It’s the holiday season, and by this time, you’re likely preparing gifts for your loved ones. Gifts can be small or big—what matters most is the thought. This year, my holiday gift to my mom was a five-day trip to Hokkaido, Japan. It took me about a year to save up for and plan the entire journey.
Planning for trips like this can be challenging, which is why I kept my eyes peeled for seat sales from airlines like All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Cebu Pacific, and Philippine Airlines, and for hotel booking deals on Booking.com, Trip.com, and Agoda to get the best possible value out of my money. It also pays to plan ahead so that you can make adjustments along the way.
The spending for traveling does not stop with finding great deals for hotels, flights, and visa applications—you’ll also have to factor in the expenses you’ll have while traveling. These include transport, food, shopping, and other incidental expenses. This is where Maya Black helped me manage my expenses and make the whole trip more convenient and stress-free.
Aside from having competitive FOREX rates, Maya Black’s tap-to-pay feature got even better with support for Google Wallet. This allowed me to simply use my phone to pay for all of our expenses in Hokkaido for a significant chunk of the trip.
Compared to the usual tap-to-pay method using a physical card, you get transaction details the moment you tap your phone to complete a payment. I used Google Wallet for paying in establishments like Tower Records, Lawson, 7-Eleven, Family Mart, for tickets to the Royce Town Museum and Sapporo TV Tower—and even for our limousine bus ride from New Chitose Airport to our hotel and back. The convenience made the trip stress-free, letting my mom and me focus more on enjoying the sights of Sapporo and other towns in Hokkaido like Biei, Furano, Asahikawa, Otaru, and Royce Town.
With my mom being happy with how the trip went, I told her that I’ll plan another trip to Japan—maybe this time down south in Fukuoka. I have around a year to plan it out, and Maya’s Time Deposit Plus, Personal Goals, and Savings features help me manage my finances, allowing me to save up for the next trip while earning up to 6% PA interest and as much as 8% with Personal Goals. This makes saving for my next trip with my mom more rewarding—and the benefits don’t stop there.
Maya Black lets you earn one Maya Mile for every Php 40 transaction—with select merchants offering as much as 10x Maya Miles if they are a Maya Black Preferred Merchant. You also get complimentary DragonPass lounge access every quarter, allowing you and your travel companion to relax before flying out to your next destination.
If you’re like me and want to give the best holiday gift to your loved ones, I really suggest taking advantage of what Maya has to offer. On top of making gift-giving stress-free with the ease of managing your finances and personal goals and the convenience of paying for purchases, Maya also rewards you through competitive interest rates and Maya Miles that you can use later on.
So remember: buying holiday gifts for your loved ones can be fun, enjoyable, convenient, and stress-free—all at the same time.