Fares, how do you pay for yours?

Losty Dublin

We often touch on the various fares and tickets out there but never on what we all personally use and how we find them to work for us. Be it Leap, Taxsaver, Travel 90, cash, ten journey or plastic at the ticket office, how do you pay for your fares when traveling on public transport?

FTR I use taxsave on DB, I've a Leap for my odd Luas/Dart trip and I use online for advance mainline rail trip as required

devnull

When I used the bus a lot before Network Direct pushed me of it, I used Travel 90 and for a few months where I was doing split shifts I used a 30 day rambler.

Now for my occasional trips on public transport I use Leap all the time apart from the occasion when I am taking a bus and don't have enough money on the Leap to top it up (There are no agents near where I live or Irish Rail stations or Luas Stops).

I don't use Irish Rail for Intercity travel, but if I'm booking private bus operators I do so online as normally it's cheaper.

Cash is an absolute last resort.

dfx-

30 day Rambler. I used to use a Luas/Bus combi ticket, but the consecutive nature of the ticket and uselessness of the Luas stopped that.

When I'm beyond the Pale...cash

Ben D Bus

I work for CIE so I've paid with my life :pac:

TheBandicoot

Leap card, I take the train to and from work. I would probably save money with a monthly ticket or a taxsaver, but I can't be bothered setting that up, I find it easier to just put €20 on the Leap card once a week.

dudara

I'm an erratic user of public transport, with no fixed schedule. So I use Leap.

ThreeLineWhip

Golden ticket for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29_uSlEEPSk

Joshycat

Losty Dublin wrote: »

We often touch on the various fares and tickets out there but never on what we all personally use and how we find them to work for us. Be it Leap, Taxsaver, Travel 90, cash, ten journey or plastic at the ticket office, how do you pay for your fares when traveling on public transport?

FTR I use taxsave on DB, I've a Leap for my odd Luas/Dart trip and I use online for advance mainline rail trip as required

I use a 30 day rambler most of the time,unless im doing one of my un-occasional 1:40 trips in that case i use a leap card,i hardly ever get the DART but when i do i use my leap card and i dont think I have been on the Luas more than 5 times in my whole life but if i was to use it and would probally use a leap card.

Vahevala

I use a monthly Bus/Luas ticket, would prefer to have an annual ticket but my employer wants it paid within 3 or 4 months so it isn't feasible for me

schemingbohemia

Annual Taxsaver Bus/Dart
Leap Card for very occasional Luas trips
Online Booking for Irish Rail - (usually wait for a discount code before booking) for some intercity fares, though if visiting parents near Mullingar would buy the add-on fare in the station.

coylemj

Travel90 when doing back to back bus journeys, otherwise Leap.

Alun

The only bus journey I ever make is Bray to Dublin city centre, and then only rarely, so I still use Travel90's. I can't be bothered getting a Leap Card to save 5 cents, and have to queue up with all the cash payers to interact with the driver. If and when they implement the thing properly with tag on / tag off I might reconsider.

Stobart

Taxsaver- Dublin Bus

Jamie2k9

Online fares for mainline Interciy and cash for DB, Luas, DART or Dublin commuter service. I know I would save with a leap card but its the effort of sorting one out.

Baneblade

irregular user of public transport but use a leap card when i do

LoonyLovegood

Cash at the train station for my intercity, 30 day rambler when I'm in Dublin. I'll pay cash if I'm in Galway, it's not worth my while buying a 30 day ticket.

parsi

Online for InterCity and cash for the rest.

Not a frequent enough traveller to use multi-day tickets.

starviewadams

Leap.

€2.45 vs €2.80 cash, plus no driver interaction!

Don't commute regularly enough for rambler or T90.

Mrs OBumble

Monthly taxsaver on BÉ.

Cash for Galway-Dublin (I never book in advance, unless catching a plane, just show up like I would for any commuter bus).

And I've a Leap for my odd trip within the Pale.

shy-tall-knight

Bus Eireann 10 journey for the commute to college, save 5% when buying online, saves about 3 quid a week. Also if you join their BE CLub you can earn loyalty points for each ticket purchased online. Works out that you get a free one every 10 weeks, have an extra 53 quid in my pocket that week, which is nice.

the groutch

combination of T90 & 30 day rambler, but with the T90 pricing itself out of the market I may well transfer to a taxsaver annual ticket next year.

Cookie_Monster

Whenever I'm home it'll be cash. No point wasting money tying up a balance on Leap for the sake of a half dozen journies or so.

Leap card to and from work at €1.90 each way. Also used a Travel 90 for regular trips from Fairview to Ballyfermot, but with the recent increase I've been using 5 day Rambler tickets instead.

_Kaiser_

On the literally 6 times that I used public transport in the past year I just paid cash. I prefer the convenience and flexibility of my car more - even if it costs extra.

As I've stated here before, public transport would want to do both of the above a lot better before I'd consider it again (having suffered it for the best part of 25 years), which is unlikely given service cuts, ridiculous fares and a dizzing array of payment options - none of which seem to work right/not be a compromise.

