Hong Kong and Macau: Solo Budget Trip

[samyakcc]

For tram, it was a no-brainer due to the visa offer. I hardly used the bus twice hence I used Octopus for that. For MTR combined billing was done the next day hence all the amounts are more than 200.

Hi Bhavye few questions, in case you could provide clarifications:
1. Was the Visa Tap and Go offer available to use multiple times?
2. Any reason for doing daily bookings at IBIS instead of continuous bookings for your stay? Didnt you face the hassle of settling the account daily?
3. For Ibis booking in HK, I am finding that when we book on points it says 4000 accor points plus 4200Rs.. Why are they not allowing to redeem everything through points. Any suggestions here?
@anirban.choudhury @CMG @nishank : Your views or feedback would also be highly appreciated..

 

[samyakcc]

@bhavyegoel @anirban.choudhury @CMG @nishank

Is there any provision to buy octopus card at HZMB Macao or any other place in Macao if one travels from MACAO to HKG?

Can the Golden bus ticket at HZMB Macao be paid via HKD (with no exact change) or Credit card?

 

[nishank]

@bhavyegoel @anirban.choudhury @CMG @nishank

Is there any provision to buy octopus card at HZMB Macao or any other place in Macao if one travels from MACAO to HKG?

Can the Golden bus ticket at HZMB Macao be paid via HKD (with no exact change) or Credit card?

Macao doesn't use octopus card. They have their own card. Better use cash
Hzmb - i think I used card as it was automated machine

 

[CMGCMG is verified member.]

Hi Bhavye few questions, in case you could provide clarifications:
1. Was the Visa Tap and Go offer available to use multiple times?
2. Any reason for doing daily bookings at IBIS instead of continuous bookings for your stay? Didnt you face the hassle of settling the account daily?
3. For Ibis booking in HK, I am finding that when we book on points it says 4000 accor points plus 4200Rs.. Why are they not allowing to redeem everything through points. Any suggestions here?
@anirban.choudhury @CMG @nishank : Your views or feedback would also be highly appreciated..

3. Sometime this happens, but you can settle with points during the check in or check out

 

[nishank]

Hi Bhavye few questions, in case you could provide clarifications:
1. Was the Visa Tap and Go offer available to use multiple times?
2. Any reason for doing daily bookings at IBIS instead of continuous bookings for your stay? Didnt you face the hassle of settling the account daily?
3. For Ibis booking in HK, I am finding that when we book on points it says 4000 accor points plus 4200Rs.. Why are they not allowing to redeem everything through points. Any suggestions here?
@anirban.choudhury @CMG @nishank : Your views or feedback would also be highly appreciated..

1. Visa tap can be used multiple times
3. Taxes are paid in cash only. They won't redeem point

 

[Harry1]

How did u manage residual money with so many different payment options - Octopus Card (50hkd deposit+any remaining balance), Cash in Macau and Cash in Hongkong? I foresee at least 2-3K inr getting wasted here.

In case if rental Octopus Card, it says no refund at airport. If that's the case, u can't even get it back, as u still need card to reach airport in bus/Metro.

Is it possible to completely avoid octopus Card by using usual visa credit card wherever accepted and some cash at places which don't accept credit card? Is there any bus/metro where neither cash nor credit card works and octopus is must?

Also, how did u manage exact change for bus trips specially in Macau? Atm won't give lower than 100 denomination i believe.

I am thinking to just withdraw cash from atm using magnus/Infinia with advance payment, whenever required. Hsbc seems to allow free withdrawal. So just 2.36% forex charges.

 

[CMGCMG is verified member.]

How did u manage residual money with so many different payment options - Octopus Card (50hkd deposit+any remaining balance), Cash in Macau and Cash in Hongkong? I foresee at least 2-3K inr getting wasted here.

In case if rental Octopus Card, it says no refund at airport. If that's the case, u can't even get it back, as u still need card to reach airport in bus/Metro.

Is it possible to completely avoid octopus Card by using usual visa credit card wherever accepted and some cash at places which don't accept credit card? Is there any bus/metro where neither cash nor credit card works and octopus is must?

Also, how did u manage exact change for bus trips specially in Macau? Atm won't give lower than 100 denomination i believe.

I am thinking to just withdraw cash from atm using magnus/Infinia with advance payment, whenever required. Hsbc seems to allow free withdrawal. So just 2.36% forex charges.

You can avoid using an Octopus card; it can be inconvenient. Cash or credit cards work just fine. For the metro, you will need to get a ticket from the machine. I think credit card tap works, but not sure.

