LEAP CARD - Updated Summary of Cards / Functionality Available - August 2015

thelad95 · 03-11-2015 3:40pm

devnull wrote: »

It's €1 off the next journey.

Ohh right silly me :rolleyes:

billyhead · 07-11-2015 12:58pm

Is the credit that a leap card holder adds to their leap card at one of those vending machines at a dart station valid for use on Dublin Bus or must you purchase credit in an agent such as a shop to use on Dublin bus. Sorry it its stupid question but I don't want to purchase credit at the vending machine at the train station to load onto my annual irish rail travel pass which expires next year when I cant use it on Dublin bus

Slippin Jimmy · 07-11-2015 1:07pm

billyhead wrote: »

Is the credit that a leap card holder adds to their leap card at one of those vending machines at a dart station valid for use on Dublin Bus or must you purchase credit in an agent such as a shop to use on Dublin bus. Sorry it its stupid question but I don't want to purchase credit at the vending machine at the train station to load onto my annual irish rail travel pass which expires next year when I cant use it on Dublin bus

You can use credit at a vending machine for travel on any service.

bg07 · 17-11-2015 8:18pm

The leap card website has been updated, much better than it was but still not the easiest website to find what you need.

The history section is still as before. They should make a bigger effort to demonstrate where leap 90 or the daily cap was applied etc. Unless you're very familiar with how the fares work it is fairly cryptic as to how the values are calculated as demonstrated by the queries on this site.

Awaaf · 17-11-2015 8:20pm

Can you add Pay as you go credit to annual leap cards? Mine is Bus and DART only but a few quid for the occasional Luas trip would be handy. I can't seem to register it on my account so maybe not I guess.

LXFlyer · 17-11-2015 8:29pm

Awaaf wrote: »

Can you add Pay as you go credit to annual leap cards? Mine is Bus and DART only but a few quid for the occasional Luas trip would be handy. I can't seem to register it on my account so maybe not I guess.

You don't have "an annual LEAP card" - you have a LEAP card with an annual ticket loaded onto it. A LEAP card is just that, a card.

Read the first post of this thread and you will see that yes you can use your card either in "pay-as-you-go" mode (once you load cash onto it) or you can use the ticket depending upon what you want to do.

Awaaf · 17-11-2015 8:40pm

lxflyer wrote: »

You don't have "an annual LEAP card" - you have a LEAP card with an annual ticket loaded onto it. A LEAP card is just that, a card.

Read the first post of this thread and you will see that yes you can use your card either in "pay-as-you-go" mode (once you load cash onto it) or you can use the ticket depending upon what you want to do.

Cheers Lx and thanks once again for the great summary. I was sure that what you say is correct.

I am still a bit confused about why I can't register the Leap Card which I got from my employer (with the annual Bus/DART ticket) so as to enable auto topup. Maybe it is because the online account is in my spouses name? Do I need one in my own name? My previous e-purse leapcard was registered under his login (an bank account for auto-topup) no problem.

Thanks again!

ZeroThreat · 17-11-2015 11:05pm

There seems to be some sort of problem with topping up credit on the website right now. When I enter my CC details and hit the 'make payment button' I just get a screen with a payzone logo and the message "The page cannot be found - The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. "

I was trying to top up last night as well but the site was down for maintenance so I couldn't even log in.

Edit : Never mind, it appears to work now that I switched browser from Firefox to Chrome.

crazy 88 · 19-11-2015 10:20am

Apologies if this was answered already, but why do taxsaver Leap cards need to be tagged on/off and do they plan to change this? I have been on paper taxsaver tickets up to now and always valued the convenience of not having to do so, especially at rush hour

tobsey · 19-11-2015 11:43am

danmci wrote: »

Apologies if this was answered already, but why do taxsaver Leap cards need to be tagged on/off and do they plan to change this? I have been on paper taxsaver tickets up to now and always valued the convenience of not having to do so, especially at rush hour

If it's a Luas only ticket I think it's for reporting purposes so that they can keep track of volumes of users.

However I got a combined Dublin Bus/Luas ticket and I realised that the Luas tag on machine was taking money from my purse on it rather than validating the ticket. Dublin Bus gave me a refund for the credit used and told me not to tag on the Luas. I used to see two ticket checkers a week on the Luas but since I got the tax saver I haven't seen one! Dublin Bus told me they'll see the ticket with their handhelds so it won't be a problem that I didn't tag on.

