Note: This article was first published on 17 April 2023.
Grab revamps parts of the superapp to make it more convenient and accessible for travellers roaming Southeast Asia.
Your next holiday in Southeast Asia (SEA) is just about to get much more convenient, thanks to the enhanced traveller-friendly features for holidaymakers coming to the Grab app in our region.
In its current incarnation, Grab is a superapp that offers ride-hailing and food-delivery services in eight SEA territories (Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). Most travellers within SEA would already know you can book rides and order food via the same app they use in their home country. For example, a Singaporean Grab user can easily book transport or order food to their hotel while visiting Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur without downloading an extra app.
According to Grab, 50% of all international travellers using Grab in Singapore come from other SEA countries. Outside of SEA, Grab users tended to be travellers from North America, Australia, China, and South Korea. Finally, Singaporean Grab users will most likely visit Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. In short, Grab thinks there are enough people on its superapp across different territories to justify its attention to the tourism and hospitality market.
Grab today (17 April 2023) announced a major update to their offerings, which are mostly focused on making travel to SEA countries more accessible, no matter which part of the globe they are from. The updates are as follows:
New Traveller Homepage, Grab app in more languages
Download Grab before your trip for a smoother landing.
According to the 2023 ASEAN Tourism Forum, two-thirds of travellers using Grab download and register an account while residing in their home country. That's before they arrive at their holiday destination.
To cater to these folks who plan ahead of their trip, there’s a new Traveller Homepage for users to explore their destination as if they are already in the area. This feature is available for the top 33 SEA cities visited by tourists.
Grab is also now available in three other East Asian Languages!
欢迎来到新加坡, 싱가포르에 오신 것을 환영합니다, シンガポールへようこそ。
The Traveller Homepage presents available Grab services in that city (since not all of Grab’s services are consistently available in every corner of SEA). The homepage also lets travellers bookmark places of interest, accommodations, and even food spots before arrival.
Grab also made Chinese, Korean, and Japanese versions of their app, making it easier for travellers from China, Korea, and Japan to overcome any language barriers they might face when exploring Southeast Asia. According to Grab, all three versions are already available in Apple iOS, with Korean and Japanese Grab apps coming to Android soon.
Translated merchant menus
Want to order the best Krapow in Bangkok but can't type Thai? Grab translates for you.
Since Grab food delivery and dining listings are uploaded by the merchant, not every entry you see is written in English. Grab is working on translating merchant menus in key cities across Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand into English, intending to make this feature ready by H2 2023. Grab is also working on Chinese menu translations for key Indonesian cities.
Currently, the Grab app already has an automatic and manual translation feature for ride-hailing. Drivers and passengers can write in their native language or English, and the translation happens in-app when communicating with your driver or passenger before pick-up.
Also, the app will carry a built-in converter that shows fares in the traveller’s preferred currency, so they do not have to calculate costs in their head. This is also ready by H2 2023.
An easier time finding your Grab ride in popular tourist spots
How to get out of the airport and straight to your hotel? Grab has you covered once you land.
Grab revamped and improved their Venues experience. Instead of seeing where your pick-up point is after making a ride booking, Grab now shows where your pick-up point is before the booking.
Added to that are image-based, turn-by-turn walking directions to the pick-up point. That's super helpful in an unfamiliar, sprawling airport.
This feature is now available at all major airports in Southeast Asia, and over 4,000 shopping malls, hotels, office buildings, parks, and tourist attractions (such as the Singapore Zoo, the Pattaya Floating Market, and the National Monument in Jakarta).
Grab ride-hailing services partnered with major messaging apps used by travellers
Maybe you don’t want to download the Grab app because you don’t see yourself travelling to Southeast Asia frequently, despite its conveniences. Grab, however, has made its services more accessible to these users nonetheless.
Grab has partnered with travel booking platforms and major messaging apps like WeChat, AliPay, Ctrip, Kakao T, and Booking.com to avail Grab's Southeast Asia ride-hailing services via these platforms. In short, these platform users can select pick-up and drop-off points, check vehicle types, get an estimated fare shown in their home currency, and pay via their platform choice with a preferred payment method of their choice.
From Q2 2023 onwards, Uber users who open the Uber app in Southeast Asia will also be redirected to Grab.
GrabPay wallet currency still separate in each SEA territory
Perhaps the one missing piece of the puzzle is the GrabPay digital wallet, which stores each SEA currency separately. In a media briefing to Southeast Asian publications and websites, Grab confirmed that GrabPay wallets of different currencies still operate independently, and currencies do not automatically transfer between different wallets. The superapp giant recommended tying a credit card or PayPal account for any Grab-related transactions for better inter-territory travel, if you don't want spare cash to be stuck in a foreign currency GrabPay wallet.
This is unlike multi-currency wallets with automatic, market-rate currency exchange and a prepaid card supported at typical credit card terminals, such as YouTrip, Revolut, and Wise.
How to redeem your GrabUnlimited airport voucher.
To celebrate Grab's improved travel features, GrabUnlimited subscription packages in Singapore can get 15% discount on airport rides at 89 airports across Southeast Asia.
You can download Grab from the Apple App Store for iOS devices, or Google's Play Store for Android users.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.