Received Taxsaver Leap card for first time, what next?

Blanco100

Received my taxsaver ticket in the post late last week. Has my photo on it etc...

Its for monthly point to point rail (midlands to heuston station) with additional LUAS to connolly station.

What do I need to do now? Will the employer have preloaded the credit onto this? I know the cost will come out of my wages on tuesday.

Is there anything I need to do other than use it at the rail entrance/exit to tag on and off? My station of departure for instance has no tag on facility but obviously Heuston has a tag off facility.

Also do i need to tag on and tag off the LUAS or is it simply enough to have my taxsaver photo leapcard in my hand to show anyone who may ask?

Sorry for the really basic questions

thomasj

Blanco100 wrote:

What do I need to do now? Will the employer have preloaded the credit onto this? I know the cost will come out of my wages on tuesday.

There's no credit on it. Your ticket is simply preloaded on it.

The way it works is the system checks have you a valid ticket, if not then it goes after your credit.

You can put credit on your leap card if you want and you can then use this credit on Dublin bus/dart/commuter etc

Blanco100

thomasj wrote: »

There's no credit on it. Your ticket is simply preloaded on it.

The way it works is the system checks have you a valid ticket, if not then it goes after your credit.

You can put credit on your leap card if you want and you can then use this credit on Dublin bus/dart/commuter etc

But I filled out a form specifying the ticket I wanted, that amount is coming out of my pay this month (i'll see the deduction in my payslip tomorrow). So the ticket is paid for.

So should i be able to proceed tomorrow and make my commute with this ticket as if its my usual monthly paper ticket?

punisher5112

Blanco100 wrote: »

But I filled out a form specifying the ticket I wanted, that amount is coming out of my pay this month (i'll see the deduction in my payslip tomorrow). So the ticket is paid for.

So should i be able to proceed tomorrow and make my commute with this ticket as if its my usual monthly paper ticket?

Tag on/off on each journey and away you go.

thomasj

Blanco100 wrote:

Is there anything I need to do other than use it at the rail entrance/exit to tag on and off? My station of departure for instance has no tag on facility but obviously Heuston has a tag off facility.

You need to validate your leap card. To do this, you can validate it online by downloading the leap card app turn on NFC and then follow instructions

thomasj

All you paid for is the use of the ticket there's no credit involved here.

And you don't need credit in this case as the ticket is on your leap card and covers the journey.

Careful_now!

With the monthly tax saver you need to collect the product on or after the 1st of the month or the leap card won't be valid. You can collect the product by downloading the app and holding your leap card against the phone for a couple of seconds, or by going into a payphone outlet and they can do it there

LXFlyer

Careful_now! wrote: »

With the monthly tax saver you need to collect the product on or after the 1st of the month or the leap card won't be valid. You can collect the product by downloading the app and holding your leap card against the phone for a couple of seconds, or by going into a payphone outlet and they can do it there

If it is a rail ticket (as it is in this case) they will automatically download new tickets by touching the live terminals as they tag on/off at the railway station.

No need to go near payzone agents or use the app.

Careful_now!

lxflyer wrote: »

If it is a rail ticket (as it is in this case) they will automatically download new tickets by touching the live terminals as they tag on/off at the railway station.

No need to go near payzone agents or use the app.

Didn't know that.
Thanks for the info

markpb

Careful_now! wrote: »

With the monthly tax saver you need to collect the product on or after the 1st of the month or the leap card won't be valid.

The ticket may actually be loaded much earlier, possibly as far back as the 20th of the previous month. You won't be aware of this at all, it just happens silently. Tag on occasionally (if you're a Luas customer) to keep it up to date.

If you're not confident, download the android Leap Card app, it will tell you what tickets are on your card. There's no iPhone version though because of a restriction in place by apple.

thomasj

lxflyer wrote:

If it is a rail ticket (as it is in this case) they will automatically download new tickets by touching the live terminals as they tag on/off at the railway station.

lxflyer wrote:

If it is a rail ticket (as it is in this case) they will automatically download new tickets by touching the live terminals as they tag on/off at the railway station.

Didn't know that , you learn something new everyday.

The OP did say they haven't got the facilities to tag on at their starting point.

