Planning a trip to South Korea? Now you have booked your flight and your are wondering what’s next. Clearing some of the administrative things outta the way!
1) Do we still need to do pre-trip PCR / in-country PCR?
As of Oct 2022, there is no longer a need to do so. This pretty much saves everyone ~$80 sgd for more shopping there.
2) What other documentation things do we need to apply for before going?
- K-ETA (~$10 sgd) This is a visa that is required to enter Korea (there is 2-years validity).
- Please apply it earlier! My suggestion is 3-4 weeks before will be good as there is a surge in the volume of applications, so to ensure a smooth trip. For myself, i was able to get the visa approved same-day, but i have heard of people getting it over a span of 1-2 weeks.
- Make sure how you enter your name on your visa, follows the sequence of your name in your passport! This goes for most application in Korea i.e. JEJUAIR domestic tickets etc. I.e. if your passport shows TAY TEO HAN SALLY, your last name should be TAY, first name should be TEO HAN SALLY. Or if your name on passport shows SALLY TAY TEO HAN, your last name should be SALLY, first name should be TAY TEO HAN.
- I kept the approval confirmation as a soft copy just in case, but never had to show it.
- Q-CODE (Free) The requirement for this application is subjected to further changes depending on covid situation. This is not a compulsory item to do beforehand, but highly recommended to do at least 3 days before the trip. It’s basically a health declaration tool that you have to show once you land in Korea to custom officers.
- If you not do it beforehand, you will have to do it upon landing via phone or fill in a physical yellow form. There is a certain happiness that comes along with getting your ducks in a row when you arrive to your holiday destination thus, highly recommended to do this beforehand and screenshot / have the QR code handy.
- IDP (~$20 sgd) This is compulsory for Singaporeans to drive in Korea and based on my understanding, all nationalities except those who have driving licenses obtained in Korea. You will have to bring along your driving license as well but what they checked in particular was just the IDP / passport / credit card when i was there.
- SG Arrival Card (SGAC) with Electronic Health Declaration This is for arrival back to Singapore - i know, i know, we haven’t gotten to the START of the trip and we are now planning for the end? - i think it’s easier to know that you need to do something to end your trip nicely than it becoming a nasty surprise. This is not a visa, but just a health declaration when you arrive in Singapore! Do it within 3 days prior to arrival in SG. Otherwise, you will have to scan when you reach Singapore customs and do on the spot.
3) How do you rent cars in Jeju? Where should I look at!
I highly (very highly) recommend Lotte Rent-A-Car to rent a car in Jeju. The site is not very user-friendly towards non-Korean speaking / reading tourists but it works! When comparing with other sites, the prices are reasonable and car choices are incomparable.
4) Do you need a car in Seoul?
Unlike Jeju, Seoul is very well-connected by the Seoul metro / subway system. Coupled with heavy traffic and limited parking within Seoul, i would suggest using public transportation / cabs / ride-hailing apps.
5) What are the useful apps to have?
I highly recommend having these apps. Korea has its own Internet-related services products i.e. Naver i/o Google. I think these sites are highly customised to the locals - thus attempting to search routes in Google often returns poor results. For the trip planning, ‘favouriting’ of places and the road navigation are all within Naver Map.
For ride-hailing apps:
- Kakao T / TADA (Tada is only operational in certain parts of Korea - so yes in Seoul but no in Jeju :( )
For foreigners who do have a local credit card / phone number, we can only book a normal sedan hail ride on Kakao T which is very inconvenient when you have a group of more than 4. There is option to book a Venti (jumbo taxis that can take 6), but that option is only if you have a local credit card linked. So most often, we would have to get the hotels to ring for a jumbo taxi for us, or alternatively, book 2 separate cabs.
TADA though has the option to get a bigger cab to fit more than 4! A Kia Carnival - technically a 7-seater but indicated on the app to fit 5 passengers so if you would like to fit more, probably would have to check with the driver to see if he is willing to accomodate. Great thing is TADA accepts international credit card but they charge in USD.
For texting:
- KakaoTalk
Whatsapp / Telegram are still accessible there - I did not need to use KakaoTalk but if you do need to communicate to locals, this would be the right app!
For navigating:
- Naver map (Mainly) / KakaoMap
For airport lounge access:
- Priority Pass (Depending on the credit cards you have - Citi Premiermiles CC holder will have 2 free visits in a year, make good use of it!)
For translating:
- Google app (Within use the translate text with your camera function, to understand korean texts)
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