How to buy a NYC MetroCard | Unlimited or Regular Subway Card
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.พ. 2025
- Watch this video for tips on which to buy and how to buy them at the vending machines. MORE NYC TIPS VIDEOS • NYC Travel Tips
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Should you buy a pay-per-ride or an unlimited New York City Subway MetroCard? There are several factors to consider before making a purchase.
There are some important rules to be aware of that apply to the UNLIMITED METRO CARD
Each card can only be used by 1 person.
Once you have swiped the card, it cannot be used again for 18 minutes.
You get unlimited transfers, including between buses and subways.
TIP: Your unlimited MetroCard can be used on other transportation systems in and around New York City. It is accepted by:
The Staten Island Railway
The Roosevelt Island Tram
New Jersey PATH trains.
This PAY AS YOU GO option has some important differences compared to the unlimited card.
1 ride costs $3. You will most likely never buy this card.
2 or more rides cost $2.75 per ride.
Up to 4 people can use one MetroCard ($2.75/person/ride).
You can transfer for free between subway lines
You can transfer for free between subway and buses or between buses within 2 hours of using your card for the first time.
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Thanks for watching our video! Let us know if you have any comments or questions below 👇
Welcome to NY and for teaching us how to earn a new MTA MetroCard in parts of New York. 😀
This was the best video I’ve seen on Metro Card Machines in the subways.
Thank you, Jason. Hope you can watch our other videos as well. We have more travel tip videos as well as walking tours.
Thanks so much for sharing this 😊 When I’ve got the money to go visit a couple of friends in Brooklyn, I’ll know what Metro card to buy, when I do eventually come. Much love from Canada 🇨🇦
Thank you so much for making it clear that you cannot share a 7 Days Card👍😃Big hug Colin💕
Thanks for sharing Katherine, I’ve got friends and family coming over after me, so I’m hoping to help them walk through this process trouble free.
Omg thank you so much! I needed this for my trip and well despite being a new Yorker, I was used to the student metrocard rather than the orange one
Glad it was helpful!
This was a life-saver, thank you so much.
We are glad you enjoyed the video. We also hope to show you around New York City when you get here. You can browse our tour selection here freetoursbyfoot.com/new-york-tours/.
In the meantime, check out some of our other free virtual tours. th-cam.com/play/PLpNEdLF6RWV3fGRem85gniML7tGLsJ3j1.html.
thank you for sharing, really helpful and informative
In our Hong Kong, Hong Kong railway system will use octopus card to take a ride any of the train, bus and minibus. When you want to install the money into your octopus card, you can go to 24 hour store or railway customer service counter to install money into your octopus card.
In addition, the octopus card can been your shopping payments using tool.
They have changed the program in most machines so some say add time or add value instead and you can also put in other amount and add a specific amount
Thanks for the tip, John. We are actually working on our updated video now.
Thank you this was very helpful and informative 👍👍
great video and very helpful. im planning on visiting in the near future, ideally for a week, so one of those 7day unlimited metro cards would be ideal, as i plan to visit many places, including out to coney island etc
We are glad you enjoyed the video. We also hope to show you around New York City when you get here. You can browse our tour selection here freetoursbyfoot.com/new-york-tours/.
In the meantime, check out some of our other free virtual tours. th-cam.com/play/PLpNEdLF6RWV3fGRem85gniML7tGLsJ3j1.html.
a 6-night stay; including the night you arrive is a great idea, cause then the day you would travel back to say JFK, that'd be the 7th day which then your unlimited pass would still be valid through that 7th/final day of use. Local-stop routes, *LIMITED*-stop routes & Select-Bus-Service routes are all "local buses" that primarily stay within one borough, or serve most of one borough + parts of another borough. The regular 7-day pass is $33 & the 30-day pass is $127; both are accepted for subway & local buses only (*NOT* express bus routes, AirTrain & PATH). There's another 7-day pass which is $62; that is good for subway/local bus, as well as express buses. But not a lot of folks outside + within NYC would know of, or use the express buses.
Local buses would display as such: *B* bus routes are primarily for Brooklyn, *Q* Queens, *M* Manhattan, *Bx* Bronx & *S* Staten Island. Express buses would display at least with an *M*; because they serve Manhattan in combination with one of the other 4 boroughs, *BxM* serves Bronx/Manhattan, *QM* serves Queens/Manhattan, *BM* serves Brooklyn/Manhattan & *SIM* serves Staten Island/Manhattan. There is three MTA bus routes, that does take passengers to/from JFK (Q10/Q10 *LIMITED*, Q3 & B15 are the routes to/from JFK)
Awesome thanks. Visiting in April
I have a collection of NYC tokens and MetroCards (I don't live in NYC). I have four different regular cards, a Student Pass card (for grades 7-12), a SingleRide card (no subway-bus transfer, valid only within 2 hours of purchase, and not shareable), and a 2-trip card, which is not refillable.
