The Short Answer: Which Card Fits Which Trip

Korea runs on tap-to-ride cards. Paper tickets still exist, but every regular rider taps a card at the gate and again when stepping off the bus. Three products cover almost every visitor, and they do different jobs.

T-money is the plain stored-value card. You load won onto it and each ride deducts the fare. It works on subways and buses in most Korean cities, in many taxis, and at convenience stores. Cashbee is a rival card that works the same way on transit; buy whichever the counter has.

WOWPASS is a prepaid travel card with a T-money chip inside. One side pays for transit. The other side is a payment balance you can spend in shops, loaded with foreign cash or a card. It suits travelers who want to carry less cash and skip foreign transaction fees at the till.

The Climate Card short-term pass is Seoul's unlimited-ride pass for 1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 days. It only works inside Seoul, and only on the subway and Seoul city buses.

So the choice usually looks like this:

• Short trip, a few rides a day, or travel beyond Seoul: T-money.
• You want one card for transit and shopping: WOWPASS.
• Several days of heavy riding inside Seoul: a Climate Card pass, plus T-money or WOWPASS for taxis, airport buses and day trips.

Do the arithmetic before you buy a pass. A single subway ride on a card costs roughly 1,500 won in Seoul, and transfers within 30 minutes are discounted on a regular card anyway. The 3-day pass at 10,000 won only pays off if you ride about seven times or more across those three days. If you are new to the system itself, our guide to Korea's public transportation covers lines, transfers and bus etiquette.

T-money: The Default Card, and How to Top It Up

Where to buy. Any major convenience store (CU, GS25, 7-Eleven, emart24) sells T-money at the counter, including the ones in the arrivals halls at Incheon Airport. Station kiosks and some ticket machines sell them too. A plain card costs a few thousand won. Character designs cost more. The card price is not refundable, so pick a design you like.

How to top up. Hand the card to a convenience store cashier with cash and say the amount, or use the recharge machines in subway stations. Insert the card, choose the amount, feed in notes. For a plastic T-money card, both routes are cash. Keep a few 10,000-won notes for this. A balance of 20,000 to 30,000 won is a sensible start for a few days in Seoul.

The phone route. Since March 2026, the Tmoney app for iPhone has a "Foreigner" option on its login screen. It lets visitors top up a virtual T-money card in Apple Wallet with some foreign-issued cards, then tap the iPhone at the gate. The accepted card brands have changed over time, so check the list in the app before you rely on it.

Where it works. Subways and buses in Seoul, Busan and most other cities. Many taxis take it. Convenience stores, some cafes and vending machines accept it as payment. You'll find it reliable almost anywhere a local would pay by transit card. These are the same counters that stock everything in our Korean convenience store food guide, so the late-night snack run and the top-up can be one stop.

Refunds. Leftover balance can be refunded for a 500-won fee. Small balances can be refunded at convenience stores, larger ones at station service centers, and balances of 50,000 won or more only at T-money's own refund office. The simplest plan is to top up in small amounts toward the end of your trip and spend the rest at a convenience store.

WOWPASS: One Card, Two Balances

WOWPASS looks like one card but holds two separate wallets. Knowing that saves most of the confusion.

The WOWPASS balance is for shopping. You insert the card's IC chip at a shop terminal, like a local debit card. You load it at WOWPASS machines in hotels, stations, tourist areas and airports, with cash in 16 foreign currencies or with an international credit card. You can also top it up in the WOWPASS app with international cards or PayPal. A small fee may apply in the app depending on the payment method.

The T-money balance is for transit, and it is topped up separately. Use cash at a station machine or convenience store, exactly as with a plain T-money card. Or tap the card to your phone in the WOWPASS app and move money from the WOWPASS balance into T-money.

Getting the card. You can issue one at a WOWPASS machine, or reserve it in the app before you fly and collect it on arrival. At Incheon Airport, reserved cards are collected at designated CU stores in Terminals 1 and 2. The airport machines have limited functions, so if you plan to exchange a lot of cash, use a machine in the city. A one-time registration fee applies for first-time users.

