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Opal Card Unlimited Transport for $2.50 on Sundays - Now ALL SYDNEY + Blue Mountain + Hunter

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On Sunday, travel all day on any mode of transport for no more than $2.50.

In addition to all ferries, from 11th April All Sydney Train stations, and many Intercity trains will have Opal card readers too.

So basicly you can travel from Sydney to Blue mountain, Wollongong , Hunter, … (or in sydney a return Manly ferry which normaly costs $14) on a Sunday and pay only $2.50.

Currently, only way to order the card is online (but the website suggests soon they will have retail shops in Sydney selling them). once ordered online, It takes 4 days for the card to arrive, so you can use them intime for school holidays.

Also now Child/youth cards are available too.

complete rollout map:
https://www.opal.com.au/asset/d7d50cf6-8167-4aa7-9a73-8f2b3c…

Some other benefits:

  • Make several trips on the same mode of transport, with interchanges of less than 60 minutes, and only pay for a single journey
  • possibility of getting a refund (within 30 minutes of starting your trip) at the starting station.
  • travel all day for no more than $15 per day from Monday to Saturday.
  • After 8 paid journeys in a week, all journeys after that are free to customers.
  • A further off-peak discount of 30%
  • Travel all week for no more than $52
  • Never Queue again or worrying about which ticket to buy
  • Opal fares are cheaper than MyFerry, single, return or Travel Ten*1 ticket

*1 - If you travel twice daily Monday to Friday, when you reach the Weekly Travel Reward.

Related Stores

Opal Card - NSW Government
Opal Card - NSW Government

closed Comments

  • Dupe?

    • +2

      It now covers blue mountains, hunter and all train stations, so it may not be a dupe.

  • +4

    Too bad no concession card yet… I think the concession card would be practically no use when most uni students use a multi

  • -1

    This is not new. It's been around for a while now. It's called "FunDay".

    • +15

      Yes, but that required children (still does), otherwise it wouldn't be fun would it

  • +2

    can you go to the airport on sunday for @2.50?

    edit: apparently not.
    "a station access fee of $12.60 is deducted from your Opal card balance in addition to the relevant Opal train fare."

  • +1

    Bet they scrap this soon or put fares up. It's also worth noting that they cards are free atm when ordered online. You have to put $40 credit on but the cards themselves are free, thus you should get as many as you can for one off visitors, family and friends etc so they can travel on Sunday. In Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, and Melbourne you have to buy the card.

    • -2

      $2.50 sundays been around for a few years now.

      • +6

        Only as a family, as a single traveller you can't travel for $2.50 on paper ticket

    • -3

      Not only do you have to put $40 starter money on it but you also have to tie an automatic recharge method to it so that it gets topped up everytime the balance drops below $10 + maximum fare for that day, $18 in the worst case. That's a lot of money to tie up in idle cards.

      As for encouraging people to travel on Sundays, that may be exactly what they hope to do, to stimulate business in the city on weekends. Certainly the transport infrastructure is less used than during weekdays.

      • +2

        You could use your guest cards instead of your normal card for a while to deplete the funds down to $10, then it's not too much idle credit (Unless you're expecting to buy for 100 guests!). Then the cards will be auto topped up when you have visitors use them.

        (Also note, at least with the main card, you HAVE to use the card within 90 days, otherwise, they will refund the money back to your credit card as unused. Not sure if this would apply to extra guest cards as well.)

        • +1

          Is there any way to link few cards to share the credit?

        • +1

          "The child’s Opal card account can be linked to an Adult Opal card account"

          They can link children's cards…. Not sure if it means credit sharing though.

      • +4

        No you don't. None of my cards have credit cards or any auto top up attached to them.

        • +2

          when ordering, you have the option to choose to either top up automaticaly or not.

        • OK, noted, but you will still have money tied up in idle cards, because you cannot drain them fully. It may or may not be an issue for you. So free to order online now, but have to deposit something into it, vs later probably costs something retail but no value required on them, your choice.

