Travelling to Singapore in Aug/Sep - Best Way to Spend AUD

kman888 on 02/07/2025 - 19:58

Howdy! I'm taking the family to Singapore in late August / early September and keen to hear from the bargain aficionados here as to the best (cheapest) way to spend AUD over there.

Ideally I would have the ability to make cash withdrawals so we can eat out at markets / hawkers but still be able to pay with cards for bigger ticket stuff.

Would prefer to spend our own money, but not opposed to getting a credit card either (I've never actually had one lol) and I'd be in a high enough income bracket that I'd imagine I'd qualify for most going around.

Some research indicates that a ubank debit card has favourable fees/exchange rates for this purpose, and I see a lot of people extolling the virtues of Wise as well. I haven't travelled really since I was a single dude with no responsibility so I would just wear whatever fees were associated with my bank account but with kids and mortgages I've become real stingy!

Any help appreciated! Cheers

Financial Asia Singapore

Comments

  • jv on 02/07/2025 - 20:39
    +2

    best way to spend AUD

    beer.

  • fossilfuel on 02/07/2025 - 20:56
    +1

    I was there for around 3 days. I exchanged AUD to SGD at the airport since they had relatively favourable rates (close to the exchange rate of $1 AUD to 84c SGD) and the rest on my Wise card.

    At the Hawker market, most dishes will cost between $3 to $6 SGD and I was usually full after 1-2 dishes. For a small family, budgeting $15-$20 SGD per meal at the Hawker market would give you a decent feed.

    Always keep some cash on you if you haggle to buy souvenirs. The souvenirs are quite affordable at local shops e.g nice fridge magnets were 3 for $2 SGD.

    Most places take card so there's no need to exchange huge amounts of cash and there's plenty of ATMs around. Wise has 2 free withdrawals per month up to $350 AUD in total so you could start with that and withdraw $300 SGD and put the rest on card.

    • jv on 02/07/2025 - 20:59

      the exchange rate of $1 AUD to 84c SGD

      Since when is the SGD stronger ??? 😲

      As if the price of a Singapore Sling at Raffles was not bad enough before…

      • Ocker on 03/07/2025 - 10:29
        +1

        Since about 3 years ago

        • jv on 03/07/2025 - 10:45

          It's been a while since I last went…

          Need to get back for those Singapore Noodles !!!

  • Wiadro on 02/07/2025 - 21:10
    -1

    best way to spend AUD

    buy stuff

  • Cyphar on 02/07/2025 - 21:19
    +5

    Singapore is almost all paypass these days even hawker stalls and markets. Get a Wise card, link it to your phone and you can create "family cards" that everyone can use on their phones paywave as well that links to your account. Easy. I go every year and don't think I've had any cash at all in my wallet for each trip the last few years.

  • pencilman on 03/07/2025 - 02:01
    +1

    Singapore is an expensive place to visit now with the very strong Singaporean dollar and weak AUD.

    Hawker food and public transport cheap but proper restaurants, hotels and shopping not.

    Still great to visit and very safe and easy to get around. Consider crossing over to Malaysia for a day (or a few days) where things are much cheaper due to the exchange rate.

  • Nutrino on 03/07/2025 - 04:59

    How have you gone through life without a credit card?. I mean, online shopping, online gaming, bills, mobiles. Just how?.

    • Cyphar on 03/07/2025 - 13:43

      I've only ever had one credit card and that was 20 years ago. Cut it up a year later. Visa/Mastercard debit cards do all that you listed AND it's my own money.

  • leigh8904 on 03/07/2025 - 07:09

    Take at least 2 of the fee-free cards, preferably a Mastercard and Visa.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/cards_with_no_overseas_tra…
    Up to you whether get a credit card or just use debit cards.

  • Brucet on 03/07/2025 - 10:39

    Suggest you have cash exchange in Changi Airport.Apply for Revolut standard card for free ( they offer good exchange rate ).That was what I use last 4 times travel in Singapore and Japan.

  • Brucet on 03/07/2025 - 10:46

    EZ-Link card for transport around singapore.

