The last time I went to the tour, I booked a great trip to the various onsens or hot springs in Japan. This time round, I’m looking for great deals for my honeymoon at the end of the year. My friend went to Greece, and some suggested New Zealand. Any suggestions?

Before you decide on the tour package, check for the hidden charges such as fuel surcharges, taxes, and add-on day tours. I went with my friend on a very cheap tour to Chiang Mai before, and we had to pay 500 baht per person to go to each location, such as going to the borders between three countries, and a visit to the Karen hill tribes. So the best deal may not be that great.

In addition, my trip to Korea was filled with lots of visits to shops and stores where the tour guide could earn commission. The photographer with us tried to take photos of us, which he would charge $8 per photo. One family had to pay more than $300 for the photos because they did not know about this.

At the same time, some tours may fail to materialise because not enough customers book them. If you happen to be on such a tour, you may have to change your plans. Check whether there would be any refunds if this happens.

You may also decide whether you want to see a lot of different places, or you want to enjoy each place at your own pace. Do check with the agencies what languages the tour guides would be speaking in. On my last trip to Japan, the local tour guide could barely speak English and Mandarin. It so happened that most of the tourists on my coach came from English-speaking backgrounds, so when the man tried to lapse into Cantonese, he lost almost all of us.

Enjoy your trip! 

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With the winter holidays coming, it would be great to go skiing, not that I know how to. I’ve tried snowboarding before, but it was tough. Yet, the feeling of going down the slope was great, even if I ended up falling. There are many bargain holidays at ski resorts, and there are many great places in Switzerland and Austria. The last time I went to the Alps was in June, so there was only a little bit of snow at the peak, where I had snowball fights with my friends.

This travel agency offers huge savings and great deals.

Other places include US, especially now that our currency has appreciated, it is more affordable to visit US now. The last time I went there, the currency rate was almost at S$1.68 or higher to US$1. Now, it’s only S$1.44 or S$1.45 to US$1.

Sarah Tan – SingaporeProfit.com

This post is brought to you by Hypermart Holidays.

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Taking coaches is uncomfortable and I worry for my safety at times. I do not plan to drive up to Malaysia at any time soon. Perhaps I could consider flying to KL for short trips rather than fly all the way to Bangkok. With the competition intensifying, hopefully prices could fall even further.

Hopefully the talks will work out and we can fly there sooner than we think.

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My friend is on her way to Germany! Two other friends are taking holidays elsewhere right now. My friend asked me for hotel recommendations in Frankfurt, but I couldn’t answer her even though I had gone there before. I was with my classmates, and everything was booked for me, so I just had to appear there.

Despite my impending trip in a month’s time, the travelling bug in me is itching to go places. I saw this great deal for Canary Islands which is just off Spain’s coast and apparently the temperature is great all year round. It is windy but not freezing cold. Those who love water sports or beaches will definitely have a ball of a time there. You can find other cheap flights and last minute deals. Last minute deals can be quite rewarding especially if you are able to take leave any time you want. That’s because the travel agencies want to fill up empty places quickly.

One friend went to Greece for her honeymoon, and the blue and white buildings I saw at the website are simply gorgeous. In The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, one actress stayed there for a month and had a wonderful experience and romance. The people are quite friendly. Check out Holiday Hypermarket for more great deals!

This post is brought to you by Holiday Hypermarket.

Sarah Tan – SingaporeProfit.com

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I’ve once watched this movie called Jump Tomorrow, an interesting show about how this man dissuaded a suicidal man from suicide by getting him to jump off the cliff the next day instead of that very day. By delaying his jump, the man finally thought through it and decided against his initial plan. This story is set against the Niagara Falls, so if you are interested in checking out this majestic waterfall, take a flight to Toronto and drive to the Niagara Falls. It is really a breath-taking sight.

For Francophiles, you should definitely take a flight to Montreal since this is in the Province of Quebec. It has a vibrant arts culture there that you may not want to miss. Vancouver, which is situated on the west of Canada, is easily reached by a flight to Vancouver from Heathrow. There are majestic mountains and great nature reserves, and it is a multi-cultural place. 

Check out DialAFlight for more details on cheap flights to Canada.

This post is brought to you by DialAFlight.

Sarah Tan – SingaporeProfit.com

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How does this compare with the new A380 to Sydney? Well, both go to different cities, and the experience cannot be compared. Saving money on flights may not be the best way to stretch your dollar, because the discomfort on the flights may spoil your holiday.

I once took the above-mentioned budget airline where someone threw up in front and the seats could not be used, and the toilets were in a bad shape. It was not their fault, but with the quick turnaround, the stewardess did not have enough time to prepare the plane for the next batch of customers.

I’ve watched how some people stretched their dollars on trips on a television show, and those who need to transit to take other flights should reconsider taking budget airlines, as it is difficult to predict the schedule at times. Corporate travellers should not consider such alternatives. Anyway, their companies should be able to afford proper comfortable flights for them.