But when I was a regular bus user the 10 journey tickets were great.. no hassle with time limits, worked on every route (think the Nitelink and the Airport buses were the only exceptions?) and they actually worked as designed.

With all respect to the posters here, as is the case on many other fora on Boards, it sometimes seems more like preaching to the already converted. I have a bus route outside my door that would drop me to a stop literally outside my office, and a LUAS line across from it but I really can't imagine putting up with all of the hassle you read on this forum with LEAP cards, missing/late buses (not that that was anything new to me), rude drivers (experienced plenty of those too) who treat the route like a rally stage, antisocial behaviour (as a one time user of the 27 and before that the 42C and Nitelink version of both I certainly had my fill of that) etc - I'm certainly not going to put up with it when I have the alternative of a big comfortable diesel that's dry/warm/cool (delete as appropriate to the day) and where I won't be squashed against the window by one of the "larger" patrons or standing because someone won't lift a bag, or listening to the tinny noise from someone's iPhone/iPod or worse - the cool kids blaring it through the speakerphone.

To me though it seems DB and all should be targeting people like me to get me out of the car and back as a paying customer, but as long as those issues still exist - fundamental problems in my opinion - there's no way I'd put myself through that and pay more and more for the privilege.

Or maybe I'm just getting old and like my comforts?

foggy_lad

I usually use money, you don't get very far without it!

Victor

I don't need to travel every day, so on a day-to-day basis I tend to use Leap. I also tend to have a Rambler for the days where I know I will be making multiple journeys and will put off certain trips until those days.

deRanged

taxsaver smart card for Cork/Midleton line (not a smart card reader to be found) and a Leap card for when I'm in Dublin.

bridgepeople

TheBandicoot wrote: »

Leap card, I take the train to and from work. I would probably save money with a monthly ticket or a taxsaver, but I can't be bothered setting that up, I find it easier to just put €20 on the Leap card once a week.

You should really look into setting up a taxsaver amount if you are spending €20 a week on fares. It doesn't take long assuming your company already has a taxsaver scheme in place. Even if it doesn't, it's a relatively painless process to set it up.

If you are in the lower tax band you'll cut your fare by about a quarter and if you are in the upper tax band, you'll cut it in half. That's up to €500 per year in potential savings for the sake of filling out a couple of forms.

bk

Leap on DB/Dart/Luas.

Online booking to Cork/Galway, etc.

Cash for tickets in Cork.

Conway635

I use public transport around 6 days a week.

Taxsaver Bus/LUAS, and I have a LEAP card that I usually keep for visitors which I also use for my very infrequent ( less than once a year) DART usage.

I can use two buses, or one bus and one tram to get to work, and which I chose depends on certain variables.

I had to campaign for 3 years to get my (very large multinational) employer to sign up to the Taxsaver scheme.

One year, out of idle curiosity, I keep a record of the number of trips and divided this into the amount the taxsaver had cost me, and came out with a per trip cost of less than 40 cent.

C635

Custardpi

Sure why would you bother paying the fare? Just wear a filthy tracksuit, stink of urine & stale beer & give people threatening looks every so often. The inspectors will give you a wide berth. Result!






:pac:

Seriously though, I'd be a fairly infrequent user as I try to walk everywhere as much as possible. The Leap card suits me grand, top it up every 3 months or so. I do regret the demise of the "2-Easy" tickets though.

schemingbohemia

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

On the literally 6 times that I used public transport in the past year I just paid cash. I prefer the convenience and flexibility of my car more - even if it costs extra.

As I've stated here before, public transport would want to do both of the above a lot better before I'd consider it again (having suffered it for the best part of 25 years), which is unlikely given service cuts, ridiculous fares and a dizzing array of payment options - none of which seem to work right/not be a compromise.

But when I was a regular bus user the 10 journey tickets were great.. no hassle with time limits, worked on every route (think the Nitelink and the Airport buses were the only exceptions?) and they actually worked as designed.

With all respect to the posters here, as is the case on many other fora on Boards, it sometimes seems more like preaching to the already converted. I have a bus route outside my door that would drop me to a stop literally outside my office, and a LUAS line across from it but I really can't imagine putting up with all of the hassle you read on this forum with LEAP cards, missing/late buses (not that that was anything new to me), rude drivers (experienced plenty of those too) who treat the route like a rally stage, antisocial behaviour (as a one time user of the 27 and before that the 42C and Nitelink version of both I certainly had my fill of that) etc - I'm certainly not going to put up with it when I have the alternative of a big comfortable diesel that's dry/warm/cool (delete as appropriate to the day) and where I won't be squashed against the window by one of the "larger" patrons or standing because someone won't lift a bag, or listening to the tinny noise from someone's iPhone/iPod or worse - the cool kids blaring it through the speakerphone.

To me though it seems DB and all should be targeting people like me to get me out of the car and back as a paying customer, but as long as those issues still exist - fundamental problems in my opinion - there's no way I'd put myself through that and pay more and more for the privilege.

Or maybe I'm just getting old and like my comforts?

I fail to see just what Dublin Bus could do to get you back onto the bus - they can't just bar all other people, it's called public transport for a reason!

