Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
43
What Things Cost in Singapore
S$
US$
UK£
Taxi from the airport to city center
22.00
14.74
9.90
MRT from Orchard to Chinese Garden stations
1.60
1.07
0.72
Local telephone call (3 min.)
0.10
0.07
0.05
Double room at an expensive hotel
300.00 201.00
135.00
Double room at a moderate hotel
200.00
134.00
90.00
Double room at an inexpensive hotel
120.00
80.40
54.00
Dinner for one at an expensiv e restaurant
60.00
40.20
27.00
Dinner for one at a moderate r estaurant
25.00 16.75
11.25
Dinner for one at an inexpensiv e restaurant
5.00
3.35
2.25
Glass of beer
9.00
6.03
4.05
Coca-Cola 1.10
0.74
0.50
Cup of coffee at common coffee shop
0.70
0.47
0.32
Cup of coffee at Starbucks, Coffee Club, and so on
2.80
1.88
1.26
Roll of 36-exposure color film
4.50
3.02
2.03
Admission to the Asian Civilisations Museum
10.00
6.70
4.50
Movie ticket
9.00
6.03
4.05
card.com) and PLUS (www.visa.com) net-
works span the globe; look at the back of
your bank car d to see which networ
that you'll pay inter est from the moment
of your withdrawal, ev en if y ou pay y our
monthly bills on time. Also note that
many banks now assess a 1% to 3% “trans-
action fee” on all charges you incur abroad
(whether you're using the local currency or
your nativ e curr ency). I n S ingapore,
American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Din-
ers Club, and JCB ( Japan Credit Bureau)
are accepted at vir tually all major hotels,
restaurants, nightclubs, and shopping cen-
ters. Even taxis accept payment b y credit
card. S maller food and r etail mer chants
generally don 't accept plastic, and be
k
3
you're on, then call or check online for
ATM locations at y our destination—in
Singapore y ou will nev er be far fr om a
machine that accepts either of these car ds.
It's a good idea to check y our daily with-
drawal limit befor e y ou depar t. Note:
Remember that banks impose a fee ev ery
time y ou use a car d at another bank 's
ATM, and that fee can be higher for inter-
national transactions (up to US$5 or
more) than for domestic ones (wher e
they're rar ely mor e than US$2). I n addi-
tion, the bank fr om which y ou withdraw
cash may charge its o wn fee. F or interna-
tional withdrawal fees, ask your bank.
CREDIT CARDS
Credit cards are another safe way to carr y
money. They also pr ovide a conv enient
record of all y our expenses, and they gen-
erally offer r elatively good ex change rates.
You can withdraw cash adv ances fr om
your credit cards at banks or A TMs, pro-
vided you know your PIN. Keep in mind
advised, if y ou ar e tr ying to negotiate a
discount with a vendor, you will always get
a better price with good old-fashioned
cash. Some retailers will insist on adding a
credit car d “ service charge ” to y our bill.
While it is true that the credit card compa-
nies charge the r etailers a small fee each
time a customer uses a card, it is a cost the
retailers are supposed to bear themselv es.
If any one tries to foist this charge onto
you, sadly, your only r ecourse is to r eport
him to your credit card company.
 
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