Blanco100

thomasj wrote: »

You need to validate your leap card. To do this, you can validate it online by downloading the leap card app turn on NFC and then follow instructions

ive done this now and ive seen my ticket has been loaded.

my departure station has no tag on option, but dublin heuston has a tag off terminal will this have any effect? in essence will i be tagging on leaving heuston?

will this have an effect on my ticket

thomasj

Blanco100 wrote:

my departure station has no tag on option, but dublin heuston has a tag off terminal will this have any effect? in essence will i be tagging on leaving heuston?

It will have no effect , you have a valid ticket.

If any inspectors get on explain that you haven't got the facility to tag on at your departure point, they should see the ticket on their readers.

Tow

Just beware: If you have two tickets on a Leap Card, it is beyond the comprehension of the Luas inspectors.

They will start to write you a ticket until:
A) Point this out to them and have a argument.
and
They spending 5 minutes trying to use their crap ticket readers with limited display and under stand the different tickets and thair start and finish dates.

At which point they will grunt, hand back your card and walkaway.

Blanco100

Tow wrote: »

Just beware: If you have two tickets on a Leap Card, it is beyond the comprehension of the Luas inspectors.

They will start to write you a ticket until:
A) Point this out to them and have a argument.
and
They spending 5 minutes trying to use their crap ticket readers with limited display and under stand the different tickets and thair start and finish dates.

At which point they will grunt, hand back your card and walkaway.

My ticket is from tullamore to dublin connolly (tullamore train station to heuston and my ticket includes the extra 43euro per month luas option to take me to connolly).

Do i still tag on at the luas? or do i need to seeing as this is the pre determined journey?

are you allowed progress beyond connolly to spencer dock?

LXFlyer

Yes you tag on and off on the LUAS as well as the barriers at Heuston for the train.

You can use the LUAS as far as Connolly or George's Dock and no further than that.

LXFlyer

Tow wrote: »

Just beware: If you have two tickets on a Leap Card, it is beyond the comprehension of the Luas inspectors.

They will start to write you a ticket until:
A) Point this out to them and have a argument.
and
They spending 5 minutes trying to use their crap ticket readers with limited display and under stand the different tickets and thair start and finish dates.

At which point they will grunt, hand back your card and walkaway.

The OP doesn't have two tickets - she has a rail ticket with Dublin City Centre add on included in it which covers the LUAS.

Tow

lxflyer wrote: »

The OP doesn't have two tickets - she has a rail ticket with Dublin City Centre add on included in it which covers the LUAS.

Point still holds, as you can have two tickets loaded for a period when tickets are renewed.

Tow

Blanco100 wrote: »

My ticket is from tullamore to dublin connolly (tullamore train station to heuston and my ticket includes the extra 43euro per month luas option to take me to connolly).

Do i still tag on at the luas? or do i need to seeing as this is the pre determined journey?

are you allowed progress beyond connolly to spencer dock?

Once there is a ticket loaded on the card, there is no need to tag on/off. The problem arises with a new card, as there maybe no ticket on it. The tag on/off process (or just reading the card in a ticket machine) will load any available tickets for the card.

If the ticket is just valid until Connolly you will need to walk or get a valid ticket for the rest of the journey.

LXFlyer

Tow wrote: »

Once there is a ticket loaded on the card, there is no need to tag on/off. The problem arises with a new card, as there maybe no ticket on it. The tag on/off process (or just reading the card in a ticket machine) will load any available tickets for the card.

If the ticket is just valid until Connolly you will need to walk or get a valid ticket for the rest of the journey.

Actually are supposed to tag on and tag off every time you use the LUAS or the railway - that validates the ticket.

It also gives usage statistics for transport planning.

Clearly in the OP's case the only tagging on/off of rail element will happen at the barriers at Heuston, but they certainly should tag on and off on the LUAS.

_Kaiser_

As an observation from someone who has never used Leap, all this sounds like s mess and completely unintuative - don't tag on but do tag off, check dates of possibly overlapping tickets, explain the story each time to inspectors who don't know the products....

Even after several years in operation, there's still a LONG way to go it seems!

markpb

It's not as bad as it sounds. Here's how it works for Irish Rail:

1. Order ticket through your employer
2. Receive ticket
3. Tag on before each trip by going through the gate. If there's no gate, don't worry about it.
4. Tag off if you pass through a gate. If there's no gate, don't worry about it.

