Does a Climate Card pay for itself?
Every English page comparing Seoul’s transport options quotes a per-ride saving that does not exist on buses, and a breakeven counted in rides rather than journeys. Both mistakes come from the same place: a transfer is free, so the number that decides this is how many journeys you make, not how many times you tap. Put your own numbers in and the sum comes out.
What it is holding
- Adult T-money base fares: subway ₩1,550, in force since 28 June 2025; bus ₩1,500, since 12 August 2023.
- The five short-term Climate Card passes: 1 day ₩5,000, 2 days ₩8,000, 3 days ₩10,000, 5 days ₩15,000, 7 days ₩20,000.
- The transfer rule, which is why a journey and a tap are different numbers.
What it will not do
- Base fares only. No distance surcharge — that is what the table in the article is built from, and a calculator that disagreed with the prose above it would be worse than no calculator.
- Nothing is fetched live. If a fare moves, the article is wrong first and this follows it, which is the right order for a page whose promise is a checked date.
The reasoning behind these numbers, and what to do when they change, is in T-money card in Seoul: what it costs, and the pass ending 1 October.
Where these numbers came from
Read on . 8of8are the operator's own Korean pages.
- Seoul Metropolitan Government, public transport fares and transfer rules KO
- Seoul Metropolitan Government, integrated transfer discount scheme KO
- T-money, Seoul public transport fare table KO
- T-money, where the cards are sold KO
- Seoul Metropolitan Government, Climate Card pass types and prices KO
- Seoul Metropolitan Government, Climate Card end-of-service FAQ KO
- Seoul Metropolitan Government, notice ending the 30-day Climate Card KO
- AREX fare page, showing the 500 won single-journey card deposit KO