5 Best Tricks to Reduce Your MRT Fare in SG

According to a cost of living survey published by global human resources consulting firm Mercer in 2018, Singapore is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Public transport, in particular, MRT fares in Singapore (“MRT SG fare”) contributes to this high cost of living as well. Nonetheless, there are ways to reduce your MRT SG fare and thereby lower your cost of living.

1. Concessions and Ride Discounts

Adults

As a normal working adult, you are unfortunately not entitled to any special concessions.

Thus, you would have to pay the normal adult MRT SG fare. This MRT SG fare is calculated based on distance travelled. The good thing about this is that you will not be charged for transfers to other MRT lines during your journey.

However, you will still be charged a boarding fee for exiting and re-entering the same station. This boarding charge is a standard 77 cents, even without any travel. Therefore, you should keep this in mind if you want to save money on your MRT SG fare.

Student School Smartcard

Being a student brings with it many benefits, with transport being one of them. There are discounts available that help to reduce your MRT SG fares as a student.

Students with the School Smartcards are entitled to 50% off the adult MRT SG fares and lower bus rates. This applies to primary, secondary and junior college students. Junior college students should extend the validity of their cards after secondary school to enjoy the MRT concessionary rates.

Nonetheless, student concessionary rates do not apply to diploma and undergraduate students, who will pay the normal adult MRT SG fares. They can only benefit from decreased MRT fares by buying the monthly student passes, as elaborated below.

Elderly

On reaching your 60th birthday, you will be eligible for the PAssion Silver concession card. This allows you to enjoy a reduction of 25% off the adult MRT SG fares when taking the train.

2. Monthly Subscription for MRT SG Fare

Adult Monthly Pass

One way you can reduce your MRT SG fare is to buy the adult monthly travel pass. This pass gives pass holders unlimited rides on the MRT and bus for $128 a month.

$128 is not cheap. In fact, many of us may not spend more than half of that every month on transport. Therefore, this is more applicable to someone who travels a lot, such as for work. For instance, some insurance agents commute frequently to meet clients and can incur a monthly MRT SG fare of up to $300. In such cases, buying the adult monthly pass would actually save money.

So how do you apply for it?

You can simply do so online via the TransitLink Mobile Services App or head down to one of the TransitLink Ticket Offices. Upon successful application, you would have to pay $8.10, which includes a non-refundable $5 card cost and $3.10 personalisation fee.

Student Rates

In addition to the discounts for each ride, students can take advantage of the monthly concession passes available. However, the amount of concessions for the monthly plan will vary according to your level of schooling. For example, primary school students will receive the most concessions while undergraduate students have the least.

As an aside, full-time National Servicemen (NSF) can also enjoy the same monthly concession rates as undergraduate students. This will help you to reduce your MRT SG fare and save on lower MRT rates.

Senior Citizen Card

As a senior citizen, you can also make use of the monthly concession pass to get unlimited rides on the MRT and bus for just $64. The same privilege applies to people with disabilities as well. Especially for elderly folk and disabled individuals without an income, saving money on MRT SG fares can go a long way.

Summary Table

Here is a summary table of the different types of monthly subscription passes available (that kick in from 28 December 2019):

Cardholder	Unlimited MRT Rides	Unlimited Bus Rides	Unlimited Train + Bus Rides
Adult	-	-	$128.00
Senior Citizen / Persons with Disabilities	-	-	$64.00
University Student / NSF	$48.00	$55.50	$90.50
Secondary / JC / Polytechnic Student	$26.50	$29.00	$54.00
Primary Student	$21.00	$24.00	$43.50

Source: TransitLink

3. Choose Non-Peak Times To Reduce Your MRT SG Fares

Discount before 7.45 am on weekdays

Traveling at non-peak times enables you to benefit from lower MRT SG fares. The purpose of this is to encourage commuters to change their traveling habits to travel more during the morning pre-peak hours.

If you tap into an MRT station before 7.45am on weekdays, you can receive a discount of up to 50 cents. If your journey costs less than 50 cents, then you would get a free ride.

On top of that, if you are a student enjoying concessionary rates, you would not have to pay anything if you start your MRT ride before 7.45 am on a working day.

Hence, if you want cheaper MRT fares (and possibly emptier trains), you can start your travels before 7.45 am on a weekday. Imagine how much you can reduce your MRT SG fare if you do this for your daily commute!