Losty Dublin

Good to know but what's this rant got to do with how you pay your fare?

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

On the literally 6 times that I used public transport in the past year I just paid cash. I prefer the convenience and flexibility of my car more - even if it costs extra......
Or maybe I'm just getting old and like my comforts?

xOxSinéadxOx

I occasionally get the bus, maybe once every 2 weeks, I always use a T90. With the increase now when it runs out I suppose I'll get a leap card, or possibly a combination of leap and student rambler.

schemingbohemia

You can stock up on a few t90s still, think expiry date is end 2013.

juan.kerr

Tax Saver ticket.

Do they have any plans to make them compatible with the LUAS systems?

markpb

juan.kerr wrote: »

Tax Saver ticket.

Do they have any plans to make them compatible with the LUAS systems?

What do you mean? There are already taxsaver tickets for Luas, DB & Luas and IR & Luas. Maybe I'm missing something?

KD345

I use a Tax Saver ticket. It offers great value compared to cash and leap fares. I'm always amazed at how many people don't avail of the scheme. Your bus fare works out as little as €1.90 per day.

It's good to see Dublin Bus advertising the ticket on buses. I think with the current costs of driving, many people would be happy to leave the car at home if they thought about how cheap the bus can be.

LXFlyer

markpb wrote: »

What do you mean? There are already taxsaver tickets for Luas, DB & Luas and IR & Luas. Maybe I'm missing something?

There are also taxsaver tickets for LUAS, DB and Irish Rail!!!

parsi

Ya know -


there is scope for the provision of information for us culchies.

I travel to Dublin every now and them for work (not to sell some item sold on adverts) but the payments gets you to Heuston. There doesn't seem to be a scheme to get to other spots.

Be well and win

I use a Leap Card, very handy for expenses, just print off the statement and highlight the trips, saves rooting through my wallet trying to find a ticket I'd lost.

lil5

Taxsaver for DB for Mon-Fri commute. Wouldn't use DB otherwise.

But if the price goes up again by another 10% I won't renew it.

Polar101

Rambler tickets for DB and Leap for the occasional rail or Luas fare. I used to get T90 tickets but there's no point any more. Taxsaver would be the thing, but the scheme is too complicated for my HR.

schemingbohemia

lil5 wrote: »

Taxsaver for DB for Mon-Fri commute. Wouldn't use DB otherwise.

But if the price goes up again by another 10% I won't renew it.

That 10% would really be 5% if you're on the higher rate of tax or 7% on the lower. Do you mind me asking how you'll get to work if you don't renew the taxsaver ticket?

You must be fairly close to your workplace if Leap comes into the equation for saving you money, do you never ever use the taxsaver ticket at weekends or nitelinks/airport?

Vahevala

schemingbohemia wrote: »

That 10% would really be 5% if you're on the higher rate of tax or 7% on the lower. Do you mind me asking how you'll get to work if you don't renew the taxsaver ticket?

You must be fairly close to your workplace if Leap comes into the equation for saving you money, do you never ever use the taxsaver ticket at weekends or nitelinks/airport?

Thought you couldn't use taxsaver (at least monthly tickets) on nitelinks or airport services?

markpb

Vahevala wrote: »

Thought you couldn't use taxsaver (at least monthly tickets) on nitelinks or airport services?

Annual tickets are definitely valid on both, not sure about monthly. There's no difference between taxsaver and normal tickets, they look and act identically.

bridgepeople

markpb wrote: »

Annual tickets are definitely valid on both, not sure about monthly. There's no difference between taxsaver and normal tickets, they look and act identically.

Monthly tickets are also valid for both.

Victor

They have slightly different validity.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/Fares--Tickets/Tickets/2-Journey-Daily-Weekly/

Travelwide Adult Monthly €112.00
Valid for unlimited travel for 1 calendar month
Valid on Dublin Bus scheduled services including Airlink and Xpresso (excluding Nitelink, Tours, Special Events and Private Contract services)
CIE photo ID required

Travelwide Adult Annual €1,120.00
Valid for unlimited travel for 12 consecutive months
Valid on Dublin Bus scheduled services including Airlink, Xpresso and Nitelink (excluding Tours, Special Events and Private Contract services)
CIE photo ID required

Vahevala

The price of the annual tickets are outrageous

Losty Dublin

Vahevala wrote: »

The price of the annual tickets are outrageous

Annual is €1,120 which is a lot to shell out. For most of us, the weekly deduction from source of the taxsaver is what does makes it worthwhile

lil5

schemingbohemia wrote: »

That 10% would really be 5% if you're on the higher rate of tax or 7% on the lower. Do you mind me asking how you'll get to work if you don't renew the taxsaver ticket?

Avail of the 'cycle to work'-scheme and Leap or T90's. Look for reasonable priced car park rental close to work.

schemingbohemia wrote: »

... do you never ever use the taxsaver ticket at weekends or nitelinks/airport?

Weekends - No.
Nitelinks - Don't use (Rarely go out in CC)
Airport - Aircoach or airport car park