How long to Octopus cards work?
Jan 20, 2017, 3:47 pm
#16
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: LCA/KUL/RGN
Programs: RJ Gold, AZ E+, Air Asia Platinum
Posts: 2,189
A minor point but I thought I would mention it anyway. In HK there is no such thing as student/concessionary e.t.c. cards (except for child/elder/Airport staff). There is a "Personalised Octoupus", with your name and picture on and you load your "student/senior" discount entitlement on it. You can still use your personalised octopus which you initially purchased to load your student discount on (can't use normal octopus for this), after student status expiry date (standard adult rates charged ofcourse). The advantage of it is that you don't have to buy the new plastic every time,unlike the London Oyster system,which is so backwards.
It's kind of the same with HKID,if you change your resident status,or visa you keep using the same plastic card,unlike again the UK Residence Permits for which you have to change the card every time you change jobs/educational institutions e.t.c.
It's kind of the same with HKID,if you change your resident status,or visa you keep using the same plastic card,unlike again the UK Residence Permits for which you have to change the card every time you change jobs/educational institutions e.t.c.
Jan 26, 2017, 6:41 am
#18
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
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Posts: 6,344
evergrn, if you are really worried about the longevity of an Octopus, then just top it up with the minimum amount of $50 towards the end of your trip, and use it up to negative $35.
Then bring it home and back to refund at the beginning of your next trip. That way you avoid the $9 fee.
I generally refund Octopodes periodically, usually when at an MTR station waiting for someone else to show up. It is also a way of getting rid of my excess cash when I leave HK, and refunding it will give me some cash next time instead of having to go to an ATM
There used to be a student card which was purple but I think it was phased out in 2003 or so
Then bring it home and back to refund at the beginning of your next trip. That way you avoid the $9 fee.
I generally refund Octopodes periodically, usually when at an MTR station waiting for someone else to show up. It is also a way of getting rid of my excess cash when I leave HK, and refunding it will give me some cash next time instead of having to go to an ATM
There used to be a student card which was purple but I think it was phased out in 2003 or so
Feb 7, 2017, 9:38 pm
#20
Join Date: May 2001
Location: RDU
Programs: UA Plat 2MM, Delta Gold, Hilton Gold, Marriott cardboard
Posts: 1,699
I had an Octopus card for over 20 years with no problems. I'd visit HK 2-3 times/year and it never failed. I just swapped it for a silver card in honor of my new senior citizen status.
Feb 7, 2017, 9:43 pm
#21
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,041
Mar 20, 2017, 12:50 am
#23
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: *G^2, Bonvoyed, NEXUS
Posts: 3,516
I know that they deactivate automatically 1000 days after the last reload, but if that happens, you just go to a service counter and when they scan it with an online scanner, it will reactivate, including restoring the old balance.
My question is not about that, but about how long the cards themselves will continue to work. I thought the answer was "indefinitely," but during a recent trip, an interesting thing happened. Among my group, we had a card for each of us left over from a previous trip. One of them had not been used for 10-12 years. It was reactivated without trouble, but each time it was used, the turnstile (or reader on a bus) would make an unusual sound that other cards didn't, even though it otherwise worked. It was not a student, senior, or any other kind of concessionary card. When held against the "check your balance" machine in an MTR station, instead of displaying the balance and transaction history, it just displayed a message in Chinese. Google Translate said that it said "Replace card," but since it was otherwise working, we didn't bother.
So, how long will they continue to work before you must replace them? And, what is causing them to be "too old" such that this special beep is made by the readers? Is it some notion of component aging whereby they recommend replacement after a certain fixed period of time, or is it that there have been security enhancements over time and they want you on a later revision, or something else?
I still have one from the original lot in 1997 that's almost 20 years old now. It would be fun to be able to keep using it.
My question is not about that, but about how long the cards themselves will continue to work. I thought the answer was "indefinitely," but during a recent trip, an interesting thing happened. Among my group, we had a card for each of us left over from a previous trip. One of them had not been used for 10-12 years. It was reactivated without trouble, but each time it was used, the turnstile (or reader on a bus) would make an unusual sound that other cards didn't, even though it otherwise worked. It was not a student, senior, or any other kind of concessionary card. When held against the "check your balance" machine in an MTR station, instead of displaying the balance and transaction history, it just displayed a message in Chinese. Google Translate said that it said "Replace card," but since it was otherwise working, we didn't bother.
So, how long will they continue to work before you must replace them? And, what is causing them to be "too old" such that this special beep is made by the readers? Is it some notion of component aging whereby they recommend replacement after a certain fixed period of time, or is it that there have been security enhancements over time and they want you on a later revision, or something else?
I still have one from the original lot in 1997 that's almost 20 years old now. It would be fun to be able to keep using it.
http://www.octopus.com.hk/cardreplacement/en/index.html
It is optional at this point, but as you note, they will make a different sound when tapped. At some point I imagine they may force replacement.