  • Ughhh on 03/07/2025 - 10:51

    Would prefer to spend our own money, but not opposed to getting a credit card either (I've never actually had one l

    Treat credit card as if its it you own money, but with benefits. Don't forget You have to pay it back.

  • Drakesy on 03/07/2025 - 12:47

    I do find it hilarious that Australia, a country with an abundance of resources and exports has such a weak dollar against Singapore - a country with nothing but businesses. I have a feeling our insane level of personal debt really is holding us back, we could exist with higher interest rates and thus a stronger currency, but no.

    • V2L on 03/07/2025 - 13:21

      a higher exchange rate doesn't necessarily a stronger economy. higher currency rates would hurt our exports

      • Drakesy on 03/07/2025 - 13:40

        "hurt"

        Or lobbyists would be angry that they're not allowed to devalue our dollar to maximise profits.

        Lets be honest our iron ore, gas and oil already has huge margins baked in, increasing the dollar is hardly going to make it uncompetitive.

        • V2L on 03/07/2025 - 13:41

          so you want to artificially manipulate the AUD to make it higher, because it looks better? forgive me if I'm confused

          • Drakesy on 03/07/2025 - 13:43

            @V2L: It would have a feedback on everything we consume?

            Literally any import will become cheaper.
            Cars, electronics, whitegoods, even netflix etc.

            A weak dollar hurts consumers (us) considerably.

            • V2L on 03/07/2025 - 13:48

              @Drakesy: i'm not sure what we are debating here. was your initial issue with AUD being weaker than SGD because it makes us "look weak" ? exchange rates are determined by free market forces and mostly our current account deficit, and tends to be cyclical in nature. higher vs lower dollar obviously has impacts on different sectors of the economy

              • Drakesy on 03/07/2025 - 13:52

                @V2L: @May4th I see your point about exchange rates being driven by market forces and cyclical factors, and I agree it’s not just about “looking strong.” My initial frustration was more about how a persistently weak AUD impacts everyday consumers as well as overseas travellers, especially given Australia’s resource wealth.

                Yes, a higher dollar could challenge exporters, but it also means cheaper imports and a bit of relief on the cost of living for people here and those travelling overseas. Currently my take is that we're suppressing our exchange rate in order to maximise the profits for exporters whilst compounding pressures on those already stretched.

                • V2L on 03/07/2025 - 14:06

                  @Drakesy: how are we suppressing our exchange rate though? we are not China we don't actively intervene in the foreign exchange market to influence our exchange rate centrally

                  • Drakesy on 03/07/2025 - 14:19

                    @V2L: The RBA tends to pander to exporters before consumers

                    • V2L on 03/07/2025 - 14:28

                      @Drakesy: the article says it can intervene and list ways it could so..it mentions it's very rarely done and last time was over a decade ago in a financial crisis. it'd be a huge undertaking though as any intervention is frowned upon and would amount to an admission that it's addressing significant imbalances in the economy

  • V2L on 03/07/2025 - 13:21
    -1

    HSBC foreign currency account is easy - don't exchange it into SGD, just leave it in AUD balance. Fx rate is VISA so within 2-3% of spot

    • surfingedge on 04/07/2025 - 07:29
      +1

      2-3% of spot is awful.

      But VISA exchange rates are actually between 0 and 1% of spot rate. Mastercard exchange rate is usually a tiny bit better than VISA.

      Exchanging physical cash in Singapore at the right place has less than 1% spread.

  • kman888 on 05/07/2025 - 15:04

    Thanks for the tips everyone! The only advice ive followed so far is to buy beer, but when travel time comes ill be set too

  • timhn on 06/07/2025 - 14:05
    +1

    Forget about Wise card if you planned to use it for withdraw cash from ATM. Will you limit yourself to only withdraw $350 a month, or happy to pay a fee to withdraw more?

    Just use any of the debit cards that offered no fx fees & no ATM withdrawal fees (UpBank, UpBank, Macquarie Bank, etc). The all have government deposit guarantee (don't think Wise do). With Macquarie Bank, your money can earn a bit interest while sitting in the debit account.

    I've a Wise card but never once taken it to use overseas. I'm always packed along Macquarie & Nab ex-Citibank debit cards.

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