Victor · 20-11-2015 12:59am

danmci wrote: »

Apologies if this was answered already, but why do taxsaver Leap cards need to be tagged on/off and do they plan to change this? I have been on paper taxsaver tickets up to now and always valued the convenience of not having to do so, especially at rush hour

Leap Card isn't a ticket. The electronic token on the Leap Card is the ticket. That token has to be loaded on to the Leap Card. If you get monthly tickets, you need to make sure that the ticket is loaded onto the card. Tagging-on before a journey makes sure that your ticket is up to date.

There are other reasons, like tracking total Luas usage.

tobsey wrote: »

However I got a combined Dublin Bus/Luas ticket and I realised that the Luas tag on machine was taking money from my purse on it rather than validating the ticket. Dublin Bus gave me a refund for the credit used and told me not to tag on the Luas.

That sounds like someone making things up on the spot. I would ask for that in writing. Are you sure you have a combined Dublin Bus/Luas ticket?

tobsey · 20-11-2015 10:54am

Victor wrote: »

That sounds like someone making things up on the spot. I would ask for that in writing. Are you sure you have a combined Dublin Bus/Luas ticket?

Yes I definitely do. It appears as such on the Dublin Bus validators when I tag on and also on the leapcard.ie site.

I think there's a bug in their system because I think it was working for me originally. I live in Swords so I sometimes use the Swords Express. I loaded €50 onto the leap card at a Luas terminal one week into the first monthly ticket I had. I then used that to purchase a ten journey ticket for Swords Express for €35. This left me with €15 balance on the card and then one time I tagged onto the Luas I noticed it was taking from the purse. I logged on and found that there were a number of deductions for the Luas, but only after I bought the Swords Express ticket. I'm nearly certain I had tagged on the Luas the previous week before buying the ticket but I can't be certain.

I was in touch with Luas, Leap and Dublin Bus helplines. Luas and Leap said the card was issued by Dublin Bus so it was their problem. The guy in Dublin Bus basically said it wasn't working properly and he'd arrange a refund. He asked me to print out the statement from Leapcard.ie and bring it to him. He marked the transactions that I shouldn't have been charged for and then brought me up to the cash desk in the O'Connell Street head office. The cash desk gave me the refund but even they were surprised they were doing so because it was Luas that took the money. They gave it to me anyway because the guy from their helpline said to.

I'm pretty sure it's a bug in that the Luas tag-on terminals are only seeing the latest ticket, rather than all tickets, and therefore saw the Swords Express ticket (or no ticket at all) and said it wasn't valid for travel on the Luas and so deducted the money from the purse.

There are probably very few if any other people loading private operator tickets onto cards with taxsaver tickets so maybe it hasn't come up before.

Victor · 20-11-2015 8:08pm

Have you used the card on Luas since the refund?

magicbastarder · 20-11-2015 8:16pm

tobsey wrote: »

Dublin Bus gave me a refund for the credit used and told me not to tag on the Luas.

a good few months ago, luas employees were insisting you need to tag on even if you've a prepaid ticket (i assume to track passenger numbers). they dropped that requirement after a month or so.

tobsey · 20-11-2015 10:10pm

Victor wrote: »

Have you used the card on Luas since the refund?

No. Didn't want to risk it taking off more credit because I'm not going to go chasing a refund of 1.50 or whatever the fair would be. As I said above I used to see lots of inspectors but haven't seen one in a month I'd say.

Carawaystick · 21-11-2015 11:25pm

tobsey wrote: »

I was in touch with Luas, Leap and Dublin Bus helplines. Luas and Leap said the card was issued by Dublin Bus so it was their problem.

If Leap/NTA won't fess up to their own issues at this stage, the ITS is broken.

ntaWebsite wrote:

In broad terms, the Authority’s statutory functions can be summarised as follows:

Nationally (including the Greater Dublin Area)

Procure public transport services by means of public transport services contracts;
Provide integrated ticketing, fares and public transport information;
Develop an integrated, accessible public transport network;

I'd write to Anne Graham and give out. That's what we pay her the big bucks for .

traco · 22-11-2015 5:04pm

Just got leapcards for the kids - thought it would be handier than looking for change all the time for the bus. They only use buses randomly as they walk to school etc so its only for trips to town or such things.

Anyway - I've been monitoring it and using it and I have to say its a poor system. 10 Years ago in Hong Kong when out regulalry on business I used the Octopuss card and assumed the leap would be similar. Tag on and off, buy goods etc and all at exact prices.

