Seoul Climate Card: Prices, Where to Buy, Validity and Exclusions

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The Climate Card Short-Term Pass is a time-based ticket for the subway and buses in Seoul. Here you'll find prices, where to buy it, when it starts, refunds and what isn't covered. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🚇 Who the Climate Card is for With the Climate Card Short-Term Pass you ride the subway and buses in Seoul without limits. The offer comes from the City of Seoul. The pass comes in 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 days. For phone users: With an Android device running OS 12 or higher, the card is also available as a phone card. With an iPhone you need the plastic card. 👉 For you: If you have an iPhone, plan on the plastic card. With Android, check that your device runs at least OS 12. ━━━━━━━━━━ 💰 What the pass costs The prices: 1 day ₩5,000 (≈ $4), 2 days ₩8,000 (≈ $6), 3 days ₩10,000 (≈ $7), 5 days ₩15,000 (≈ $11) and 7 days ₩20,000 (≈ $15). On top of that comes the card itself. It costs a one-time ₩3,000 (≈ $2). 👉 For you: For your first purchase, add the one-time ₩3,000 (≈ $2) for the card to the pass price. A 1-day pass therefore costs ₩8,000 (≈ $6) in total the first time. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🏧 Where to buy the card On Lines 1 to 8 you buy the card at the new machines in the subway stations. On Line 9, Ui-Sinseol and Sillim you can get it at convenience stores near the station. Since March 17, 2026, you can pay with a foreign credit card at 440 machines in 273 stations. Visa and Mastercard are accepted. Paying with a foreign credit card carries a fee of about 3.7% on average. 👉 For you: With a foreign Visa or Mastercard, you need one of the 440 machines in the 273 stations. Expect the fee of about 3.7% on average. ━━━━━━━━━━ ⏰ When the pass starts The pass is valid from the day you load it. Loading in advance is not possible. A 1-day pass is valid until the last train or bus of the day. A refund is only possible before the validity period ends. You get the loaded amount minus the amount used minus a ₩500 (≈ $0.40) fee. Without a Korean bank account, you can do this at the Tmoney head office. 👉 For you: Only load the pass on the day you really start traveling. If you want to return it, do so before the validity period ends. ━━━━━━━━━━ ⚠️ What isn't covered Not included are the Sinbundang Line, intercity buses, airport buses and buses that are not registered in Seoul. AREX only covers the section between Gimpo Airport and Seoul Station. If you get off outside the valid zone, the card doesn't work, even if you boarded inside it. The 1-day pass also doesn't cover rental bikes (Ttareungi) or the Hangang Bus. 👉 For you: Before your trip, check that your start and destination are both inside the valid zone. For airport buses and intercity buses you need another solution. AREX only works between Gimpo Airport and Seoul Station. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Sources Seoul Metropolitan Government – Climate Card https://english.seoul.go.kr/policy/transportation/climate-card/ Seoul Metropolitan Government – Climate Cards now accepting international credit cards https://english.seoul.go.kr/climate-cards-and-single-journey-transit-tickets-now-accepting-international-credit-cards-no-cash-needed/ ━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 Have you used the Climate Card yet? How was buying it at the machine or in a convenience store, and is it worth it for you? 📲 On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lebeninkorea_en/ 📸 Photos: lee seunghyub, gizem kim, BBiDDac, Zeynep S., Ryoo Geon Uk, Marek Piwnicki, Marissa Lewis (Unsplash); 최경이(자유이용저작물) (KOGL Type 1)