelers who don’t require a fancy concierge service or amenities, getting an Airbnb can be a convenient way of solving these two problems. For instance, we found that Airbnb in Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Yangon tend to be at least 60%-70% cheaper to their hotel counterparts.
Sometimes, Airbnbs can be just as nice if not nicer than hotel rooms. Since they are mostly located near residential areas, you are closely located to most essential things like grocery stores and transportation. Not only that, many homes that are listed on Airbnb in Asia tend to be quite nicely decorated. You can read the reviews and ratings of the apartment or home that you want to book ahead of time to find the place that best fits your needs.
Book Your Trip with A Travel Credit Card
When you are booking any of the flights or lodgings that we mention above, you can earn significant savings in form of discounts, cash rebate and mile awards by using a miles credit card. In particular, we think couple credit cards deserve a special mention for their high level of awards for travel bookings.
| Card | AirBnB | Flight | Overseas Spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| DBS Altitude Card | 3 miles per S$1 spent on Airbnb | Up to 9 miles per S$1 spent on Expedia | 2 miles per S$1 spent overseas |
| Citi PMV Card | 2 miles per S$1 forex spending+S$50 Airbnb discount (requires S$250 of booking) | 3 miles per S$1 spent on Expedia | 3 miles on overseas spending on long-weekends |
| HSBC Revolution Card | 2 miles per S$1 spent online for travel bookings + 9% off travel bookings | 0.4 miles per S$1 spent overseas | |
| Maybank Horizon Card | 2 miles per S$1 forex spending | 2 miles per S$1 spent on flights & travel packages | 2 miles per S$1 spent overseas |
Parting Thoughts
Travelling is one of the best ways of spending your money to gain new experiences and become a happier person. And, long weekends provide an excellent opportunity for us to take time out of our busy daily routines to change things up a bit and go somewhere we haven’t been before. We hope this article helps you to encourage you to go experience something new and cool, and ultimately lead to a healthier mind set and a happier life style. If you plan on engaging in a potentially dangerous sports/leisure activity while you are abroad, you may want to take precautions and get some protection before you embark on your journey.
The article 3 Tips On Planning Your National Day Long Weekend Holiday originally appeared on ValuePenguin.
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