The Singapore Tourist Pass : Is It For You ?

We have been on short trips to Singapore before but never thought of getting one of those refillable cards (like the Octopus cards for Hong Kong). But this time hubby found out that there was a day pass for tourist that enable us to get on unlimited rides on Singapore public transport system. It's called The Singapore Tourist Pass. They came in three different price $10 (day pass); $16 (2 day pass) and $20 (3 day pass).

We thought of giving the tourist pass a try. Even if it turned out to break even at least we gained the experience. So we bought two cards at the Changi station terminal and boarded our train to the hotel. It cost an extra SGD10 per card for deposit fee which could be refunded. That afternoon we went to a few places, one station to another, one trip after another. And we even had the conversation of how convenience it was not having to purchase fares each time.


The next morning I again pulled out my cards at the station and confidently tapped it but it didn't work. Next to me hubby had the same problem. We were both puzzled. We went to the control center at the station there and told the lady our problem. She asked when we purchased them. When we said yesterday she proceeded to tell us that the cards were good till end of the day yesterday. WHAT ??!!

Our understanding of day pass was one day (24 hours) and I was furious that the website didn't state this information. I felt misinformed. I went back to the website ready to file a complaint. But I found out the information on the website and I guess hubby missed the fine print. Well in this case it wasn't even fine print.

Lesson learnt. Always read the fine print before buying anything. In this case read everything and don't assume anything. I was still disappointed though that they didn't cut us a slack and gave us a free ride even after I explained the whole situation.

PROS :
Convenient - no stopping by ticket machine every time before getting on train
Saves time - no stopping by ticket machine after you get off train to get refund back

CONS :
If you are buying the 1 day pass unless you're going to a lot of places then you won't save money.

If you're staying 3 days and buy the 3 day pass there's a chance that you may save money. As long as you think you may spend more than SGD6.67 in transportation a day. For example a trip from Changi aiport station to Bugis station will cost SGD2. Check out the fare calculator here http://www.smrt.com.sg/Trains/NetworkMap.aspx