Money Saving Budget Tips for Taiwan Travel

Taipei 101 at sunset

Check out these great tips to help you plan your next trip to Taiwan. This is not your average generic travel budget advice but actual tips I learned from experience. Find out how I spent just 10k php on a 5-day trip to Taiwan soon!

In no particular order, these are my top 8 money saving tips to Taiwan:

1. Promo flight fares

  

Watch out for piso fares!

Start saving before you even leave the Philippines! To give you an idea how low these

can get, I got mine for 1500 php roundtrip! Most budget airlines in the Philippines travel daily to Taipei, I suggest stalking them on social media to get the best offers.

2. Money Exchange: Avoiding Processing Fees

Taiwan Bank Notes

Personally, I recommend changing your money in the Philippines, as you will get a better exchange rate and you will pay less fees (this pretty much applies for traveling anywhere). Unlike Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia there are very few money changers along the street. You will need to go directly to the bank if you want to change your money. They charge a processing fee on top of the amount exchanged. This differs for every bank; we asked around and we got values ranging from NT$100-500. Don’t be intimidated if you don’t speak Mandarin, most bank tellers speak English.

Side note: Taiwanese are one of the friendliest people I've met. Even the bank tellers try to help you get a better rate and save money by suggesting going to a different bank which has no processing fee (Bank of Taiwan). One went so far as drawing us a map to where the other bank was located! 

SOGO Department Store also have money changer stalls, rates are so-so.

3. Wi-fi Rental

Ivideo wi-fi kit: router, charger, extra battery

If you're DIY-ing, having unlimited wi-fi at your fingertips is a godsend! There are several companies offering wi-fi rental, I recommend iVideo. You can pick it up at the 7-11 or HiLife convenient store in airport,or like what we did, at the iVideo store near Taipei Main Station.

The 4G/LTE set us back NT$825 for 5 days. You can connect up to 10 devices with their router. There is a 150usd deposit fee (they won't charge you unless you break/lose any parts of their device) so be careful when handling it. You don't want to blow your budget for this trip unnecessarily by paying damage fees!

If you don't want to rent a wi-fi, you can just sign up for free public wi-fi access here. This is offered by the government and access is available at any major indoor and outdoor public spaces in Taipei City. This includes the ubiquitous 7-11! With proper research before leaving your hotel, you can probably get by with just this.

Free wi-fi registration page

4. Prepaid Data Sim Card

Chunghwa Sim Card

If you're travelling just by yourself or if you're not bringing more than one wi-fi capable gadget anyway, you might want to opt for a prepaid data sim card instead. This comes out cheaper and you won't have to worry about breaking or losing the router -- and losing that 150usd deposit fee! 

Chunghwa Telecom is the largest telecommunications provider in the country and they have a pretty reliable and fast connection. Unlimited 3G data are as follows:

1 day: NT$ 100

3 days: NT$ 250

5 days: NT$ 300

7 days: NT$ 450

10 days: NT$ 500

30 days: NT$ 900

They also offer different 4G/LTE starter packs:

NT$ 300: including NT$ 120 credit, 1.2 GB and 100 SMS

NT$ 500: including NT$ 200 credit, 2.2 GB and 250 SMS

NT$ 1000: 8 GB

They are available at the airport, various convinience stores and Chunghwa stores.

5. Tax Refund Shopping

The Taiwanese government offers foreign visitors a sales-tax (VAT) refund system to those "spending more than NT$3,000 in a single day at any participating shop no more than 30 days before departing from the ROC".  

When applying for a tax refund, you're required to have the item you bought with you, so be sure to bring it along when you claim the refund.Click on this link to know more: Taiwan tax refund. If you're travelling with a group, shop-pooling is a good idea. Time for some serious shopping!

6. Get an EasyCard rather than the TaipeiPass

In my previous post Taiwan Taipei Travel Itinerary for Filipino Tourists: Getting Around I mentioned the differences between the two. I will get into a more in-depth detail of the two here.

To introduce the TaipeiPass, this is what it claims it is:

1-day TaipeiPass

"TaipeiPass is a “touch-and-go ” IC ticket for transport in Taipei. During the period of its validity, visitors can use it for unlimited rides on Taipei Metro and on Taipei City and New Taipei City buses."

While for EasyCard, this is what it says:

EasyCard

"EasyCard is a 'touch-and-go' IC ticketing system for the Taipei Metro, bus services, designated car parks, stores and government agencies. Just pass the card over the sensor area to make a transaction, avoiding hassles with finding correct change. As value can be added to the card at any time, there is no need to repeatedly purchasing new cards. An EasyCard can be used for years and its ultimate aim is to allow people to travel throughout Taiwan with only one card. "

The difference between the two is that the Taipei Pass is valid for UNLIMITED travel for the stipulated number of days only. After that, the card won't work anymore. For the EasyCard, you pay whatever is the fare depending on the distance traveled. The latter is re-loadable and if you visit Taipei again within the next 2 years you can still use the card and top it up with credit as needed. Any unused travel credits can be redeemed from the ticket office of any metro station (NT$20 fee). From experience, the EasyCard is the more economical option between the two.

A fare paid with EasyCard will be 20% less expensive than paying with a single journey ticket available in small vending machines at every station.

More saving bonus: Passengers using an Adult EasyCard to transfer from the metro to bus or vice versa within one hour will receive an NT$8 discount.  That's because the government actually encourages people to use public transportation. Isn't that neat?

