If you are a frequent traveller on rail, you may wish to use a 30-day rail pass instead of Snapper credit.
You can load a rail pass onto your Snapper at participating Snapper retailers, or with the iOS or Android Snapper Mobile app.
A child pass can only be loaded onto a Green Snapper card or Snapper card with a valid child concession.
For a full list of rail passes and help determining which pass best suits your travel needs, go here.
Please note that passes can not be purchased using existing Snapper credit.
The passes are valid for 30 consecutive days (rather than monthly). Because of this, they can start on any day of the month. The pass will activate and start the 30-day count down first time you tag off on a journey that meets the criteria to use the pass (including bus trips, if your pass is one that meets the criteria for some bus trips to be covered).
The 30-day count down can not be paused once the pass it activated, so it’s important to ensure you’re activating the pass when you intend to.
Even if you’re primarily using a travel pass, it’s a good idea to make sure your Snapper always has a few dollars loaded on it. A travel pass loaded on your Snapper will only work if your Snapper card has a positive balance. Any default/penalty fare or IOU incurred will stop your pass from working if you do not have enough balance to cover the charge.
When using a travel pass, you still need to make sure to tag on and off as you normally would, to avoid default/penalty fares.
A Snapper card can have a total of two rail passes loaded at any given time, so you can pre-purchase your next pass before the current one runs out. You can also have an additional two bus passes on your Snapper card at any given time, as well as a Metlink Explorer day pass.
Rail passes are available for any combination of zones, and are priced as below.
Select rail passes will also cover some bus travel (between zone 4 and the outer zone included in your pass). This will be the case if all of the following criteria are met:
It does not include bus travel within zones 1 to 3, such as Wellington City or Johnsonville. It also excludes routes 61, 81, 83 and 84.
Refunds for change of mind or circumstance are not available for rail passes.
This policy is set by Metlink, and is in line with their Conditions of Carriage/refund policy (https://www.metlink.org.nz/legal/refund-policy).
For any questions, please reach out to Metlink on 0800 801 700, or for more information on 30-day passes, see the Metlink website.
