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So while researching and planning our travel itinerary, part of it was deciding if we should get T-money or the M-pass card.
To know a more detailed difference between the two - better go here the Official Site of Korea Tourism.
Deciding will actually depend on where you want to go, how do you plan to go there, and how many days are you planning to stay in South Korea. In our case, we spent 6 days in Korea and our mode of transportation there was mostly walking, train, little bus and cab rides. We used this site: https://www.smrt.co.kr/program/cyberStation/main2.jsp?lang=e to compute and get a rough estimate of fare we will be needing when riding the subway.
Getting the T-money was more practical on our end as we are mostly walking and our average rides per day was just 4-6 tops. The subway though was only until 12 MN so in two occasions when we realized it was already past 12 and we were still outside - we had no choice but to take the bus. It was a good thing too that our airbnb place was literally in front of a subway entrance so at times when we are feeling energetic, we just actually walk (underground) instead of riding the train.
In summary, I would highly recommend using T-money instead of the M-pass.
To know a more detailed difference between the two - better go here the Official Site of Korea Tourism.
Deciding will actually depend on where you want to go, how do you plan to go there, and how many days are you planning to stay in South Korea. In our case, we spent 6 days in Korea and our mode of transportation there was mostly walking, train, little bus and cab rides. We used this site: https://www.smrt.co.kr/program/cyberStation/main2.jsp?lang=e to compute and get a rough estimate of fare we will be needing when riding the subway.
In our 6 day journey, choosing T-Money we initially loaded 35,000 won which lasted for 5 days and on the 6th day - we reloaded another 15,000 won for the airport bus ride. Overall total we spent for the card is 54,000 won (around Php 2,200).
T-money
- Where you can purchase: at any Convenience store where T-money is available( common spots are 7-11, Ministop & GS25 convenience stores). Ours we bought at the 7-11 store at Incheon Airport.
- Cost: the card itself is 4,000 won. The cashier would ask you first to pay for the card and then after you can pay for the amount you want to reload it.
- Refundable: Yes but only the remaining load balance after the 500 won charge. However, you can keep the card and use it the next time you go to Korea :)
- Transfer Discount: Yes. During our stay, we noticed that some of transfers we made was actually free :)
- You can use the balance to purchase food and other stuff in convenience stores.
- Airport Bus: Yes
M-Pass
- Where you can purchase: Seoul Travel Information Centers located at the Incheon airport.
- Cost: A 4,500 deposit is required when purchasing; minimum is 10,000 won for a 1-day pass and maximum is 59,500 pass for a 7-day pass
- Refundable: Yes. 4,500 won deposit plus the remaining load balance after the 500 won charge.
- Discount: 10-20% discount to popular tourist spots
- You need to return the card upon refunding. So M-pass is a good option you don't have plans of going back.
- It can act as a T-money too so you can use the balance to purchase food and other stuff in convenience stores. Note that you can & need to reload a separate T-money balance should you wish to use the card to purchase stuff at convenience stores.
- It has an allotted 20 subway rides per day. After that, you can re-load T-money balance if you need to ride more than 20 on the subway (which I don't think is possible unless you get totally lost & went back and forth on the subway lines all day lol!)
Getting the T-money was more practical on our end as we are mostly walking and our average rides per day was just 4-6 tops. The subway though was only until 12 MN so in two occasions when we realized it was already past 12 and we were still outside - we had no choice but to take the bus. It was a good thing too that our airbnb place was literally in front of a subway entrance so at times when we are feeling energetic, we just actually walk (underground) instead of riding the train.
In summary, I would highly recommend using T-money instead of the M-pass.
HI, good writing for transportation in Korea. Here is more tips for you. In ICN(airport), you can purchase some good and reasonable transportation packages. First, there is 'express train and T-money card' package. With express train, you can go to the Seoul station easily and convenient and with T-money card, after tapping the value by machine, you can take all transportation in Korea. Also if you have many and heavy bags, you can take a taxi and it will be the second package. Last one is 'express train and EG sim card(phone card), so if you need a sim card in Korea, I recommend to buy this package. All packages has special deal so you can save your travel money. If you get more information about these, please visit to Travel center at B1 in ICN. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks jzhenying for this additional information :) I'll definitely consider them when I go back to Korea :)
ReplyDeleteCan a group of 3 travel together and share one mpass card or is it only for 1 person?
ReplyDeleteNo, each person should buy their own mpass card.
ReplyDeletesuper helpful, thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi! What kind of currency when you purchased things in korea? Do you use dollars? Won? Or do they accept peso? Thnx!
ReplyDeleteLyka - as you are in Korea, of course they only accept Korean Won as payment. However, if your question if they accept other currencies - No. You can either have your PHP or Dollar exchange to Won here in the Philippines, or once you land in the airport. Personally, I just withdraw money in the airport (lots of ATM machines that accept international cards) or use my credit card to purchase from stores.
DeleteDo you know if each person needs their own T-money card? or can we share between us 2. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHello Tiffany,
DeleteNo, each person needs to buy their own t-money card because you cannot tap the card twice per entry/exit on a train or bus station. You can share the balance though if you are using the tmoney to buy items in convenience stores.
hello. Can i exchange peso to kwon upon arrival in korea? the money changer there is accepting peso? thank you
ReplyDeletehi :) Yes you can, there are money changers at the Airport but note that their rates are not that good. There are several ATMs at the airport so you can just withdraw KWON from the machines for convenience. If i remember it correctly, the charge is less than Php 200.
DeleteIf you will be going to or Myeongdong, there are money changers that accept PHP in that area too.