Dublin Bus monthly tickets v. Leap capping

tomfoolery60

Hi - I have recently starting using Dublin bus once again to commute and it I was wondering if someone more familar with the tickets would confirm that the Leap Card's weekly capping works out cheaper (in most cases) that either a one month travel pass or a 30 day rambler?

Travelwide Adult Monthly = €132.00
Rambler 30 Day Adult = €147.50

Weekly capping = €27.5*52/12 = €119.16

I think if I was taking the Airlink a few times and/or nightlink that might change it a small bit but for someone commuting daily to work from suburbs to city and taking bus at weekend for social/leisure am I correct in saying best value is to just top up the Leap and pay as I go, relying on the cap?

I am a little confused as to why monthly tickets are offered if they are much worse value than the cap so thought I would consult the wisdom of boards! Thanks.

ThunbergsAreGo

tomfoolery60 wrote: »

Hi - I have recently starting using Dublin bus once again to commute and it I was wondering if someone more familar with the tickets would confirm that the Leap Card's weekly capping works out cheaper (in most cases) that either a one month travel pass or a 30 day rambler?

Travelwide Adult Monthly = €132.00
Rambler 30 Day Adult = €147.50

Weekly capping = €27.5*52/12 = €119.16

I think if I was taking the Airlink a few times and/or nightlink that might change it a small bit but for someone commuting daily to work from suburbs to city and taking bus at weekend for social/leisure am I correct in saying best value is to just top up the Leap and pay as I go, relying on the cap?

I am a little confused as to why monthly tickets are offered if they are much worse value than the cap so thought I would consult the wisdom of boards! Thanks.

Can't you claim tax back on some of the monthlies? Bit of a saving there

tomfoolery60

naughtb4 wrote: »

Can't you claim tax back on some of the monthlies? Bit of a saving there

Sorry, you are right. I am hoping to move closer to work and not have to get a bus in the new year so I am not signing up to an annual pass. But the cheapest would of course be the TaxSaver through work as the yearly ticket would come out of my gross income!

Assuming not availing of TaxSaver is my calculation/reasoning correct? Thanks again

LXFlyer

Both monthly and annual passes can be purchased through the Taxsaver scheme, if but its down to your employer as to whether they will facilitate that.

Rambler tickets are designed for infrequent users - they facilitate non-consecutive days of use.

Really it's down to your particular circumstances. It would also depend upon whether you planned to use LUAS or Irish Rail services too, because if, for example in one particular week, you took just one trip on the LUAS, your LEAP weekly cap will move up to €40. That might make having a monthly bus ticket more economical, and using the LEAP epurse for anything else.

If you do decide to go with LEAP capping, you should avail of auto topup which negates the need to go near any shops to top the card up.

tomfoolery60

Yes I think it looks like lead with auto topup makes the most sense for me. Thanks for your help!

You are not correct that the cap moves to €40 if I were to take one luas journey - that would be a very illogical way of operating a cap.

The FAQ on leap card website states:

What happens if I use one transport operator regularly and then use another transport operator from time-to-time?

The system will cap your spend at the capping rate of the operator that you use regularly. Journeys that you take on the other operator are added separately until the Dublin Leap Cap kicks in.

etchyed

tomfoolery60 wrote: »

Hi - I have recently starting using Dublin bus once again to commute and it I was wondering if someone more familar with the tickets would confirm that the Leap Card's weekly capping works out cheaper (in most cases) that either a one month travel pass or a 30 day rambler?

Travelwide Adult Monthly = €132.00
Rambler 30 Day Adult = €147.50

Weekly capping = €27.5*52/12 = €119.16

I think if I was taking the Airlink a few times and/or nightlink that might change it a small bit but for someone commuting daily to work from suburbs to city and taking bus at weekend for social/leisure am I correct in saying best value is to just top up the Leap and pay as I go, relying on the cap?

I am a little confused as to why monthly tickets are offered if they are much worse value than the cap so thought I would consult the wisdom of boards! Thanks.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but surely if you're only commuting five days a week then it would make more sense to calculate the cost of a Rambler 30 Day Adult as ((52/6)*€147.50)/12 = €106.53.

If you use it more than twice a month on non-commute days then you're probably better off with capping, but if it's strictly for getting to work it looks to me like the Rambler is better value.