Great info. Now how about today 12/23. Can you use pay per ride card for up to 4 people and also can the cards be used for path trains and sky tram?
You can use the Pay Per Ride for both. You cannot use the unlimited card on the PATH.
Thank.you for sharing
Thanks 😊is there a app that can help.me to choose the correct train,please?
Google Maps works for this. Here is post on Subway Apps. freetoursbyfoot.com/which-nyc-subway-app-is-best/
I have three regular MetroCards that I had to send to the MTA by snail-mail in order to get merged into one. That was back in August 2022, and I still haven't received the new replacement for all three.
BTW, i was hoing to address this isdue on MTA's official YT channel.
Very informative, thank you so much! Just one question; Is Metrocard still available? Because I have got to know that the MTA would be scraping the Metrocard and its vending machines soon!
Yes, but not anytime soon. Metrocards are still available.
@@CaptainPicardy hmmm! The initial plans were to scrap them by 2023 but the MTA authorities informed in April 2023 that these plans have been postponed indefinitely, so that's why I was confirming. Thank you for letting me know 👍👍
Thank you for the video, so the machine does not receive bills (example: 20 dollars) ? The only cash available to pay is coin?
Regular metrocard is no longer needed if you have a contactless card
Yes. This is quite new. We'll need to make an update. Thanks for mentioning this.
If you use the 7 day unlimited option, is the fare from JFK using the JFK airtrain to Jamaica also included? Or would that be a separate charge?
The Airtrain fare is in addition to the 7-day unlimited option.
Thank you! Does the machine accept Apple Pay or Google Pay?
Yes
so if i pay per creditcard i have to put in my zipcode? Swiss zipcodes do only have 4 numbers not 5 like in the usa…
Taking notes: 2.50 dollars each metro ride. Can be shared within 4 people. Useful for less than 12 rides
whats card sharing mean? i cant make multiple fares in a row on it?
For the regular metrocard (not unlimited), you can use it for up to 4 people in the same station. The unlimited is limited to one person per card.
I will be traveling with a family of 4. Do we all share the same metro card 12 times each. Or do each of us only get to use it 3 times? Also do we pass the card from 1 person to the next? how does that work? Thank you
You can use it for up to 4 people on a Pay As You Go Metrocard. You can use it as many times as you put money on for it. If it is an unlimited card, then you can only use it for one person.
why buy just dont pay as i see everyday people do
I have debit VISA card with PIN code is possible buy with this card ??
hey so I have a question, for the regular metro-card, 4 people can use it, but does it still charge each person in that one card?
Hi James. The regular MetroCard has an amount of money on it. It will simply deduct one ride for each swipe up to swipes at a time.
Hi. do they accept 100$ bill?
What do you mean "the metro card can be shared by up to 4 people"?
Pay-per-ride-cards can be used by up to 4 people on any ride. You have to run the card 4x. This isn't the case with unlimited cards.
can you have both regular and unlimited in 1 card? coz i want to use it with PATH train to and from newark.. please advise.. TYIA
Do find these in the subways?
Yes, all subway stations have metrocard machines.
Is this for city bus and the subway?
Yes. You can also use it for the Roosevelt Island Tram and the pay-per-ride option also works for the NJ PATH trains.
When you say the regular one can be shard by up to 4 people, does that mean it’s $2.50 per person per ride, so swipe 4 times per ride?
Correct, but the price is now $2.90 per ride.
Can i get ride in bus whith metro card ?
Yes
Do children need their own card?
For families, up to 3 children can ride for free with one fare-paying adult, provided all the children are under 44 inches (112 cm) tall.
So I only need one card for 4 people?
If you are buying a pay-per-ride card, then yes, 1 card can be used by 4 people each ride. This isn't the case with unlimited cards. Those are 1 per person.
The subways run 24/7?????
Yes
Comments 78😍😊❤
I don't think this is relevant anymore... I've never seen these options at the metro station... also prices have changed
It's mostly still relevant but the prices have changed. We have a replacement video that we are about to publish.
Hi! Would you know how much is a 30day unlimited card as of 2022? Thank you!
This is waaay old. One way fair is $2.75 !
Ikr I was like $2.50 ? say whaaaaat? 🤣
Hi! Would you know how much is unlimited 30day as of 2022? Thank you.
@@abcdefg_49500 i dont sorry. I was only there 2 days for work. And it was 100 degres and 100 % humidity both days. No desire to go anywhere so I just paid by the ride for the two places I had to go for work and then back to LG.
A tourist can't put a zip code, what Do we put in
99999