Here is a detailed list of all metro tickets currently being offered.

7. Cheap Yummy Food On-The-Go

On-the-go meals

If you're traveling a lot with no time in between to sit down for a nice meal, 7-11 and Hi-Life Convinience Stores is your life savior! You can find them everywhere – city or countryside. They offer conveniently packed onigiri with various AND generous fillings. These go for around NT$30-50 (45-75 php) each. Grab a few before heading out of the city for an adventure!

8. Try the Street Food

Flame-grilled beef cubes in Shilin Night Market

This is a no brainer here. Taiwan street food are delicious, cheap AND have generous servings too! Be sure to include Raohe and Shilin Night Market on your trip to get a taste of their local food...with a shopping on the side ;)


Watch out for my recommended Taiwan street food post coming soon!

There you have it guys. Have fun on your trip and hope you can drop a line below if I was able to help you out in any way at all!

Taiwan Taipei Travel Itinerary for Filipino Tourists: Getting Around

Day 1: Touchdown at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport

Caught my 11 PM flight to Taiwan with just a few minutes to spare. Whew! I thought I could breeze my way through the departure gate since I already did web check in a few days before and I didn't have any baggage to drop off. But as it turned out, this was one of those times where you still have to drop by the check in counters first and have your documents checked and all. Walked away pretty happy though, 'coz I was able to able to change my seat all the way from 20E to 8F. Less waiting time during deplaning, yay!

The travel time from Manila to Taiwan is pretty short -- just a little over 1.5 hours. Lucky for us Filipinos, Cebu Pacific and AirAsia offers promo fares going here all the time! Would you believe I got mine for only 1500 php ...and that's already roundtrip!

I couldn't sleep so I just made some final tweaks to our travel itinerary. We arrived at 1 am. At this hour, public transportation to the city center is pretty limited. Luckily, there is one 24-hour bus which goes all the way to Taipei Main Station. We took that one and from there, just rode a taxi to our hotel. Taipei is pretty safe even late at night, so no need to worry if you got a red-eye flight

TaoYuan International Airport

TaoYuan International Airport

Going to the Bus Waiting Area

How to get to Taipei Main Station:

Taxi: 

Taxis are available at Taoyuan International Airport 24 hours. A one-way taxi fare will cost NT$1000–$1200 (1500 - 1800 php) from the airport. I suggest writing down or taking a screenshot of your hotel address in Chinese as a lot of the drivers don't speak English.

Buses:

Available buses from the airport:

- 1819 to Taipei Main Station

- 1840 and 1841 to Songshan Airport

- 1843 to Nangang Exhibition Center

- 1960 East Bus

- 1961 West Bus

- 5201 and 5202 bus

Note: The only 24-hour bus is 1819.  It costs NT$125 (187.5 php) and normally takes about 50-60 minutes to get to Taipei Main Station. It took us only around 45 minutes since it was already past midnight and there were hardly any traffic.

Taipei Main Station

I suggest staying somewhere near here for easier access to the buses and trains going out and about the city. Taipei has a pretty quick and efficient transportation system. Take a look at this MTR map below!

Taipei Metro Route Map

There's an app for this in Google Play Store called Taipei Metro Route Map. I suggest downloading it before your travel as it makes getting around so much easier! They also have this reloadable EasyCard (kinda like our Beep card) which is very convenient to use. You just tap it onto the ticketing system found inside the MRT stations, and on buses. No need to fumble around with changes. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who gets confused and takes such a long time figuring out which coins are which when using foreign currencies! You can also use this card to purchase items in convenience stores. Just look for the EasyCard logo inside participating stores.

EasyCard

They also have this other card they call the TaipeiPass, geared specifically more for tourists. They offer it in 1-day, 2-day, 3-day, and 5-day variations. The difference between this and the EasyCard is that the TaipeiPass gives you unlimited rides on the Taipei Metro and buses. Unless you're planning on moving around A LOT in one day, I suggest just getting the EasyCard as it comes out cheaper. My friend and I did an experiment; she got the TaipeiPass and I got the EasyCard. At the end of the trip, she spent around NT$200 more than me for transportation.

Prices of Taipei Pass: $180 for one day, $310 for 2 days, $440 for 3 days, $700 for five days.

Where to Stay?

We decided to stay at this new capsule hotel called HeyBear Capsule Hotel since we thought it was a pretty cool concept and we've never stayed in one before. We were perfectly happy with our choice. The hotel was right across an MRT station, and just 5 stops away from the Main Station. For those arriving at an untimely hour (AirAsia I'm looking at you!), no worries as they have a 24-hour reception and checking in is quite fast.

The capsules were comfortable, had its own safe, TV, mirror and backlight inside. It even locks both from the inside and outside! You're given a personal keycard to get inside your capsule (and the shared bathroom). I would definitely stay here again the next time I visit Taipei :)

Our "rooms"

...Oh gosh, it's 3 am! Crawling inside my space capsule now to try and get a few hours of sleep before Day 2. Good night everyone, stay tuned for more -- I'll be posting my 5-day travel itinerary and expenses soon! In the meantime, check out my money saving travel tips for Taiwan here. Feel free to comment and ask me any questions!


Read about Day 2 in Beitou, Elephant Mountain and Shilin Night Market on my next post!