The biggest issue I see is that the top up has to be validated at a Dart or Payzone shop. Not such an issue if you are taking the Dart but my oldest was refused on the bus even though the card had been credited but hadn't been validated or whatever in a Payzone shop, Surely in this day and age that is totally ridiculous.

The other issue is the rate on the bus, it seems that using the car its now a flat €2.60 or else they are not tagging off or something whereas paying with cash it was €1.20

LXFlyer · 22-11-2015 5:28pm

traco wrote: »

Just got leapcards for the kids - thought it would be handier than looking for change all the time for the bus. They only use buses randomly as they walk to school etc so its only for trips to town or such things.

Anyway - I've been monitoring it and using it and I have to say its a poor system. 10 Years ago in Hong Kong when out regulalry on business I used the Octopuss card and assumed the leap would be similar. Tag on and off, buy goods etc and all at exact prices.

The biggest issue I see is that the top up has to be validated at a Dart or Payzone shop. Not such an issue if you are taking the Dart but my oldest was refused on the bus even though the card had been credited but hadn't been validated or whatever in a Payzone shop, Surely in this day and age that is totally ridiculous.

The other issue is the rate on the bus, it seems that using the car its now a flat €2.60 or else they are not tagging off or something whereas paying with cash it was €1.20

The travel credit has to physically get onto the card - there is no other way to do it than touching a "live" terminal such as one at a Payzone agent or at a DART/LUAS stop. The ticket machines on the buses are not live as they do not have sufficient memory space to do so.

It sounds to me like you have got your children adult leap cards, rather than child versions? The €2.60 fare is the adult fare that applies if you use the righthand validator?

Child LEAP cards details are here:
https://www.childleapcard.ie/

With child fares, there are several options on Dublin Bus:
* Schoolchild fare (€0.75) - use righthand validator (applies up to 19:00 Mon-Fri and 13:30 on Saturdays)

Outside of these hours, the following fares apply and different rules:
* Travel 1-7 stages - (€0.90) - use driver's ticket machine

* Over 7 stages (€1.10) - use righthand validator

Special Child fares apply in the following circumstances:
* Xpresso buses - special fare of €1.20 applies via righthand validator

* Route 90 - Special fare of €0.90 applies via righthand validator

* City Centre fare - Special fare of €0.60 applies via driver's ticket machine

AlekSmart · 22-11-2015 11:26pm

traco wrote: »

Just got leapcards for the kids - thought it would be handier than looking for change all the time for the bus. They only use buses randomly as they walk to school etc so its only for trips to town or such things.

Anyway - I've been monitoring it and using it and I have to say its a poor system. 10 Years ago in Hong Kong when out regulalry on business I used the Octopuss card and assumed the leap would be similar. Tag on and off, buy goods etc and all at exact prices.

The biggest issue I see is that the top up has to be validated at a Dart or Payzone shop. Not such an issue if you are taking the Dart but my oldest was refused on the bus even though the card had been credited but hadn't been validated or whatever in a Payzone shop, Surely in this day and age that is totally ridiculous.

The other issue is the rate on the bus, it seems that using the car its now a flat €2.60 or else they are not tagging off or something whereas paying with cash it was €1.20

If the card is being debited by €2.60 then it's an ADULT Leapcard (Dark Green)
The Child Leapcard (Pale Green) will default to either 75c (School-hours) or €1.10 (outside School-hours)

I believe,Traco,that you are being somewhat negative about the benefits of Leapcard,and in particular Childleapcard.

Leap is far from being a "Poor System",as given it's admittledly poorly handled introduction,it has matured very well indeed.

I suggest a Daily Bus Only Cap of €2.50 represents great value.

The ready availability of individual 75c Flat-Fare Bus Journeys up until 1900 on weekdays for a young person up to 19 years old is also fantastic value.

The issues raised over "Validation or whatever" are short circuited somewhat by the knowledge that the entire Load-Location and Collection process is FULLY explained in Leapcard publicity.

Further,as part of the online top-up process,one must actually choose the location in advance of payment,with specific notices regarding the NON Availability of collection on Dublin Bus.

Even this mild inconvenience can be circumvented by choosing to enable auto top-up,thereby ensuring that a Leapcard will always be useable.

Leap Cards can also be Topped-Up online:

1.Go to www.leapcard.ie.
2.Click 'Top-Up'.
3.Enter your card number.
4.Select Top-Up amount and load location.
5.Make your payment by credit/debit card.
6.Collect your Top-Up at your nominated Load Location.

