Have you noticed how the trains in Singapore tend to break down pretty often during rush hour? Could be due to a signal fault, train fault, track fault, whatever fault.
The silver lining to this is the possibility of making some cash out of taking off-peak trains. I, for one, LOVE avoiding peak hour (human) traffic and I travel off-peak pretty often. Hence, I’ve taken full advantage of the Travel Smart Rewards program which rewards commuters for taking off-peak trains.
Here’s a screenshot of my actual CASH earnings:
Yup, I’ve made a total of S$58 so far. Not bad eh?
Here are the Frequently Asked Questions:
1) How do I earn points?
You earn points by taking train trips using the CEPAS card registered in Travel Smart Rewards. You will automatically earn 1 point for every 1 kilometre you travel on the train all day during a weekday, Monday through Friday. Weekend and bus travel does not count. If your trip on the train begins during a designated decongesting hour on a weekday you will receive 3 points per kilometre instead of 1 if you are Bronze, 4 points if you are Silver, 5 points if you are Gold and 6 points if you are Platinum! Decongesting hours are between 6:15 – 7:15am and 8:45 – 9:45am.
2) What are “decongesting trips”?
Travel Smart Rewards targets peak-hour commuters by offering them additional credits for shifting their schedules to less congested trains before or after the morning peak commute hour. Specifically, a “decongesting” trip is initiated between 6:15am and before 7:15am, or between 8:45am and before 9:45am on a weekday. You will receive 3, 4, 5 or 6 points per kilometre travelled if you are Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum respectively, when you tap into the train station during one of these decongesting hours.
3) What are “peak” trips?
A “peak” trip is any trip Monday through Friday initiated between 7:15am and 8:45am. You will receive 1 point per kilometre travelled when you tap into a train station during this hour.
4) What are “off-peak” trips?
An “off-peak” trip is any train trip Monday through Friday, which is initiated after 9:45am and before 6:15am. You will receive 1 point per kilometre travelled when you tap into a train station during these hours.
5) How many points do I earn on weekends?
Train travel on Saturdays and Sundays are not part of Travel Smart Rewards at this time and no points are earned for travel on weekends.
In short, all you need to do is sign up for a free account, link your ezlink card with your account, and you will automatically start collecting points each time you travel by train on weekdays. You can have the system auto-spin the wheel using your points, and when you earn any amount of cash, you will receive an email to notify you to either get the cash credited to your ezlink card at any top-up machine, or be credited to your bank account. I’ll always get the $$ added to my ezlink card balance. Free travel. :)
Sign up here -> https://travelsmartrewards.sg/r/8Lv7vtMx/