Exchange some HKD for coins at the hotel reception—that’s what I did. Both HKD coins and Macau coins work on macau buses, and everyone except the museum accepted HKD.

I used Indie and also had some US dollars.

 

[Harry1]

You can avoid using an Octopus card; it can be inconvenient. Cash or credit cards work just fine. For the metro, you will need to get a ticket from the machine. I think credit card tap works, but not sure.

Exchange some HKD for coins at the hotel reception—that’s what I did. Both HKD coins and Macau coins work on buses, and everyone except the museum accepted HKD.

I used Indie and also had some US dollars.

One more query. Does macau coins work in hongkong?

 

[CMGCMG is verified member.]

One more query. Does macau coins work in hongkong?

I have no idea.

 

[nishank]

One more query. Does macau coins work in hongkong?

Not coins but sometimes cash can be exchanged at stores

 

[bhavyegoelbhavyegoel is verified member.]

Hi Bhavye few questions, in case you could provide clarifications:
1. Was the Visa Tap and Go offer available to use multiple times?
2. Any reason for doing daily bookings at IBIS instead of continuous bookings for your stay? Didnt you face the hassle of settling the account daily?
3. For Ibis booking in HK, I am finding that when we book on points it says 4000 accor points plus 4200Rs.. Why are they not allowing to redeem everything through points. Any suggestions here?
@anirban.choudhury @CMG @nishank : Your views or feedback would also be highly appreciated..

1. Yes I used it multiple times.
2. I booked it so that if I wish to cancel any booking I can. But it's always better to book a full stay in one so that you can burn more points in one go during booking. They settled my cash in one transaction during check-in itself so it wasn't a hassle.
3. Try booking all the dates combined.

 

[bhavyegoelbhavyegoel is verified member.]

How did u manage residual money with so many different payment options - Octopus Card (50hkd deposit+any remaining balance), Cash in Macau and Cash in Hongkong? I foresee at least 2-3K inr getting wasted here.

In case if rental Octopus Card, it says no refund at airport. If that's the case, u can't even get it back, as u still need card to reach airport in bus/Metro.

Is it possible to completely avoid octopus Card by using usual visa credit card wherever accepted and some cash at places which don't accept credit card? Is there any bus/metro where neither cash nor credit card works and octopus is must?

Also, how did u manage exact change for bus trips specially in Macau? Atm won't give lower than 100 denomination i believe.

I am thinking to just withdraw cash from atm using magnus/Infinia with advance payment, whenever required. Hsbc seems to allow free withdrawal. So just 2.36% forex charges.

I was hardly having any residual money. I had a few coins left for MCP and HKD which I kept as souvenirs. An Octopus card is a necessity since on many bus routes, especially in Lantau island ur credit cards won't work. For Macau buses, HKD works fine. For a change, you can visit any 7-11 and buy some small items like chewing gum. I didn't explore much about refund of Octopus so yes its been a waste for me.

 

[paxauquabriba-4876]

detailed review of payment options especially via cc as heard china's payment system is very restrctiv

 

[Harry1]

I was hardly having any residual money. I had a few coins left for MCP and HKD which I kept as souvenirs. An Octopus card is a necessity since on many bus routes, especially in Lantau island ur credit cards won't work. For Macau buses, HKD works fine. For a change, you can visit any 7-11 and buy some small items like chewing gum. I didn't explore much about refund of Octopus so yes its been a waste for me.

I am not planning to visit lantau Island for anything except big buddha and disneyland, which are connected by MTR and cable car. In fact, even within hongkong Island or Kowloon area, I feel MTR is better for all my needs, as it is about 2x faster than bus and time is costly as a tourist. Also, fares are not too high, even a disneyland trip via MTR seem to be about 300 INR only.

I will need only 2 buses in hongkong - Airport to Tung Chung Station and another from Hong Kong Island to Airport. I hope these allow visa card payments. Can you please confirm?

Apart from that, I plan 1 day macau trip and I see free shuttle buses from casinos to ferry terminals. So, I will probably need just 1 shuttle bus from old macau town area to new side like from Lisboa to Venetian. Even for this, I saw few comments mentioning about shuttle buses between casinos, but didn't find any concrete information.

So, I will completely avoid Octopus card and use MTR with visa card wherever possible. Will withdraw 100 HKD via Magnus and try getting change for those 2-3 bus rides from 7/11 stores or Hotel. Let's see how it goes.

Also, for sim, I saw a good deal in OnePlus ORoaming option with 1GB data and 7 days validity for both macau and hongkong region for just 2 USD. I guess this is sufficient for my commute with free wifi being available at many places.