        • +1

          Yes true. And also, a sneaky thing happened to me the other day, I only had $3ish on my card but travelled over the $3 limit so my card went into negative which then came out of my top up amount on recharge!

        • +3

          Wouldn't call it sneaky… That's how it works for everything, what did you expect?

        • I expected a reject at the entry gate the same way you get for a low fare, this will prob come into effect

      • +1

        Automatic recharge is optional.

      • +1

        My card is manually topped up. Automatic is an options but I haven't been forced to sign up for that option. What does bug me is that $40 is the minimum I can top up.

        • +7

          You can top up less than $40, I've done top ups of $20 at Woolies (and got the 5% ING rebate).

        • Oh, that's good to know! Thanks for the tip.

    • +1

      N.B from FAQ on Opal website: "However if you receive a new Opal card that is registered and you have arranged to put value on it, you will need to present it to a card reader within 60 days or the value will be reversed and credited back to your nominated credit or debit card account."

      • Just rotate the cards instead of recharging them.

        • If you rotate you lose out on the free trips after the 8th.

        • Yeah I mean rotate the cards when they empty out to get a few of them, ie buying them online. I think 3 is prob enough for me….maybe four…

        • -3

          You can't empty them. They need recharging once they drop to $10. So not having any payment method tied to them doesn't mean you won't have money tied up there.

        • Nope it will give warning but you can still using even below $5

        • Are you sure about that? I think it will not let you through if you have less than the maximum you can spend on that day on the card. Otherwise people would rort the system by tossing away the card when they reach their destination. Lots of stations have no gates and nobody watching. People did just that with the BNE card, they bought $10 cards, went to the airport and threw them away.

        • Mine sit around $2

        • Goes into negative but I like your idea of throwing the card….I guess until they work it out cause the cards are linked to your name and account online

        • At the moment they are probably not enforcing it for linked cards, but I'm sure in future they will not allow the BNE rort. But then maybe they are not as bright as I think.

        • Yes definitely sure. You can use the card as long as you have enough for a minimum trip which is around $2.00 right now - the card will go into negative when you tap out.

        • In Melbourne you can enter the station if you have a positive balance (over $0.01) but the card costs more than the maximum trip, so it isn't worth it.

    • +3

      In Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, and Melbourne you have to buy the card

      For the Octopus card in HK (which, I might add.. has been around since 1997.. so 17 years. P.s. Wow! Opal! Such technology!), yeah it's $50 HKD, which is like what..$7 AUD? Not to mention you can get the money back after a $9HKD handling fee when you return the Octopus card. So you can consider it a $41HKD deposit + $9HKD purchase price for one octopus card.

      The octopus card works in many places, basically like a visa paywave/mastercard paypass debit card.. and it existed 17 years ago, unlike the Opal card which can only be used on public transport.

      • I'm collecting them now, sounds nerdy, but I guess it's easier to hang onto them after travel. The latest one is from Taipei :)

      • +2

        Do you find the Opal card scans a lot slower than the Octopus? I tried Opal for the first time yesterday and I had to stand still and wait for it to scan. With Octopus, people keep walking as they pass through the barriers.

        • +2

          Yeah these are mega slow compared to Singapore, Bangkok, Taipei, Tokyo, Hong Kong, all super fast.

        • Do you find the Opal card scans a lot slower than the Octopus? I tried Opal for the first time yesterday and I had to stand still and wait for it to scan. With Octopus, people keep walking as they pass through the barriers.

          I haven't had the "pleasure" to use Opal, I only use buses for now. Octopus cards were VERY quick from memory, and that's about 5-6 years ago.

          Visa/Mastercard Paywave/Paypass is pretty much the closest thing to Octopus cards in terms of speed, however it can still take a while for a few merchant's credit card machine to contact whatever bank server they're hooked up to (Woolies machines are always very speedy in terms of clearing the transaction when using paywave/paypass)

        • +1

          This is because the cards use a newer version version of NFC technology - specifically "MIFARE DESFire EV1" which apart from the standard features of NFC (read/write) also has:

          • Support for random ID
          • Support for 128-bit AES

          It therefore is "theoretically" more secure than the other cards and combats card cloning and skimming.