Leapcard.ie Homepage
https://www.leapcard.ie/en/PageSetting/ContentViewer.aspx?Val...

In this day & age with vast amounts of information freely available at the click of a button,it is somewhat unfair not to avail of the opportunity to study it,in advance of running the entire system down.

Kintarō Hattori · 25-11-2015 2:42pm

Folks, silly question but I use the card for irish rail and the Luas. Tonight I need to take a Dublin bus. Do I put the card on the machine by the driver and tell him where I'm going on use it on the machine to the right as you enter the bus? Presumably if it's the latter I also need to tag off?

Many thanks.

LXFlyer · 25-11-2015 3:06pm

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Folks, silly question but I use the card for irish rail and the Luas. Tonight I need to take a Dublin bus. Do I put the card on the machine by the driver and tell him where I'm going on use it on the machine to the right as you enter the bus? Presumably if it's the latter I also need to tag off?

Many thanks.

Different fares apply depending on where you are going - you tag on only on the bus - no tag off.

Best to go to the driver and tell him where you are going and let him deduct the appropriate fare.

ZeroThreat · 26-11-2015 12:07am

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

Folks, silly question but I use the card for irish rail and the Luas. Tonight I need to take a Dublin bus. Do I put the card on the machine by the driver and tell him where I'm going on use it on the machine to the right as you enter the bus? Presumably if it's the latter I also need to tag off?

Many thanks.

I think using it on the machine to the right as you enter deducts the maximum fare. A mistake I made the first time I used a leap card on the bus..

Tar.Aldarion · 01-12-2015 10:22pm

If I am paying for somebody else with my leap card too, does it cost the leap fare or cash fare?

Victor · 01-12-2015 11:16pm

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

If I am paying for somebody else with my leap card too, does it cost the leap fare or cash fare?

Leap fare.

Sean9015 · 02-12-2015 8:45am

Is there a bug on the Leapcard website? If I try to log in using Chrome, I get a continual rejection of my user details, but if I use IE it works! Even stranger, the forgotten password link works from Chrome, resetting the password works in Chrome, but when it comes to logging in it again rejects the details.

Victor · 02-12-2015 11:05am

Drop customer support an email.

bk · 02-12-2015 2:44pm

AlekSmart wrote: »

Leap is far from being a "Poor System",as given it's admittledly poorly handled introduction,it has matured very well indeed.

I would argue that while Leap has certainly improved and matured, it is still relatively a poor system that has an awful lot of improving to do and is about 5 to 10 years behind similar systems in other countries.

The biggest issue continues to be the need to very slowly interact with the driver for the majority of fares. We really need to move to either a flat fare or tag-on/tag-off now.

But that isn't the only problem.

The fact that you can't apply online top-ups on buses is pretty stupid. This was something you can do on buses in Atlanta since 2006, almost 10 years ago! No excuse, DB/NTA need to install new ticket machines now that can support this and other "advanced" features.

The fact that auto-topup needs to take €40 of your money is way too much. Plus the entire setup and admin of auto-topup is incredibly brain dead. The fact that you can only pay for it by direct debit and not by credit or debit card pre-auth is pretty stupid. And god help you if the direct debit doesn't go through. Your card gets blocked and you have to fill in a form with your bank details and send it and your card to them to get it unlocked! Also there is no way to update your direct debit details online!

All completely crazy for any sort of modern payment system. This is all sort of stuff I would have expected 10 years ago, not today.

Fortunately things are improving, the new NFC app which will allow you check the balance of your card and top-up directly looks great and will hopefully help with some of these issues.

And I'm also hoping contact-less EMV support will follow shortly.

dobsdave · 17-12-2015 3:38pm

Infrequent leapcard user, card is empty.
If I topup online now, can I use the credit later this evening or should I just topup at the station?

Thanks

Slippin Jimmy · 17-12-2015 4:52pm

Top up at the station if you are going to use it this evening. Online top ups are not available until tomorrow morning.

leecurlywurly · 17-12-2015 10:06pm

Hi,

Having recently moved to Ashbourne and now use buses. The Bus Eireann & Leap card website offer poor information on capping from Ashbourne.

I am getting the bus tomorrow and need to know what tickets to get;

- Ashbourne to Santry
- Santry to City Centre
- Dublin City to Ashbourne

Normally I buy Red 24hour ticket for work commute - will these cover Dublin buses?

