CNY bus fare from S'pore to Ipoh 'ridiculously' pricier than plane ticket, claims Stomper: Is it true?
Many things cost more during the Chinese New Year period.
Stomper Phung lamented that one of those things is a bus ride from Singapore to Ipoh, Perak.
"It has been a trend that bus fares from Singapore to Malaysia rise ridiculously whenever it's closer to the festive season," said Phung. "It happens every year."
To further prove his point, the Stomper compared the price between taking a bus and taking a plane, and shared screenshots of ticket prices from Easybook and Scoot.
The bus ride from Singapore to Ipoh is about eight hours long, while the Scoot flight is one hour and 15 minutes.
Phung pointed out that a one-way Scoot flight from Singapore to Ipoh on Feb 17, which is the first day of CNY, costs $207.38.
During the non-festive period, Singapore-Ipoh bus fares are typically between $50 and $70. However, they now range from $190 to $220, according to the Stomper.
"It has risen three to four times, ridiculously even beating the airfare," he said.
The problem with Phung's comparison is that he was comparing the ticket prices for different days — the bus fare on Jan 16 versus the airfare on Jan 17.
Travelling on the eve generally costs more than on the first day of CNY.
Since the price of travel tends to fluctuate, on Jan 27, Stomp checked the fares on Easybook and Scoot. Stomp found that on Jan 16, the most expensive bus fare is $250, which is higher than the cheapest airfare of $230.20.
Whereas on the first day of CNY, the most expensive bus fare is $140, which is only a few dollars less than the cheapest airfare of $144.20.
So while Phung was not completely right, he was not completely wrong either.
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