Charlie Card vs Charlie Ticket
Jul 21, 2018, 5:39 pm
#91
Ambassador, New England
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Maineiac, USA
Programs: Amtrak, WN RR, Choice
Posts: 2,655
According to the MBTA website, CharlieCards expire at different times depending on the particular program they cover. General public CharlieCards expire after 10 years; senior and TAP users have an expiration date printed on their SR/TAP badge; and student cards expire at the end of the school year.
Jul 22, 2018, 12:32 pm
#93
Ambassador, New England
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Maineiac, USA
Programs: Amtrak, WN RR, Choice
Posts: 2,655
You can definitely get a new card at any time, I think the question is whether any money or passes on the expired card would transfer over to the new one. It sounds like, from CMK10's experience and the experiences shown in that link I posted, that doing such a transfer is not possible, but I don't have the first-hand knowledge to know and can't find anything stating one way or the other.
Jul 22, 2018, 9:32 pm
#94
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Montebello, CA, USA
Posts: 2,365
Yes, you can transfer funds from an expired card. It is at the end of your link and here:
https://blog.mass.gov/transportation...iration-dates/
https://blog.mass.gov/transportation...iration-dates/
Jul 23, 2018, 5:39 pm
#95
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Formerly Box 350, Boston Mass, Oh two one three four. Now near Beverly Hills 90210
Programs: Loyal Order of Water Buffalos
Posts: 3,938
10 years you get, I think.
And you can take your expired card to the Charlie Store at Downtown Crossing and they will transfer the value for you. Probably not worth the time unless it's a whole lot of money
And you can take your expired card to the Charlie Store at Downtown Crossing and they will transfer the value for you. Probably not worth the time unless it's a whole lot of money
Jul 25, 2018, 6:26 am
#96
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: New England
Programs: American Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Silver
Posts: 5,645
If the card is readable, it can be transferred. The expiration date exists so that people aren't using cards that may not work reliably after a certain period of time.
Jul 27, 2018, 11:26 am
#97
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BOS
Programs: B6, Amtrak, DL, AA, Marriott, Hilton
Posts: 274
Early CharlieCards did not have an expiration date printed, but they do expire electronically after a certain time - by now, those are all expired. In later batches, they started printing mm/yy expiration dates on the card - I think the earliest I've seen is 12/20, most seem to be 12/21. Unfortunately, anyone with a undated card is likely out of luck except if it can be read at the CharlieCard store at Downtown Crossing.
Fun fact for the locals - old commuter rail zoned CharlieCard passes (printed with the month on them for use on commuter trains) still work as regular CharlieCards after their month is up. I've got an August 2016 card still going strong with stored value on it.
Fun fact for the locals - old commuter rail zoned CharlieCard passes (printed with the month on them for use on commuter trains) still work as regular CharlieCards after their month is up. I've got an August 2016 card still going strong with stored value on it.
Jun 26, 2022, 6:05 am
#98
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Nashua, NH USA
Programs: Seashore Trolley Museum "flight attendant"
Posts: 1,991
Fast forward to 2022.
The MBTA now officially charges USD 3.00 for a (plastic) Charlie Card although there are a few circumstances when you can get the card for free.
The MBTA is in the midst of revamping the fare structure and rules, so many of the points in preceding replies have changed. They call it Charlie 2.0 and it involved replacing all of the fare gates and all of the fare vending machines.
Some other highlights:
When buying tickets to ride the subway, do not select "commuter rail" on the touch screen.
Taking the tunnel bus (Silver Line) from Logan Airport to downtown, boarding and connection to the subway is free for that first ride (subject to change without notice). But there can be numerous delays due to traffic. If you take the airport shuttle bus to the Blue Line rapid transit about a mile away,, you pay the normal fare at the Airport station.
Charlie tickets with magnetic (black) stripes are no longer valid anywhere although value can be transferred at the Charlie Store (just one location observing bankers' hours at the Downtown Crossing station outside paid area). New style Charlie tickets with touch sensing (RFID) are now in use.
An overall fare increase (a few fare categories have a decrease) is effective July 1, 2022.
All along, Charlie cards have been handed out at random stations at random times; otherwise only (paper) Charlie tickets were available from fare vending machines.
Every now and then a plastic Charlie Card is found including in a wastebasket. It is dangerous to pick up and use it because some Charlie cards are owned by corporations for their employee fare plans and the card could be invalidated without warning. But you can get away using a found card for small amounts of fare.
The MBTA now officially charges USD 3.00 for a (plastic) Charlie Card although there are a few circumstances when you can get the card for free.
The MBTA is in the midst of revamping the fare structure and rules, so many of the points in preceding replies have changed. They call it Charlie 2.0 and it involved replacing all of the fare gates and all of the fare vending machines.
Some other highlights:
When buying tickets to ride the subway, do not select "commuter rail" on the touch screen.
Taking the tunnel bus (Silver Line) from Logan Airport to downtown, boarding and connection to the subway is free for that first ride (subject to change without notice). But there can be numerous delays due to traffic. If you take the airport shuttle bus to the Blue Line rapid transit about a mile away,, you pay the normal fare at the Airport station.
Charlie tickets with magnetic (black) stripes are no longer valid anywhere although value can be transferred at the Charlie Store (just one location observing bankers' hours at the Downtown Crossing station outside paid area). New style Charlie tickets with touch sensing (RFID) are now in use.
An overall fare increase (a few fare categories have a decrease) is effective July 1, 2022.
All along, Charlie cards have been handed out at random stations at random times; otherwise only (paper) Charlie tickets were available from fare vending machines.
Every now and then a plastic Charlie Card is found including in a wastebasket. It is dangerous to pick up and use it because some Charlie cards are owned by corporations for their employee fare plans and the card could be invalidated without warning. But you can get away using a found card for small amounts of fare.
Last edited by AllanJ; Jun 26, 2022 at 7:29 am