If not, is it one way tickets for all buses tomorrow and presumably there will be a cap at some stage?

Thanks!

Carawaystick · 17-12-2015 11:04pm

I don't think there's any capping from Bus Éirean to Dublin bus, so they'd all be single leap fare journeys

Slippin Jimmy · 18-12-2015 5:24am

There is no capping as the above poster has said. It will be separate journeys. You can also get a 7 day red zone ticket. Depending on how much you use it it may work out cheaper.

LXFlyer · 18-12-2015 7:52am

You might be better getting a day return to Dublin online on the BE website - it's discounted and can be cheaper than two LEAP singles.

Capping only applies to Dublin Bus, LUAS and Irish Rail short hop trips, not on BE.

GM228 · 18-12-2015 11:37am

Is ePurse now live on the Cork-Cobh/Midleton line? Will be down that way in a few weeks and may use it.

Post #1 still shows as unavailable but I'm almost certain that I saw a Tweet recently from IE that it was now live but can't find it, the Leap site still shows it as coming soon.

Dravokivich · 18-12-2015 11:43am

Has been for almost a month now. NTA tend to be rather quiet about announcing these things.

GM228 · 18-12-2015 11:45am

Dravokivich wrote: »

Has been for almost a month now. NTA tend to be rather quiet about announcing these things.

Thanks, surprised it hasn't been mentioned here - or perhaps it has and I missed it

LXFlyer · 18-12-2015 11:46am

GM228 wrote: »

Is ePurse now live on the Cork-Cobh/Midleton line? Will be down that way in a few weeks and may use it.

Post #1 still shows as unavailable but I'm almost certain that I saw a Tweet recently from IE that it was now live but can't find it, the Leap site still shows it as coming soon.

Give me a chance to update it - I do have a life to lead as well lol!!!

bg07 · 18-12-2015 6:56pm

The fares etc are on the Irish rail and leap card websites. Not clear if capping applies in cork though.

http://www.irishrail.ie/fares-and-tickets/cork-cobh-midleton

jcn50 · 05-01-2016 6:37pm

ZeroThreat wrote: »

Edit : Never mind, it appears to work now that I switched browser from Firefox to Chrome.

Thanks a lot!! I have been waiting for weekS for the customer support to come back to me because I had "Page not found" too...
I have just placed my order now

. I would say that they are losing a lot of sales because of this...

LeeroyJ. · 22-01-2016 3:17pm

Is asked about the official app (with top up and balance check via smartphone) on Twitter and they replied saying it is still in the works and will be released soon.

Slippin Jimmy · 22-01-2016 3:29pm

LeeroyJ. wrote: »

Is asked about the official app (with top up and balance check via smartphone) on Twitter and they replied saying it is still in the works and will be released soon.

I am on the app trial. I got an email the other day saying that it was finishing up soon and that I would be asked to provide feedback.

I presume they will be launching it soon.

maclek · 24-01-2016 9:42am

Slippin Jimmy wrote: »

I am on the app trial. I got an email the other day saying that it was finishing up soon and that I would be asked to provide feedback.

I presume they will be launching it soon.

I found this page: https://about.leapcard.ie/leap-top-up-app Spent a while looking for the damn app in the play store. Apparently it is still in beta? Doesn't mention that anywhere on the page!

Slippin Jimmy · 24-01-2016 10:58am

Yes the beta is coming to an end. I presume it won't be long before it is launched

LeeroyJ. · 25-01-2016 10:26am

Released

camz09 · 25-01-2016 10:35am

Anyone tried to top-up using the app and it won't update the balance? My card was debited, it's just pending now. Thought the top up would be instant

LeeroyJ. · 25-01-2016 11:46am

Same here, is pending but nothing happened with my leap card. Payment seemed successful and it went back to the balance screen without the balance applied.

Alun · 25-01-2016 12:05pm

Strange, I used it a couple of times during the beta and it updated no problem.

Slippin Jimmy · 25-01-2016 12:25pm

Did you scan the card again after the top up?

LeeroyJ. · 25-01-2016 2:09pm

Yes scanned it a couple of times but still the same amount as I had yesterday, I sent an email to leapcard support - hope theyll refund it or fix the issue with the balance.

camz09 · 25-01-2016 2:10pm

Yup, scanned it several times, still no updated balance.

LEAP CARD - Updated Summary of Cards / Functionality Available - August 2015

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