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Turn Nine 2025 Public Holidays into 40 Days of Travel!

Happy New Year, everyone! January is such a rush for most of us, isn’t it? The kids are starting a new year of school, and we’re back at work with new Q1 objectives and quotas. But… a new year also brings with it exciting new travel opportunities!

It’s not that we want to be kiasu, but if we’re the first to put in those leave dates, we might be able to take advantage of those public holidays and long weekends without losing too much annual leave, right?

In this article, we share with you our guide on how to stretch your leave to gain the most travel opportunities in 2025. We’ve also included 8 effective tips to help you with your travel planning!

Ready, get set… Let's go!

 

Your Singapore 2025 Calendar of Travel Planning

For our recommendations, we’ve tried to create travel opportunities of minimum five days, as that gives you more chance of enjoying a decent holiday, especially since two days already include arrival and departure. At least this will give you three full days to truly explore and experience your travel destination.

We’ve also tried to arrange flight departures on weekdays, as that tends to be cheaper than on weekends.

We also suggest combining two public holidays in May and December so that you can enjoy a much longer overseas vacation!

 

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Tips for Maximising Public Holiday Travel

Value Saturday PHs

If you receive a day off-in-lieu if public holidays fall on a Saturday, you can always use that to extend a long holiday by one more day, or throw it before or after an already long weekend to make it longer. Or, you may want to keep it as a “reserve” leave day for when you’re feeling stressed or pressured at work and badly need a break!


 

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Make School Holidays Long Weekends

For those of us with kids, the calendar of travel opportunities will look a little different, as there are also some school closure dates where the kids will be off. It might be an idea to take advantage of these days to enjoy some long weekends with the family, without ever having to take the kids out of school.

MonthSchool HolidaySchool’s Closed OnLong Weekend
JULYouth Day
Sun, 6 Jul
Mon 7 JulS - S - M
AUGNational Day
Sat, 9 Aug
Mon 11 AugS - S - M
SEPTeachers’ Day
Fri, 5 Sep
Fri 5 SepF - S - S
OCTChildren’s Day
Fri, 3 Oct
*For Pri-level only
Fri 3 OctF - S - S


Source: School Terms and Holidays for 2025 | MOE


Travel on a Weekday

It’s generally acknowledged that most flights are cheaper on weekdays rather than weekends. If you have the flexibility, try to arrange departures or arrivals on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays.

Thankfully, our Singapore public holiday calendar in 2025 actually affords us the opportunity to travel on quite a few Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Be Prepared for Good Deals

Many travel websites and airline companies regularly send out email blasts with fantastic promotional offers, so make sure you’re signed up to receive them. You should also set up fare alerts on travel comparison sites to receive instant notifications of price drops.

When there’s a special promotion or price drop, there are usually very limited places available, so make sure you have your travel plans ready to go, such as:

  • A group chat with potential travel buddies
  • Everyone’s travel details including passport numbers and expiry dates
  • A list of potential travel destinations you’re interested in
  • The spouse/partner on speed-dial to ask for permis… *ahem* we mean, to discuss travel plans
  • All your kids’ school holiday dates within easy reach
  • Flexible departure/arrival dates and the knowledge that your travel party also has some flexibility to take leave when needed
     

Book Your Travel Insurance Early

Being prepared also includes booking your travel insurance early. Many people tend to book their travel insurance at the last minute — sometimes quite literally when they’re checking in at Changi Airport!

It’s more advantageous for you to confirm your travel insurance at least 30 days  before your departure, because your travel insurance policy actually covers unforseen pre-trip hiccups such as cancellations and delays due to bad weather.

If you already plan to make several trips in 2025, take a look at annual travel insurance instead, as it might actually work out to save you some money (and the hassle of applying for each trip). It’s best to think about this now at the start of the year, so you can see how to make the most out of your annual plan!

If you always travel with your family, then definitely consider Family Annual Travel Insurance — the kids can be insured for free, and there is also the option of including your helper on the policy too.


 

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Think About Asia

2025 gives us plenty of opportunities for 5-day trips. With only five days, you can’t exactly jetset to the other side of the globe. But five days are perfect for a short getaway to one of our fellow Asian countries.

Where have you already visited in Asia; and where have you not? What are some places in Asia you’ve always wanted to visit but have put off to “another time”? Time to start writing up that list of “Dream Asian Travel Destinations”!

One big benefit of travelling in Asia is the number of budget airlines that fly to most Asian destinations. And naturally, with a spring-off point like Singapore, we’re extra blessed with frequent flights and good exchange rates.

Travel Tip!
If you’re planning a short Malaysia getaway via car, don’t forget to utilise your MyICA app to generate an individual/group QR code for quick and easy customs clearance! Details here.
 

Consider Shoulder Season Travel

Most of the time, months such as April and October are considered “shoulder season” for many travel destinations. Since they fall out of peak travel times, you can expect less crowds, and for travel and accommodation to be cheaper.

This year, there will be an opportunity to travel in both of these months, thanks to Good Friday and Deepavali. May can also be a shoulder month for some destinations, which would be extremely perfect considering we have two public holidays in May.

The con is, of course, that sometimes the weather isn’t that great during those months, such as with more rain or higher humidity. The best thing to do is research into travel destinations that are still incredibly beautiful during the shoulder seasons, despite the weather!


Sign Up for Cards Ahead of Time

Make sure you’re ready to get away with having the right cards ready to go. Sign up for a credit card where you can collect frequent flyer miles, such as  the Citi PremierMiles card, DBS Altitude card, or OCBC 90˚N card. The pros of these cards are that you earn more miles on overseas spending, as well as travel and accommodation bookings. Your miles also don’t expire, giving you the freedom to redeem them later when you’ve accumulated enough.

Obviously, you should sign up for a miles credit card well before you fly, before you even make online bookings for your trip.

Signing up for a digital multi-currency wallet is also wise, especially if you’re going to be visiting different destinations all year round and using all kinds of foreign currencies.

Both Wise and YouTrip are good choices for jet-setting Singaporeans. Both offer low fees and great exchange rates, and do not charge you any account maintenance fees. Another benefit is that in the event of a theft on your trip, you can easily freeze your card via the app. Choosing between the two will depend on your travel destinations, as YouTrip supports 10 currencies, while Wise supports more than 40.

Don’t wait till the last minute to sign up as it will take some time for you to receive your linked debit card in the mail.


This 2025, turn your limited annual leave days into exciting travel opportunities — all you need is some clever and strategic planning! Start marking these dates down on your calendar and stay on the lookout for unbeatable travel deals! From all of us at DirectAsia, we wish you a 2025 full of excitement, adventure, and new experiences! Travel safe!