Past vs Present

Previously, the pre-peak travel was free if you exited from certain MRT stations in the City area before 7.45 am on weekdays (excluding public holidays). On the other hand, the current scheme enables you to enjoy a discount based on the time you tap into the MRT station, rather than the time of exit.

Thus, under the previous scheme, if the MRT were to breakdown or be delayed, thereby delaying your exit, your non-peak MRT ride will not be free due to no fault of your own.

Another positive development in the current scheme is that the non-peak benefits applies to entry from all stations. This is unlike the previous scheme which limited the free rides to certain MRT stations in the City. Thus, there is more potential for saving on MRT fares in Singapore with the current policy.

Travel Smart Reward Scheme

To further encourage commuters to travel during non-peak hours on weekdays, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has introduced the Travel Smart Journeys (TSJ) programme. This replaces the Travel Smart Rewards (TSR) where the LTA tracked your daily travel patterns and recommended a customised travel plan for you.

Through the new TSJ scheme, LTA seeks to spread out peak hour traffic and help reduce congestion at the MRTs. While it has yet to be seen what type of incentives LTA will be using, we believe that the TSJ may not differ too much from the TSR programme. Taking advantage of the TSJ scheme would likely reduce your MRT SG fares and allow you to save money on your MRT fares.

Previous TSR Scheme

Upon signing up for the TSR, LTA would begin tracking the day, time and station locations of your trips. Then, if you are deemed to contribute to the congestion at the MRTs, you will receive messages to shift your tap-in timings earlier or later.

You could then earn TSR points to be used to redeem for cash rewards.

For each trip you take during non-peak timings, you could earn 10 points. Every 1,000 points you accumulated translates to $1. While this does not seem like a lot, you stood to win other prizes under the TSR programme.

For instance, there was a monthly lucky draw where you stand to win up to $1,500. Your chances of winning the top prize increases with the more off-peak trips you take. Furthermore, you could win up to $200 on the TSR’s game called “The Ride One”. In this game, you won rewards by helping the main character to a vacant MRT seat while giving way to the elderly and pregnant.

4. Credit Card Rebates

You can also sign up for credit cards for your EZ-link transactions.

While not reducing your MRT SG fare directly, you can stand to receive cashback or rewards from using your credit card as an EZ-link card.

For example, the Citibank SMRT credit card provides you with a 2% cash rebate with every EZ-Link reload top up. What’s more, you are saved from the hassle of waiting in line to top up your EZ-link card. In fact, you get to enjoy an auto top-up when your EZ-Link value is insufficient.

5. SMRT Rewards

WINK+

What is WINK+?

WINK+ is a rewards app by SMRT that allows you to accumulate WINK+ points via two methods. Firstly, the simple act of tapping in and tapping out of MRT stations adds points to your WINK+ account. Secondly, you can scan a QR code at MRT stations using the WINK+ app.

Some people have tried to game the system by taking photos of the QR codes and scanning them at home to get the points. This does not work as the QR codes are location-based. If the system detects that you are not scanning the codes at the proper locations, your account would likely be suspended.

WINK+ Points

After accumulating WINK+ points the legitimate way, the points can be used to redeem e-vouchers. These e-vouchers can, in turn, be used at various participating food & beverage and shopping outlets.

However, a caveat is that it takes a long time to collect a significant amount of WINK+. This is because each tap/scan merely gives you approximately 1 point. 50 points amount to 1 WINK+, which is in turn worth $0.50.

Using simple arithmetic, you can see that relying on the WINK+ app alone is not going present much cost savings. Neither is it the best way of getting rewards. Nevertheless, it is one way of getting some exercise while earning rebates on your fares. Thus, you can still consider downloading the WINK+ app and using it.

Conclusion

There are various ways to reduce your MRT SG fare. Through these methods, you can potentially get cashback, concessions or even rewards. While you may only save a little each trip, these numbers add up. In fact, a $0.50 saving on your MRT SG fare every weekday can allow you to save $50 after just 100 days of MRT rides. The amount of possible savings can be significant. Hence, to reduce your MRT fare, you should be aware of the options available and make use of them where applicable.

For more tips, including how to get around Singapore efficiently, check out these key transport tips.

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