Which Korea Transit Card Should You Get?

Which Card Fits You?

Start here, then read the section for whichever one matches your situation.

T-money

The standard reloadable transit card, and the safe default if you're not sure which of these to get. Works on subway, bus, and most taxis nationwide, plus payment at convenience stores and some vending machines — not just Seoul, and not just transit.

Where to get it: convenience stores (CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, Emart24) and subway station machines sell blank cards outright — you pay for the physical card, then load it with however much you want. Some travel booking platforms also sell a T-money card for pickup or delivery before you land, if you'd rather have one sorted before you fly.

Getting money back: two different things, worth not confusing. What you paid for the card itself isn't refundable — that's a purchase, not a deposit. What is refundable is any unused balance left on it when you're done, which you can hand back at a convenience store (a small flat fee applies) or, for a larger balance, a T-money customer center — current fees and limits are on T-money's official refund page (Korean). That's different from the 500-won deposit on a disposable single-journey ticket bought at a station machine, which comes back automatically at the same machine when you tap out — a much simpler mechanic that only applies to that specific ticket type, not a reloadable card.

Mobile: this isn't actually Android-only, whatever some guides imply — both the Mobile T-money app (Android) and Apple Wallet (iPhone, since mid-2025) can hold a T-money card. The direct route through Apple Wallet is a dead end for most visitors, though: creating or topping up a card straight in Wallet needs a Korean-issued credit card — Hyundai Card specifically, the same restriction Apple Pay runs into generally in Korea — so a foreign card doesn't work there. The route that actually works for a visitor is the Mobile T-money app itself: creating a card in the app doesn't require an initial top-up, so you don't need Hyundai Card just to make one, and since a March 2026 update the app also takes Apple Pay top-ups from a foreign-issued Mastercard, American Express, or UnionPay card (JCB added July 2026). Visa isn't on that list — worth knowing up front if that's what you're carrying. Once the card exists in the app, it carries over to Apple Wallet for tapping. If your card isn't one of the supported networks, or you'd rather skip the app-hopping, a physical card bought at a convenience store remains the simpler default. Mobile T-money, official app.

Climate Card (Short-Term Pass)

Seoul's unlimited-ride pass, sold to visitors as a short-term ticket — 1, 2, 3, 5, or 7 days — rather than the 30-day version aimed at residents. Buy once, then ride the subway and bus as many times as you want within the covered days and area, no per-ride tapping-out math to worry about.

Coverage has real gaps outside central Seoul. Subway coverage has expanded into parts of Gyeonggi (Incheon, Gimpo, and several other cities), but you need to both board and get off within the covered zone — leave it at either end and the card doesn't work there, and station staff will charge you separately. Buses are narrower still: only Seoul-licensed buses are covered. Gyeonggi-licensed buses, wide-area express (intercity) buses, and airport buses are all excluded, along with the Shinbundang Line and GTX. If your trip is mostly inside Seoul this rarely matters; if it isn't, check the current coverage map before counting on this card for a specific route.

Physical card only. Korean residents can use a mobile version; foreign visitors can only get the physical card. Available at Seoul tourist information centers (including the ones in Myeongdong and at Seoul Tourism Plaza) and subway station machines — a foreign-issued card can pay for the purchase and top-up directly, though a service fee applies, same as the subway kiosks covered on the Incheon Airport page. Check the current coverage map and short-term pass prices on Seoul's official pages before you buy. Climate Card service-area lookup · Climate Card official overview (Korean).

Topping it up from an iPhone: since November 2025, you don't need to hunt down a station machine to reload the physical card — open the Mobile T-money app, tap the card against the back of the phone, and pay by card or bank transfer, the same NFC top-up Android users already had. This only recharges the physical card; it doesn't turn it into a mobile card, which stays Android-only as noted above. Seoul's official announcement.

Seoul is separately rolling the standard 30-day Climate Card into a new "Climate Card Plus," integrated with the national K-Pass scheme, starting September 2026 — but Seoul's own announcement is explicit that the short-term passes described here are excluded from that change and continue as they are, so nothing above is affected by it.

T-money Travel Card (formerly Korea Tour Card)

If an older guide or a search result points you toward buying a "Korea Tour Card," that's out of date — T-money's own site, in both Korean and English, now states plainly that sales have stopped, with existing cardholders pointed toward the replacement instead. Some search results and older guides may still describe it as if it's for sale; if you land on one of those, it's the discontinued product, not what you actually want.

The replacement is the T-money Travel Card, and a step up, T-money Travel Card+, both sold at convenience stores (GS25, CU, Emart24, 7-Eleven, Storyway) and Incheon Airport's staffed bus ticket counters.

The base T-money Travel Card is T-money with extras: the same pay-per-ride fare as a standard card everywhere in Korea, plus discounts at a network of partner attractions, shops, and restaurants aimed at tourists specifically.

T-money Travel Card+ goes further — it's built on WOWPASS itself, not just similar technology: the same card carries WOWPASS's IC payment acceptance at terminals nationwide and its currency/cash-withdrawal balance, alongside the transit function, rather than needing two separate cards. If you were already planning to get a WOWPASS (see below) and also want the tourist transit discounts, Travel Card+ may cover both in one card — though whether it matches WOWPASS feature-for-feature (its own app, exchange rates, ATM network) isn't confirmed here, so compare the two directly if those specifics matter to you.

Worth it over a plain T-money card if the tourist discounts line up with places you're actually planning to go — check current prices and the partner list before deciding, since which merchants participate changes over time. T-money Travel Card, official page (Korean).

WOWPASS

Already covered in full on Do You Need Cash in Korea? — WOWPASS is a prepaid tourist card built primarily for payments (shopping, currency loading, cash withdrawal) that also functions as a T-money transit card, so this page only covers the transit-specific part.

One nuance worth knowing: WOWPASS keeps its T-money balance separate from its main balance, so you specifically top up the T-money portion — instantly, in the app — rather than it automatically drawing from whatever's loaded overall. If you're already getting a WOWPASS for the payment features, you don't need a separate T-money card too. If transit is your only concern and you don't need the payment extras, a plain T-money card gets you the same fare more simply.

One more option worth knowing about: T-money Travel Card+ now bundles WOWPASS's own payment technology into a single card, alongside the tourist transit discounts a plain WOWPASS doesn't offer. If you want both, that combined card may be simpler than carrying WOWPASS and a separate transit card — see the comparison there.

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