Transit Cards & FaresT-money or a Climate Card pass?

One transit card covers Seoul's subway and buses. Compare pay-as-you-go T-money with the unlimited Climate Card short-term pass (1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 days) for your trip using the calculator below.

Trip cost calculator

Days in Seoul Rides per day Fare per ride

How it's calculated

T-money = days × rides per day × fare + ₩3,000 for the card.
Climate Card = the cheapest mix of 1/2/3/5/7-day passes covering your days + ₩3,000 for the physical card.
A transfer (within 30 min of tapping out, 60 min from 9 pm to 7 am) counts as one ride. Beyond 10 km, ₩100 is added per 5 km.
A short-term pass starts on the day you load it and can't be loaded in advance. A 1-day pass lasts until that day's last train.

Subway & bus fares (adult, with a transit card)

Subway base fare (up to 10 km)	₩1,550
Subway distance add-on	10–50 km: +₩100 per 5 km · over 50 km: +₩100 per 8 km
Subway single-journey ticket	Card fare +₩100 (from ₩1,650); get the deposit back at the refund machine at your exit station
City bus (blue / green)	₩1,500
Express red bus (to Gyeonggi)	₩3,000
Youth / child (subway)	₩900 / ₩550 — the card must be registered with a birth date
Transfers	Tap out when you get off and board the next ride within 30 min (60 min from 9 pm to 7 am): you only pay extra for distance. Up to 5 rides per trip.
Early-bird discount	20% off the base fare for your first ride before 6:30 am (not on transfers)
AREX airport railroad (separate fares)	All-stop: Seoul Station → Incheon Airport T1 ₩4,750 · T2 ₩5,350 (transit card) · Express ₩13,000

More on getting to the airport

T-money — pay as you go

Where to buy: convenience stores such as GS25, CU, 7-Eleven, MINISTOP and emart24. A basic card is ₩3,000 (designs vary).
Top-up: with cash at a convenience store or a subway station machine. ₩1,000–₩90,000 per top-up; a card can hold up to ₩500,000.
Riding: tap when you get on — and on buses, tap again when you get off, or you lose the transfer discount.
Refund: get the balance back in cash where cards are sold or topped up. ₩500 fee; the card price isn't refunded. Partial refunds only at Tmoney Town and T-money service centers in stations.

Climate Card short-term pass — unlimited rides

Pass	Price	Per day
1-day	₩5,000	₩5,000
2-day	₩8,000	₩4,000
3-day	₩10,000	₩3,333
5-day	₩15,000	₩3,000
7-day	₩20,000	₩2,857

Works on: subways within Seoul (at AREX Incheon Airport T1/T2 you can only get off, not board), and Seoul city, village and night buses.
Doesn't work on: the Shinbundang Line, GTX, trips ending at stations outside Seoul, express red buses, airport buses, or buses from other regions.
Where to buy: the new ticket machines in Seoul Metro (Lines 1–8) stations; the physical card is ₩3,000 extra. The pass runs from the first train on day one to the last train on the final day.
Refund: only during the pass period (loaded amount − actual fares used − ₩500 fee). Visitors without a Korean bank account get cash at T-money's head office.

Note: the Climate Card 30-day pass ended on 1 Oct 2026; the short-term passes (1/2/3/5/7 days) are still sold. The new “Climate Pass (Modu Card)” needs a Korean alien registration number and identity verification, so it isn't practical for short-term visitors.

Paying as a visitor

What overseas cards can buy: since 17 Mar 2026, the new ticket machines at 273 stations on Lines 1–8 accept Visa, Mastercard and other overseas credit/debit cards for buying a Climate Card, loading short-term passes and buying single-journey tickets. Expect an average 3.7% service fee.
T-money top-ups at convenience stores and station machines are basically cash. Keep a little Korean won on hand.
Tapping an overseas card directly at gates or on buses (open-loop) is being introduced in stages through 2030; there's no official launch notice yet. Get a transit card.
On Android, Seoul says you can top up with an overseas card in T-money's “Korea Tour Card” app.

Sources (all checked 2026-10-01)

Fares and rules can change. Always double-check on station notices or the ticket machine screen.