        • -1

          Well as long as Apple makes an iWatch with support NFC and an app to run all the cards from around the world ill be happy

    • +1

      I know that in Japan with the Pasmo or Suica cards, although you have to pay to get them, you can also get a refund for them as well when you're done with it.

      $40 may seem like a lot, but it's Sydney transport we're talking about here. That $40 will disappear in no time :(

      • I rarely use the train anymore since they restructured the fares. It's $5 OP return just to travel to the next station.

  • Will your trips still be free after your 8th journey for the week on Sundays or will this override?

    • +1

      Still free after 8 "journeys"

    • +1

      It's a $2.50 cap on Sunday instead of $15 for any other ady, 8 journeys = weekly cap.

      No you don't pay $2.50 if you're on free travel.

  • +4

    Does anyone think once paper tickets are non existent opal prices will increase? I'm always thinking opal cards are introductory prices.

    Also can't wait till they implement these cards to work on shops and machines, hongkongs octopus can work almost everywhere… Still do t under stand that octopus was made in Australia and why did not have opal till now….

    • +3

      work on shops and machines

      That would be a logical extension to the system. Let's hope the planners think that way too.

    • They had the company that did Oyster/octopus a few years ago, but there were so many pricing products that it had difficulty handling all of them. So the government broke the contract with the company and scrapped everything.

      Since then, they've reduced the number of pricing products and discounts with the mytrain/bus/ferry structure, and hired a new company to do the rollout. And that's where we're at now.

    • Paper tickets will never be fazed out because tourists will need to still buy tickets. Therefore they will have to use paper tickets. There will always be a choice for everyone to use paper tickets rather than an Opal card.

      • Not necessarily, in Melbourne you need a Myki card to travel on trams….well, at least that's what we were told.

        • Well unless the Myki is easy to purchase, which the Opal is not. I think that is quite silly.

        • Yeah Myki just buy from 7-11 type store on the spot, $7 though. I own two not out of choice btw.

        • It will be sold at retail outlets at a future date.

        • 'Sold' being the word here, atm they are free

        • Putting a price on them is probably a good idea anyway. Retailers have costs to cover and nobody respects free.

        • Yeah I'm actually surprised the news agency near milsons point train station does the recharge, the dude always gives me attitude when I want to recharge like I should also be buying something from his shop

        • They shouldn't complain, they get a cut for selling tickets and recharges. You should actually recharge at Town Hall Woolies if you have the ING direct 5% rebate. Plus your spend goes toward a petrol discount.

        • +1

          You should actually recharge at Town Hall Woolies if you have the ING direct 5% rebate.

          Thanks for the Pro tip! Stopped by Town Hall today (yay, free 60 min transfer) and topped up with ING. I know, some might claim it's linked to your card to avoid queeing, but for 5% - hey!

          Side note, and not sure if this is related to topping up mid-journey, but when I checked my account online tonight, it had claimed no tap out at Town Hall (not possible, as it has gates) and charged max, but when I checked again - before calling to query it, it showed correctly. Also the top up amount doesn't show as a line in my account, unlike the initial credit card top-up. (Not sure if it will come overnight?)

          So - mostly loving the Opal card, but was a bit dissapointed that the Opal charge on a bus trip was $2.10, when can get a travel ten card (1-2 zone) for $1.84 per trip.

      • +2

        Paper tickets will never be fazed out because tourists will need to still buy tickets.

        Not true. If the management behind Opal were smart, they'd offer a refundable Opal card, just like the HK Octopus card that costs $9HKD to get your money back, with the Opal card, there will probably be some outrageous australian handling fee.

        See exhibit A
        http://www.octopus.com.hk/customer-service/getting-a-refund/…

        • Or the token setup like other NFC ticket systems where the coin like token is returned on exit

        • Lets only hope that the concept is implemented in such a way similar to others worldwide. Only time will tell.

