Hi all,

During traveling, I always prepare lots of detail information in order to avoid of getting lost, such as the information about the main roads and what’s in there, places of attraction, typical culinary in that area, transportation modes within the city or out of town and other information that important to be considered as a travel guidance. I used to make the travel itinerary and make it as a guidance during traveling. I also keep the city map everywhere I go, so I can look at the point of interests that are allocated around my location and do some explorations. Sygic Travel is the travel application that I installed in my smartphone and I really rely on this app to find the way and get the background/history information about the specific places. All information are being gathered perfectly and I’m ready to go! 

In this post, I will share some information about the transportation card that we had to buy to have an access in public transportations in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore. In some cities, we can’t buy a single ticket while catching a train, bus or tram, as the example. We had to buy a card and we need to top up with the desired amount as the ticket payment. There are some pros and cons, in terms of the transportation card. 

Pros

• We are able to organize the amount of money that we need to spend in a specific period, such as in a week or in a month.
• We don’t have to bring coins to pay for the ticket.
• We only need to bring one card to access for all public transports. It will be more simple and efficient.
• During the peak time, it will be faster as we don’t have to stay in the queue to buy for a ticket. We just tap the card in the ticket machine and run to the designated platform based on the route. It is good to avoid the crowd.

Cons

• We need to spend the money for a ticket deposit and it is unrefundable. 
• There will be a card expiry date. So, if you just stay in one city for a week, as the example, you still need to pay for the card that can be used for the designated period.

Personally, I prefer to use one card that can be accessed for all public transport as this might be more simple and faster. I don’t like to bring lots of coins in my pocket. 

There are cards that I had to have while accessing the public transportation in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore. What are they?

Opal Card

It is the card that can be used for accessing public transport in Sydney. When you buy this card, you have to select the card category that you need, which are adult, child, concession or senior. The minimum cost for the adult card is $10 and you can buy it for a daily or a weekly use. I used to use this card based on my usage. So, I just do the top up whenever I needed. The top up can be done in major rail stations, bus or ferry terminals. So, it will be easier for me. I bought the Opal card in 7 eleven for the first time and the person in there helped me out in chosing the card and selecting the amount of money that I need based on my duration of stay in Sydney.

Myki Card

This card is basically the same as the Opal Card but Myki is used for accessing the public transport in Melbourne. Previously, we still can buy a ticket in the ticket machine based on the trip and zone. However, we had to buy Myki that tap it in the machine before get into the designated platform in the station, as the example. I used to use this card for the out of city trip by tram or train as the trasportation within the Melbourne city is free of charge. I used to buy this card in the customer service in the train station because I was able to ask many questions before I buy. They were really helpful. The types of Myki Card are similar with Opal, which are the card for adult, consession, senior and children. And it cost me $6 for the card itself.

Ezlink

I bought this card in Changi airport, while I arrived in Singapore. I need this card to catch a train from the airport to the city. Most of public transport in Singapore can be accessed by Ezlink card and the payment mode is similar with Opal and Myki cards. We had to buy a card with an unrefundable card deposit and add the amount of money based on the amount needed for a trip. However, the price of the card will be different based on the store that you buy the card. If you buy it in the ticket office, the price of the card will be $12 and $10 if you buy it in the 7-Eleven stores. 

Actually, I get confused on the first time when I buy this card. I searched from the website first and have a further questions in the ticket stores or other convenience stores that sell the card.

Hopefully, this post is helpful. Thanks for reading.

Published by nikensmartini

I am just a girl who loves all beauty stuffs and traveling. And I am really addicted to a hot cappuccino. View all posts by nikensmartini