Since the rise of millennials and our strange need to document everything Online overseas Wi-Fi router rental services such as ChangiWiFi have seen a huge surge in popularity.

I mean, I get it. A big part of the modern travel experience is broadcasting wanderlust and envy on social media. What’s a vacation without the dopamine rush that comes with every Instagram like, right? Pictures or it didn’t happen.

So, if you are planning your next vacation, here is a useful price comparison of the three best travel WiFi egg rental services in Singapore.

Travel WiFi router rental services in Singapore – which is the cheapest?

I have created a shortlist of some popular travel destinations and selected the cheapest travel WiFi providers for them.

Please note that we compare base rental prices and not special offers, as special offers often change quite quickly over the months.

These overseas WiFi rental services charge per day. Generally, prices range from around $4 to $8 for destinations in Asia and $9 to $12 for destinations in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the Americas.

Y5 Buddy

Overall, Y5 Buddy’s prices are not the most attractive. There are definitely cheaper pocket WiFi rental prices elsewhere. Here is a list of Y5 Buddy’s base rental prices:

However, there is an ongoing promotion where you can get $5 off with the promo code VTL5 (no end date).

Also note that renting a Y5 Buddy requires a $50 deposit up front. If you’re a cheapskate like me and always cautious about deposits, this might not be for you.

You can follow their latest promotions on their Instagram page, which was last updated in March with this March school holiday travel promo code:

Yogofi

Yogofi is one of the newer entrants in the broadband home and travel WiFi market. They have some of the cheapest plans. However, their website is not particularly user-friendly. You have to download their mobile app to check plans and get anything done.

The story continues

Here are their base rental prices:

During the school holidays in March, Yogofi had a VTLSALE Promo code that reduced rental prices to a nice $2.90 per day. If you missed that, the $2.90 promotion came back on April 14, 2022. Yay! Use the promo code Travel opens for rental prices starting at $2.90 per day (no end date).

In addition, they also offer free delivery within 3 working days.

Personally, I prefer a courier service to pickup as I’m usually busy with work and last-minute preparations in the days before my flights. Besides the affordable prices, one of the best things about Yogofi is that the cost is only incurred after you return the router and you are only charged for the number of days you used it. If you spent a whole day on the plane without using the router at all, you don’t have to pay extra.

They also frequently run promotions that you can look out for on their Instagram page:

ChangiWiFi router from Changi recommends

ChangiWiFi’s base rental prices are much higher than its competitors. There are promo codes to reduce prices, but you must sign up for their email newsletter and receive a $7 delivery fee.

We’re sorry, ChangiWiFi. We love everything about Changi Airport. I even used to like the smell of the air there…

Here are ChangiWiFi’s base rental prices:

Despite the price difference, some people who value the convenience of being able to pick up and return the router at Changi Airport may prefer this retailer over other retailers.

However, at the time of writing this article, there is this mandatory Changigo sign-up and e-newsletter that you are forced to sign up to during online checkout. There doesn’t seem to be any obvious way to opt out of it. This is a huge turn-off for people like me who always run away from signing up for the email newsletter and unsubscribe, you know?

OK, let’s get back to prices and special offers. During peak travel periods, such as the recent launch of VTLs, Changi Recommends offered special deals as low as USD 3/day for South Korea and USD 3.50/day for Taiwan and Japan (ended 15 Apr 22).

Current ChangiWiFi promotions are quite complicated (valid until December 31, 22). Stay tuned, we’ll explain it to you:

– Use promo code HURRAY370 for $3.70/day rental for South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam

– Use promo code HURRAFOC1 for $4.50/day rental for Malaysia and Indonesia. You also get a 1-day fee waiver and $3.50 local delivery. However, you must book for a minimum of 8 days. Here’s the sneaky part about this promo code: the base rates without a promo code are actually $4.50/day too. We strongly recommend you get data roaming from your telco instead (scroll down).

– Use promo code HURRAY750 for $7.50/day rental for Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Philippines. Ok, there’s a loophole in this promo code: if you’re traveling to Sri Lanka and Cambodia, enter this promo code at checkout and you’ll find that your rental cost actually drops to $3.50/day, not $7.50/day. Confusing, right? But cheap… so no complaining.

– Use promo code VTLFOC1 for Europe and the UK (minimum rental period 3 days). I was very pleased to see that ChangiWiFi does indeed cover Ukraine on its network. However, when I tried to book my hypothetical trip to Ukraine, the country was removed from the dropdown menu.

– Use promo code HURRAY1130 for $11.30/day rental for the Middle East, Fiji and Maldives. As you remember, the base rate is $12/day, so you would only save 70 cents per day.

Wi-Fi routers abroad vs. data roaming plans

These travel WiFi egg rentals have forced local telcos to price their data roaming services more competitively. And while prices are actually much lower than they used to be, they’re not quite as cost-effective as renting travel WiFi routers. But if you’re only going away for a few days, data roaming plans could make a lot more sense.

Let’s take a look at some of the offers from telecommunications companies:

M1 data pass

The M1 Data Passport service lets you use your local data allowance abroad for $12 to $30 per month (single destination). Note that there is a one-time activation fee of $5 per Data Passport and a flat monthly fee of $5 if you use multiple SIM cards.

Starhub DataTravel

The Starhub DataTravel add-on bundles 1GB to 3GB for $5 to $50, depending on your destination and travel dates. The cheapest option costs $5 for 1GB of data over 3 days for select countries in Asia.

Singtel ReadyRoam

Singtel ReadyRoam divides the destination countries into four categories: Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand ($5/GB), 9 destinations ($12/GB), 18 destinations ($20/2GB) and 56 destinations ($35/3GB).

As you can see, all data roaming plans have a cap on your data usage. (Okay, there are unlimited plans too, but they’re even more expensive, so I won’t even include them.)

If you plan to use the Internet for navigation and uploading photos and videos to social networks, this 1 GB will be used up quickly. Travel WiFi routers offer unlimited data, which is more cost-effective.

In addition, 1 device can be shared by up to 5 to 6 devices, so you can share the cost with your friends and family.

Granted, in certain countries the unlimited data clause may be subject to the provider’s fair use policy – i.e. a data cap to prevent abuse. However, technically you will still get unlimited internet, it will just be significantly slower.

If this is true at all, the fair use policy limit is usually quite generous anyway (around 500MB to 1GB per day), so if you’re only sharing with 2-4 people, it shouldn’t be a problem.

To ensure you get the best deal, compare a full list of data roaming plans Here.

Don’t travel abroad without travel insurance! Use our travel insurance tool to compare the best travel insurance in Singapore.

Are you a fan of travel WiFi routers? Share your experiences with us in the comments below.

The post Travel WiFi Router Rental Guide (2022) – ChangiWiFi vs. Y5 Buddy vs. Yogofi first appeared on MoneySmart Blog.

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Original article: Travel WiFi Router Rental Guide (2022) – ChangiWiFi vs Y5 Buddy vs Yogofi.

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