Sarah Tan – SingaporeProfit.com

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Hari Raya holiday is coming up and there is a long weekend if your company is having a 5-day work week. There should be a day off in lieu since Hari Raya falls on a Saturday. This is the time when people can take a day off and go for a short break. You can have a spa holiday or a beach holiday.

Now, what is the best method to pay for your expenses overseas? According to a study in The Business Times, using a debit card is the cheapest way to spend money overseas. At the same time, you do not need to carry too much cash with you.

Changing money is a little expensive when you factor in brokerage charges, and if you have large amount of cash left over, unless of course the currency movement within a week or two is significant enough for you and you can even make a little money from the movement. Especially when you go for spa holidays, sometimes you need to have cash with you to pay the masseurs that give you a great massage. So, we still need to carry cash with us.

Using credit cards to sign for purchases is slightly more expensive than using debit cards to withdraw cash. There are many ATMs you can withdraw money from, but cash advances are quite expensive if you are using your credit card to withdraw money. Hence, it is still cheaper to use credit cards if you do not plan to use ATMs. In addition, like what I love to stress, you get to earn points. In fact, some of the credit cards that offer air miles give better rates when you charge to your card from overseas.

Travellers’ Cheques are one of the more expensive options, as many people only use four-fifths of the amount they changed, even after five years. That means people are squandering their money away by not using the cheques.

No matter what method you are planning to use when you go overseas, do remember to spend wisely. If not, you will be saddled with a big bill when you return. To save even more money, you may wish to check out some of the cheaper flights around. Short weekend breaks really do wonders to your motivational level.

Sarah Tan – SingaporeProfit.com

This post is brought to you by Dial A Flight.

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I could have applied for a local calling card, something I was familiar with because one of the part time jobs after my A Levels was to run a hotline for this particular campaign. However, my vague memory of that was that it was still rather expensive because it had a two tiered programme, and the upper tiered programme cost more in order to get cheaper rates to more countries. As for the lower tiered programme, it only allowed calls to another country from Singapore, or from that country back to Singapore, and not between multiple countries.

With the advent of globalisation, people will be calling everyone from different places. One  phone card online, Pingo, allows calls to many countries. According to the website, a call from Singapore to Malaysia only costs S$0.111, so for many Malaysians who work in Singapore, or Singaporeans who love to go over to JB for seafood or shopping, it is probably cheaper than using our local telcos to call. They even have great rates to India, so I guess this will come in very useful for some of us in Singapore.

Some people think that messaging is cheaper calling, but they are wrong. The foreign telcos charge exorbitant rates, so I guess using a prepaid calling card is so much better. They only charge a minimal sum of US$0.98 a month, so I guess the great savings will more than make up for my quarterly trips overseas. The last time my mother went to China and called back using one of our local telcom special number, she was charged doubly. That was ridiculous. If I had known about this service with competitive charges earlier, my mother could have save up to 90% on her mobile phone charges.

Special offer: When you sign up for Pingo, you will get US$8 in free calls. There will be up to 5 hours of free International calls for signing up with them. A US$25 phone card will cost you US$17 only.

P.S. If you use this special phone card blog discount coupon: “ppp3”, you get $3 off Pingo.

This post is brought to you by Pingo.

Sarah Tan – SingaporeProfit.com

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There is a wide range of hotels available, and some of the hotels had great discounts. I managed to find one that offered a 30% discount on Swissotel Le Concorde, Bangkok, which meant that I could enjoy a four-star hotel for the price of three-and-a-half star hotel. I compared the price of one hotel with another local travel agency, and the prices are comparable, though this particular site had some good discounts.

I also needed a flight, so I checked out some of the combination packages. For some of the hotel and flight bundles, they offered additional discounts, and it was easy to compare how much it cost for one person. 

Of course, since this website charges in US dollars, there may be some currency conversion charges but the US dollars is quite competitive at the moment, so there are no worries. Anyway, just use your credit card and earn more points.

I had been to Bangkok twice, but so far, I had only gone shopping and not done much sight-seeing. According to this website, they have a few package tours available. Day Trip to the River Kwai and Death Railway Pattaya Beach Full-Day Excursion and Floating Market, Elephant Show, and Rose Garden Tour are some of the activities available.

Usually, I prefer to get there before finding my way around the town, but usually I’ll end up wasting my time without a proper schedule. I had not tried taking a boat ride at the floating market, so I guess I do not need to spend time finding these tours.

The last time I tried to look for our own trips, my friend and I were conned by a man who claimed he was a teacher and was extremely friendly to us. Usually their motives were to get us to go to the Jewellery stores which they claimed offered the best prices.

Anyway, once I can confirm the dates of my holiday, I will probably make use of this website again to do some sleuthing first on the best packages before booking my holiday.

This review is brought to you by Hotelreservations.com.

Sarah Tan – SingaporeProfit.com

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