        • +2

          Lets only hope that the concept is implemented in such a way similar to others worldwide. Only time will tell.

          Looking at the current transport minister.. don't get your hopes up.

        • Well, to be honest, most other major cities in Australia have already done this. As much as I hated Perth, the SmartRider NFC card made commuting a breeze. Coupled with a heavy discount if you linked the card to do direct debit once balance dropped below a threshold (user defined), it was a no brainer.

          The NFC travel card I used in Gold Coast was quite reasonable… and for tourists, it was also refundable. :)

          Myki in Melbourne was also quite convenient as it is easy to recharge and check the balance (without using the Internet).

          Good to see Sydney finally getting rid of the ridiculous mess that is the transport ticketing system.

          It's time for paper tickets to die.

      • Paper tickets were killed off in Melbourne a year after Myki was introduced. Tourists need to spend around $20 for the first day to travel on public transport.

      • Singapore has used a reloadable card for all tickets since the 90s. An Aussie company set up their initial system I think.

    • Similarly in Japan.

      You can pretty much use it anywhere — even as a wallet (just withdraw from a 24/7 convenience store).

  • +1

    I'm quite excited with Opal being rolled out across Sydney. True it was originally planned to be here for the 2000 Olympics but hey you can't have everything can you ;)

    • Actually, the one planned for the olympics was the t-card. Project got cancelled due to going past schedule and budget. I think a few hundred mill was wasted on it.

  • +2

    Students will have to pay adult fare into the future. The opal card is only for child fare, not student. lol. I also don't believe they will be rolling out this card due to the revenue raising agenda.

    It looks like Gen Z gets shafted again. They will also be balls into debt with the way our generations are spending. The government is just kicking the can down the road.

    Students will also have to pay student debt regardless of their ability to pay into the future. Apparently they are planning to take money from deceased estates now.

    Glad, I'm not Gen Z / Gen 0 (or 00).

    • +5

      The child/youth card is for students. As long as you are over 16 and studying full time.

      http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/b2b/medi…

      Read the eligibility of this fact sheet for the child/youth card.
      It seems the government is keeping quiet about student eligibility as it is stated almost no where, except here.

      • +5

        What about uni students? Thats the real question for me. Says school students…

        • +4

          I think uni concession could be removed altogether :(. It would be a relatively inelastic decision, i.e. uni students would just rage at the transport minister but still need to go to uni. A lot of the uni students are annoyed at the Liberal party anyway so it wouldn't matter too much in terms of voters.

          They would grab extra revenue this way "towards improving our public transport system"/making more people pay through their noses for a terrible service (two scheduled consecutive buses never showed up last friday at QVB!)
          I've got a regular service now at my bus stop where the scheduled bus always clumps with the next bus, so instead of one bus every 15 minutes, it sometimes is two buses every 30 minutes.
          Also I've had buses that fall off Tripview's map. Now considering Tripview is endorsed by STA buses (they tell you to use it on posters) and also it's using GPS data uploaded by STA, some fudging going on there..

        • Apparently there will be a concession card for students/job seekers etc.. Will be silver coloured. No yet shown on the opal website yet because they are most probably still planning how to implement it considering all the varying types of concessions available. Most likely be released after the pensioner opal card (gold).

          There will also be 'disposable/one off' cards to replace paper tickets.

  • -4

    "After 8 paid journeys in a week, all journeys after that are free to customers."

    Not quite.

    After 8 paid journey per mode of transport. So after 8 train trips, the remaining train trips are free, not say bus or ferry. You still need to rack up 8 trip on each of those. Also for infrequent bus users for those that you a combination of bus and train weekly MYMULTI tickets are still far better value.

    • +1

      Not true. 8 paid journeys can be any mixture of modes - eg 4 separate train trips and 4 bus trips. Afterwards any travel (train/bus/ferry) will be free.

      • So would you then travel on 8 paid cheap journeys then take the ferry for the rest?

        • +4

          yep. did that last week!