And here's how it works for Dublin Bus:

1. Order ticket through your employer
2. Receive ticket
3. Tag on before each trip by using either validator

And last but not least, Luas:

1. Order ticket through your employer
2. Receive ticket
3. Tag on occasionally
4. Tag off if you feel like it

I've never heard of having to validate a card or ticket and I've never heard of anyone having problems with multiple tickets. There will always be people and scenarios that cause a very small number of problems, that's unavoidable but they're very much edge cases.

_Kaiser_

markpb wrote: »

It's not as bad as it sounds. Here's how it works for Irish Rail:

1. Order ticket through your employer
2. Receive ticket
3. Tag on before each trip by going through the gate. If there's no gate, don't worry about it.
4. Tag off if you pass through a gate. If there's no gate, don't worry about it.

And here's how it works for Dublin Bus:

1. Order ticket through your employer
2. Receive ticket
3. Tag on before each trip by using either validator

And last but not least, Luas:

1. Order ticket through your employer
2. Receive ticket
3. Tag on occasionally
4. Tag off if you feel like it

I've never heard of having to validate a card or ticket and I've never heard of anyone having problems with multiple tickets. There will always be people and scenarios that cause a very small number of problems, that's unavoidable but they're very much edge cases.

All of which could be simplified by removing the need to tag on/off at all for that class of ticket. Inspector scans it and it says "TAXSAVER [1/7/17-30/6/18]" or whatever and that's it.

Seems a lot more straightforward, especially if using multiple modes

markpb

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

All of which could be simplified by removing the need to tag on/off at all for that class of ticket. Inspector scans it and it says "TAXSAVER [1/7/17-30/6/18]" or whatever and that's it.

Seems a lot more straightforward, especially if using multiple modes

Dublin Bus customers can't tag off.

Irish Rail customers don't need to tag off, it just happens if/when the exit using a gate so there's nothing extra for people to do there.

Luas customers are supposed to tag on and off but no one cares if they do either. The only requirement for people with monthly tickets is that they tag on occasionally to pick up the next month's ticket. My wife almost never tags on/off and hers continues to work when ticket checked.

LXFlyer

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

As an observation from someone who has never used Leap, all this sounds like s mess and completely unintuative - don't tag on but do tag off, check dates of possibly overlapping tickets, explain the story each time to inspectors who don't know the products....

Even after several years in operation, there's still a LONG way to go it seems!

The only thing people need to remember is:

On buses - tag on only
On trams & trains - tag on and tag off (except where the station has no facilities to do so)

That is it.

Anything else is over complicating things.

sharper

markpb wrote: »

And here's how it works for Dublin Bus:

1. Order ticket through your employer
2. Receive ticket
3. Tag on before each trip by using either validator

Dublin bus validators aren't "online" so you need to load up the ticket first by doing a balance check at a shop that handles leap cards or now through the app on your phone.

LXFlyer

Tagging on and off is important as it gives usage information to transport planners.

_Kaiser_

lxflyer wrote: »

Tagging on and off is important as it gives usage information to transport planners.

That's not really relevant to the user/usage though. My point is that it should be as consistent and hassle-free as possible for the end user if we are to encourage additional people onto the services.

Yes Leap is a valuable step forward in that regard, but it seems that (as usual in Ireland) it's being implemented in a half-assed way.

No doubt we can blame the operators or the regulators for that, but regardless of who is at fault, it just makes it more unattractive to the potential new user.

"Buy ticket for x days to be used in y zone. Doesn't matter what mode of transport is used. Tap when boarding (none of this tag off nonsense I've seen at LUAS stops with the platform jammed). Ticket - if scanned - reflects that.. no issue"

That's where we need to be.. simple with as minimal steps required.

Tow

lxflyer wrote: »

Tagging on and off is important as it gives usage information to transport planners.

My understanding is the RPA does not release the information to the operators, as it is protected under the Data Protection Acts. Which is why you regularly see people taking surveys on where people got on and got off.

LXFlyer

Tow wrote: »

My understanding is the RPA does not release the information to the operators, as it is protected under the Data Protection Acts. Which is why you regularly see people taking surveys on where people got on and got off.

The RPA/NTA are responsible for specifying the service levels themselves!

TheShow

you do need to validate the leap card if its a dublin bus ticket. silly process really. you have to go to a payzone agent and they swipe the card which activates the ticket.