Dublin Bus getting rid of the 30-day Rambler card (moving to Leap Card)

ProudDUB · 25-05-2014 12:04am #1

A few months ago, I bought a 30 Dublin Bus rambler ticket. It cost 125 euros. It gives you unlimited travel on Dublin Bus for 30 days. The days do not have to be consecutive, so you can use it for as long as you want & when you hit day 30, you are done. It is great if you are an infrequent bus user, but on the days that you do use it, you use a lot of them. It works out to 4.16 per day of usage, which is a great deal imo.

A few days ago, I saw a sign at a bus stop, saying that Dublin Bus are phasing out these cards. Holders of them are to take them to Dublin Bus agents (newsagents I presume) and have the unused balance loaded on to a Leap card.

Does anyone know where I would stand in just getting actual cash back for the unused balance? Or do you have to have it loaded onto a Leap card? This doesn't seem fair imo, seeing as the Rambler card no longer does what it was originally sold for.

According to their website, the only Rambler ticket that Dublin Bus sell now, is the 5 day one for 27 euros. As I have 22 days left on my Rambler ticket, I'd be ok with getting 4 of those instead of getting some dosh put onto a Leap card, as they are closer in purpose to what the original Rambler was bought for. Thought I'd ask this here, as the staff in my local newsagent are pretty clueless. If I have to go into the DB office in town, I will. I'd just rather know my rights ahead of time. Ta.

Sulla Felix · 25-05-2014 12:07am

Afair the 30 day rambler did have an expiry date, just so you know.

I doubt you've any chance of getting cash instead of loading it onto a leap, though if you don't have a leap you may have a chance of getting one from free if you kick up enough of a fuss.

Afair they're getting rid of the 1 day rambler tickets too.

ForstalDave · 25-05-2014 12:09am

I believe this is because the leap card travel is capped and it works out at a similar cost to the ramblers, Going forward id expect Dublin bus to do away with all tickets apart from the ramblers and family day tickets

ProudDUB · 25-05-2014 12:25am

Thanks guys.

So what ye are saying is that the 30 Day rambler is not being phased out, it is just that the old paper ticket is being replaced with the Leap card? Am I correct in this?

I was driving by the bus stop when I saw the ad, so I must confess, I did not read the whole thing, or get to read the fine print.

I already have a Leap card with a few bob on it, so I presume I will need to get a different one to have my Rambler balance transferred to it? Who has to cough up the 5 euro Leap card fee? It is bad form if the customer has to pay that, when Dublin Bus are the ones bringing in the change.

Thanks Sulla Felix, I just checked the Rambler ticket. It does indeed expire after a year.

ForstalDave · 25-05-2014 12:33am

you can transfer it to your current leapcard no need to get a new one cap on dublin bus is 6.90 a day or 27.50 a week there is a 10 a day or 40 a week cap on the leap card if your using luas/dart also, so pretty much for 40 a week you can travel as much as you want on all the services

ProudDUB · 25-05-2014 12:45am

Oh ok, I had no idea that there was a cap for daily usage. That is good. However, it may not seem much, but with my current Rambler card, it only works out at 4.16 per day. A cap of 6.90 per day is great, but that is more than a 50% increase. Over time, that adds up.

dfx- · 25-05-2014 2:02am

You can still use the 30 day Rambler card bought before May 5th - I'm still using one.

When the 30 days run out (within the expiry date on the card), you can still buy another 30 days 'card', except it will not be a separate ticket to the Leap card - it will be loaded onto a Leap card and be used the same way when you hold the Leap card to the machine like you do with the Rambler up until now.

Joshycat · 25-05-2014 9:31am

OK basically all you need to know is:
The 30 day rambler you have can still be used until its expiry date.
When it runs out and you want to get a new 30 day rambler you get it loaded on to your leap card.
You can have both travel credit and up to 4 ramblers on the same leap card.
To use the rambler you use the validator on the right as you enter the bus.
To use travel credit you go to the driver.

Losty Dublin · 25-05-2014 11:00am

ProudDUB wrote: »

Oh ok, I had no idea that there was a cap for daily usage. That is good. However, it may not seem much, but with my current Rambler card, it only works out at 4.16 per day. A cap of 6.90 per day is great, but that is more than a 50% increase. Over time, that adds up.

he €6.90 cap is the rate for a day pass so you won't be charged it once you have rambler days left on the card. A typical bus trip costs you over well €2; make two of them and your day of Rambler access is covered.

vienne86 · 11-07-2014 9:49am

Joshycat wrote: »

OK basically all you need to know is:
The 30 day rambler you have can still be used until its expiry date.
When it runs out and you want to get a new 30 day rambler you get it loaded on to your leap card.
You can have both travel credit and up to 4 ramblers on the same leap card.
To use the rambler you use the validator on the right as you enter the bus.
To use travel credit you go to the driver.

That's a great post - I only travel occasionally by bus I was just wondering how this would work. I have a leap card which I use for occasional short journeys and I have a 30 day rambler, which usually lasts me about a year. Mine expires at the end of December, and I will probably use it up by then. If I transfer it to my leap card now, will that expiry date still hold?

LXFlyer · 11-07-2014 9:56am

Just continue with the current 30 day ticket until it expires, then get a new one loaded onto the card.

vienne86 · 11-07-2014 10:27am

lxflyer wrote: »

Just continue with the current 30 day ticket until it expires, then get a new one loaded onto the card.

Cheers - that was what I had in mind. I was thinking it would be handy to have just one card and was wondering how I would manage to make it clear when I was using the rambler 30 part and when I was using it as I have been using it for just short journeys. Just a return trip to town for me is cheaper on the rambler than on the regular Leap fares. Your post cleared that up for me.

Dublin Bus getting rid of the 30-day Rambler card (moving to Leap Card)

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