        • +1

          I likey! Hey, does that apply to off peak fares too?

    • a journey within 1 hour? or 2 hours between station

  • "possibility of getting a refund (within 30 minutes of starting your trip) at the starting station"
    Do you mean that if I tap the card at 10:00am at Chatswood and travel to Artarmon (1 station from Chatswood), EXIT station and then return back to Chatswood and exit at 10:25am, I could get full refund and a free round trip?

    • Make a good short film if you were picking up a pizza….or cheesy ad…

    • Legally speaking you are supposed to tap off at Artarmon and that invalidates the 30 minute clause. However Artarmon has no gates so you might get away with it. In any case even if you tap off at Artarmon, you get a round trip for the price of the minimum fare, $2.31. Which is pretty good. I've done a round trip to the CBD on an errand < 60 minutes.

      • Rack up 8 short trips and the rest are free for the week. If you are a frequent traveller, this is incentive enough to tap off at Artarmon, and tap on on the way back. That's 2 out of 8 trips done.

        • +1

          No, you need to rack up 8 journeys. Tapping off in Artarmon, but tapping back on within 60 minutes would make it two trips, but only one journey.

        • Yes, you are right. I forgot about the distinction between trip and journey. It will take some time for people to adjust to the new terminologies.

    • That's fare evasion; you can also not buy a ticket, jump over the gates and do the same thing.

      • +1

        Which, btw, I happen to see quite a lot these days!

  • +1

    Been using my Opal card for a few weeks and it is great! No more lining up for tickets or missing trains, etc. The faster they roll it out the better.

    Also much better than the Melbourne Myki which costs $6 to buy and takes what seems like an eternity to scan/swip when you tap on/off.

  • +1

    Except that most buses don't have readers, so you might as well buy a $2.50 sunday day tripper ticket.

    • +2

      I kinda feel like just showing the bus driver my opal card on a Sunday and saying, 'dude, $2.50 all day travel'

    • +1

      Actually, none of the buses have readers. Sydney buses will start the roll-out next month, and private buses a bit later in the year.

      • +2

        Not true, 333 bus to bondi has had it for a few months now. I also hear some Hornsby buses do.

      • I've seen buses with trial readers and a sticker basically saying Do Not Use Yet.

  • +3

    the so-called opal card should have been rolled out ages ago. i started to use the similar smart cards in Shanghai and Hongkong like 20 years ago.

    • +2

      The irony doesn't stop there. Octopus card was developed by an Australian company too, in 1997
      Just look at who was in power (Australian Govt.) during the rapid growth of the Octopus card. (1996 - 2007)
      Then look at who was in power when the Opal card was being pushed forward again. (2008)
      Ah, don't you just love Australian voters?

      • We all know that, the famous Octopus card system was one heck of a technology that has been exported without thinking properly using ourselves. Stupidty, and sold it offshore.

        HK company is making billions billions every year on that system to date.

        Could have had the innnovation and implement here.

        All everyone know is sell sell sell, don't even think about you can add value to it

        We would be having the greatest tech from then and save how many trees?

  • +3

    Check this website out and find out if Opal card will cost you more.

    For me it works out cheaper to stick to paper tickets.

    http://www.opalornot.com/

  • If only railwork/maintenance doesn't happen so often on weekends and trains are available more frequently on Sunday (which is not going to happen). Most ppl don't catch public transport on weekends due to these reasons and more flex

    Thing is buying quarterly Rail or Travelten, or MyMulti tickets are still cheaper than Opal card and no need to disclose credit card details. Opal is a failure, governament wants to recover $ asap which is just greed.

    The scheme they offer on free trips after certain amount doesn't really work out.

    Unless you catch combination of Ferry, Bus, Train then maybe worth it…. 15-30 mins intervals doesn't cut it

    I will not get a Opal card until they completely aboilish all paper tickets and traveltens what not.

    Anyway it takes unlimited $2.50 public transport with Opal to get some traction, that's a fact. Still using old tech and Opal card is a ripoff.

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