DBS rolls out new travel deals as more VTLs go live

TRAVEL search demand has picked up steadily in Singapore since the opening of more vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs), as holiday-starved consumers scour for the latest flight and hotel deals.

With VTLs to 9 more countries - including the UK, US and South Korea - open from this week, traffic into DBS's travel portal in the first 2 weeks of this month had doubled, compared to the last 2 weeks of September.

More than 30,000 unique visitors had checked out and booked their holidays on the bank's travel and leisure marketplace since VTLs to Germany and Brunei were announced in August.

Against this backdrop, a new "traveller kit" has been launched for DBS/POSB card holders featuring over 700,000 travel deals and discounts from more than 700,000 hotels/properties, 250 airlines and 15 travel platforms.

They include an additional 15 per cent off worldwide hotel bookings on Agoda, stackable deals to multiply savings on Klook, and an accelerated card earn-rate on online flights and hotels bookings, said DBS in a statement on Tuesday (Oct 19).

This comes on top of the existing suite of offerings already available on the bank's travel marketplace, which includes complimentary travel insurance coverage of up to S$200,000 and booking of PCR tests with DoctorAnywhere.

Jeremy Soo, DBS head of consumer banking group, said: "While many of us are raring to go overseas, we may have many questions and need to familiarise ourselves with new travel protocols in a Covid-19 world. We've combined all the travel-related essentials across our cards and marketplace offerings, and DBS digibank, to ensure worry-free vacation planning."

UOB has also been working with its ecosystem of travel partners to expand the number of deals and packages for its customers in anticipation of more VTLs opening up. It currently has over a million deals on its travel marketplace launched in 2018.

Jacquelyn Tan, UOB head of group personal financial services, told The Business Times the bank has also partnered with UOB Travel Planners to provide advice and arrangements for customers travelling to approved destinations, which includes travel and Covid-19 insurance as well as priority booking of PCR tests.