Leaving Korea. Withdraw the leftover WOWPASS balance as won cash at a machine, up to 100,000 won per withdrawal, for a 1,000-won fee. Coins and amounts under 1,000 won can't be withdrawn. The card and balance stay valid for six years from the last top-up, so a repeat visitor can simply keep it. The T-money side follows T-money's refund rules.

If you lose it. Suspend the card in the app straight away. The WOWPASS balance carries over to a replacement card. The T-money balance does not, so keep the transit side modest.

The Climate Card Pass: Unlimited Seoul Rides for 1 to 7 Days

Seoul's Climate Card (gihu donghaeng kadeu) short-term pass gives unlimited subway and bus rides inside the city for a fixed number of days. Seoul Metropolitan Government lists the prices as:

• 1 day: 5,000 won
• 2 days: 8,000 won
• 3 days: 10,000 won
• 5 days: 15,000 won
• 7 days: 20,000 won

The plastic card costs 3,000 won on top. You buy it once and recharge it with a new pass whenever you need one.

What it covers. The subway within Seoul, and Seoul-licensed city buses and village buses, including late-night routes. You can also ride from a Seoul station out to Incheon Airport Terminals 1 and 2, but you can't board at the airport with the pass. Tap out when you leave the bus.

What it doesn't cover. The Shinbundang Line, GTX, subway stations outside Seoul, red wide-area express buses, airport buses, buses licensed by other regions, taxis, Ttareungyi bikes and the Hangang Bus. Exit at a station outside Seoul and you pay the fare for that trip separately. At a transfer station such as Gangnam, use the Line 2 gates, not the Shinbundang ones.

How to buy and charge. The plastic card is sold at the newer ticket machines in Line 1 to 8 stations and at convenience stores near Line 9 and other line stations. Charge the pass at station machines. The first day of the pass is the day you charge it. You can't load it in advance, so charge on the morning you start riding. It runs from the first train of that day until the last train of the final day.

Register it and keep it to yourself. Scan the QR code on the back to register the card on the T-money website. Without registration, you can't claim a refund or report it lost. One card covers one rider; it can't pay for a friend.

Refunds are possible but awkward. You must apply before the pass expires, and the refund is the charge minus the fares you actually used, minus 500 won. Visitors without a Korean bank account have to collect a cash refund in person at T-money's head office. In practice, buy the length you will really use.

One update for anyone reading older guides: the 30-day Climate Card ended on October 1, 2026, when Seoul moved residents to a new monthly scheme built on the national K-Pass. The 1- to 7-day passes for visitors continue.

Paying With a Foreign Credit Card: What Works Now

At the gate: not yet. You can't tap a foreign Visa or Mastercard at Seoul's subway gates or bus readers. Korean transit terminals read domestic transit cards. In September 2026, Hana Card announced it is working with T-money and international card brands on tap-to-ride for foreign cards. The plan starts with Seoul city buses from January 2027 and widens to other buses and city rail after that. Until it launches, carry a transit card.

At the ticket machine: yes, at the newer ones. Since March 17, 2026, the newer ticket machines at 273 stations on Seoul Subway Lines 1 to 8 accept foreign-issued credit and debit cards. They work for buying a Climate Card, charging a 1- to 7-day pass, and buying single-journey tickets. Seoul says these card payments carry a service fee of about 3.7% on average. Machines on other lines, and plain T-money top-ups, may still want cash.

In apps: partly. The WOWPASS app takes international cards and PayPal for its payment balance. The iPhone Tmoney app accepts some foreign cards for a virtual T-money card.

Beyond the city. None of these cards buys a long-distance train seat. The KTX needs its own ticket, which we walk through in how to book a KTX ticket as a foreign visitor. Once you arrive in Busan or Daejeon, the T-money or WOWPASS in your pocket works on the local subway and buses. The Climate Card does not.