Two young women enjoying themselves at a music festival, surrounded by colourful confetti thrown in the air
03 Nov 2017

7 nifty ways to fund that dream vacay

Recharge your body and soul. Expand your mind. Meet new friends and be a culture vulture. Does a road trip around Europe, backpacking across North America, or even a luxurious crossing via the Trans-Siberia route from China to Russia sound appealing? Thing is, how and when will you ever save up enough to afford such a trip?

Fret no more! Use these 7 tips to help you reach your ultimate holiday goal within a year.

Set up your ‘Holiday Account’

Set up an ‘all in, once out’ account, where you put aside regular savings for the holiday and only withdraw from it when you’re ready to pay for the trip. Plan a liveable monthly budget, and ensure you carve out a fixed amount each month to deposit here. The most important thing is not to withdraw from the account before you hit your target savings goal. It might be useful to choose a multi-currency account, so you can buy foreign currencies at your preferred rates, and pay for your overseas spending later with no foreign exchange fees*.

Turn spare change into holiday money

A trick that some people use is to earmark certain denominations, for example $5 and $2 notes, that will go into their vacay fund. You might be going cashless most of the day, but each time you find yourself being handed some small notes, these could go into your supplementary travel savings.

Make your spending count

When you do spend, make every dollar work for you. Consolidate your monthly spending into a single credit card that earns you air miles, instead of spreading it across different cards. Find credit cards with strategic tie-ups that will help you get to your dream destination faster.

Lower the costs of that getaway

A young couple make a memorable escapade under the blue-green glow of the Northern Lights

You’ve worked hard to save up, now don’t let your money go towards paying more for expensive flight tickets or hotel bookings. Seasonality is a big factor that drives prices up or down, so you might want to travel during the shoulder season, which is just before or after the peak period. If you’re travelling to a renowned show or music festival, pre-book your tickets online as you wouldn’t want to waste precious time queuing for tickets.

Let technology work for you

Use online aggregators, such as Expedia, Kaligo, or Skyscanner to search for and compare the best hotel prices and flights for your trip. Online comparators can also help with other items such as entry tickets to attractions or inter-city transport options. And instead of checking prices every other day, setting up a price alert will make life much easier.

Opt for stopovers

The morning view from an airplane as it crosses over San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate Bridge

If you’re flying long-haul, consider a stopover. Flights with stopovers can be markedly cheaper, and great for giving not just the legs but the entire body much needed blood circulation. If you’ve the time to spare, stopovers can be turned into mini day tours at your layover destination, bringing you two adventures for the fare of one!

Go local

Prefer to make friends locally? Check out Airbnb to get that local take on your destination. And remember that multi-currency holiday account we mentioned? If you’ve cleverly set up the DBS Multi-Currency Account as your ‘holiday account’, then you’re well on your way to paying directly overseas using your linked DBS Visa Debit card in various local currencies without additional foreign exchange charges*.

Does that dream holiday sound a lot closer than you previously thought possible? We’re sure it won’t be long before you say, ‘Bon Voyage’ and start filling your wall with #bucketlist. Good luck!


*To enjoy direct foreign currency payments, ensure your DBS Visa Debit Card is linked to your MCA as the primary debiting account.

DEPOSIT INSURANCE SCHEME
Singapore dollar deposits of non-bank depositors and monies and deposits denominated in Singapore dollars under the Supplementary Retirement Scheme are insured by the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation, for up to S$100,000 in aggregate per depositor per Scheme member by law. Foreign currency deposits, dual currency investments, structured deposits and other investment products are not insured