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Seoul transit card: pay per ride or buy a pass?

Seoul's Climate Card pass gives unlimited subway and bus rides for 1 to 7 days. Whether it beats a normal T-money card depends on how much you ride. Tell us your plans and we'll work it out.

Fares and pass rules checked on 14 Oct 2026 against Seoul city and T-money pages

Count a subway ride plus a bus transfer as one journey.

Myeongdong to Gyeongbokgung is a short hop; Hongdae to Gangnam is roughly 20 km.

Adult fares paid by card. We use the subway fare for each journey; a bus-only journey is ₩50 cheaper. Distances are rough. The fare is set by the total distance of each journey, including transfers.

How pass days are counted
04:00 12:00 18:00 00:00 04:00 Mon Tue Wed before you load it Loaded at 18:00 Not covered: load a new pass in the morning Day 1 of 2Day 2 of 2, until the last train

Example: a 2-day pass loaded at 18:00 on Monday. Passes run on calendar days, from 04:00 on the day you load them until the last train of the final day, so a pass loaded in the evening loses most of its first day.

What the Climate Card pass covers

Covered

  • Subway lines within Seoul, including AREX between Seoul Station and Gimpo Airport
  • Riding to Incheon Airport (you can get off at T1 or T2, but not board there)
  • Seoul city and village buses, including night buses

Not covered

  • Boarding AREX at Incheon Airport, so not your ride into the city
  • Shinbundang Line and GTX
  • Subway stations outside Seoul, e.g. Suwon, Incheon city or Bundang
  • Red express buses, airport buses and buses from Gyeonggi or Incheon
  • Taxis, Ttareungyi bikes and the Han River Bus

Pass prices

PassPricePer dayPays off at
1-day₩5,000₩5,0003.2 journeys a day
2-day₩8,000₩4,0002.6 journeys a day
3-day₩10,000₩3,3332.2 journeys a day
5-day₩15,000₩3,0001.9 journeys a day
7-day₩20,000₩2,8571.8 journeys a day

Plus ₩3,000 for the card itself. "Pays off at" compares with ₩1,550 short journeys on T-money.

Things worth knowing

Passes run on calendar days

Each pass runs on calendar days from the day you load it: from 04:00 to the last train on the final day. A 1-day pass loaded at 6 pm still ends that night.

No loading in advance

You can't load a pass in advance. Load the next pass on the day you want it to start.

Where to buy the card and passes

Buy the card (₩3,000) and load passes at the newer ticket machines in Seoul Metro Line 1–8 stations, which take foreign Visa and Mastercard cards (about 3.7% fee). Convenience stores near stations and the Myeongdong and Seoul Tourism Plaza tourist information centres sell them too.

Leaving Seoul by subway

Get off at a station outside Seoul and you pay the full fare from where you boarded.

How T-money fares work

The subway costs ₩1,550 for the first 10 km, plus ₩100 for every 5 km after that (every 8 km beyond 50 km). Blue and green city buses cost ₩1,500. Transfer within 30 minutes (60 minutes from 21:00 to 07:00) and the trip counts as one journey, charged by total distance. Tap your card when you get off the bus too.

Topping up T-money

Top up with Korean won cash at convenience stores or subway machines. Don't count on a foreign credit card for this.

Using T-money outside Seoul

Works on buses, subways and many taxis across Korea, not only in Seoul.

Getting your balance back

Get leftover balance back at a convenience store when you leave (₩500 fee). The card price is not refunded.

Single-journey tickets

Station machines also sell one-trip tickets for the normal fare plus ₩100, with a ₩500 deposit you get back from a refund machine at the end. No transfer discount, so they only make sense for one or two rides.

Other cards you'll see

WOWPASS. A prepaid payment card for visitors that also works as a T-money card. The first card costs ₩5,000, and its T-money balance is topped up separately from the payment balance. Worth it if you also want to pay in shops without using a foreign card.

TMONEY TRAVEL CARD. A ₩4,000 T-money card with partner discounts for visitors, sold at Incheon Airport and convenience stores. It works exactly like a normal T-money card for fares.

Sources

Last checked 14 Oct 2026.