This is a wallet card that entitles the holder to an unlimited number of trips, providing the card has sufficient credit. This is ideal for frequent travellers, who benefit from its ease of use and cheaper fares.
Where can I use the travel card?
- On long-distance buses within Malaga’s Metropolitan Area.
- On local buses in Málaga, Alhaurín de la Torre, Benalmádena, Rincón de la Victoria and Torremolinos.
- On Renfe’s suburban train service – the card can be used to purchase tickets (single, round trip and ten trips tickets) from the machines located inside the train stations.
Temporarily and for technological reasons, Travel Card will be only used in the vending machines to buy single, round trip and ten trips tickets, and may require an additional cost of 50 credits for the support in which they are issued the tickets (“Renfe y tú” card). With Travel Card you cannot reload a “Renfe y tú” card, which you can only load in cash or with a credit card.
- On underground trains in Malaga, Seville and Granada.
- In those areas of Andalusia covered by other Transport Consortia (interoperability), where the fare system operated by each individual consortium will be applied.
How does it work?
- The card is configured for the type of journey most frequently made by the holder (0, 1, 2 ó 3 fare crossings).
- On boarding the bus, passengers must inform the driver of their destination before placing the card in front of the reader, which will automatically charge the price of the fare in accordance with the fare crossings for which the card has been configured. It will also issue a ticket indicating the cost of the fare and the time limit within which the passenger will enjoy a discounted second fare if transfers.
- Up to 15 passengers can purchase tickets using a single travel card providing the last ticket is obtained within a maximum of 3 minutes after the first.
- Cards may not be configured for more than one type of journey at the same time; however, holders can have their cards reconfigured when topping up or simply by going to any sale point and requesting a change of configuration.
Where can I get it and how do I top it up?
- The card can be purchased at any Consortium authorised sales terminal. Passengers must pay a deposit of €1.80 which will be refunded if the card is returned; any credit remaining on the card when it is returned will NOT be refunded.
- Once acquired, the card must be topped up with a minimum of €5. The card must also be configured for the type of journey most frequently made by the passenger (0, 1, 2 or 3 fare crossings). For subsequent top-ups, holders simply go to any authorised sale point, where they can add a minimum of €5 to their card (€500 is the maximum amount that can be stored on the card at any given time). During this operation, the card may also be reconfigured to cover a different number of fare crossings if required, except when using the vending machines located in Metro Malaga stations.
What to do if the card doesn’t work or the reader malfunctions?
- The user will present the travel card to the driver and will indicate the journey they wish to make.
- The bus driver will register the card number in the chip card machine and receive payment in cash for the amount of a single ticket corresponding to the desired route.
- A manual reimbursable ticket will be given to the user, on which the amount paid and the type of trip will appear.
- A refund will be issued within a period of not more than three months for the difference of the amount paid for the reimbursable ticket and the ordinary discounted fare for that trip. Said refund will be automatically made on recharging or correcting the credit on the card in a authorised sale point.
Transfers
Journeys made using the travel card may be divided into stages. Any stage after the first will be counted as a transfer providing:
- The passenger has not exceeded the time limit established for transfers to be made.
- The passenger is not travelling on the same bus used in the previous stage of the journey.
- The next stage of the journey does not exceed the number of fare crossings for which the passenger’s card is configured.
- In the case of several passengers travelling together, their number is not greater than it was during the previous stage.
- No transfer restrictions exist between the service used in the first stage and the one to be used next.
In addition, passengers on EMT local services in Malaga may change buses free of charge from the second stage onwards within a maximum of one hour starting from the beginning of the first local bus stage.
Transfer costs may vary in accordance with the mode of transport used for each stage of the journey – see our section on Fares.