T-money vs Climate Card vs Tmoney Travel Card: Which to Buy (2026)

By Gape · Published October 10, 2026

Getting Around✓ Checked October 10, 2026

Seoul Metro subway train arriving at Noryangjin station — Photo: Another Seoul Metro shot from the Noryangin station by transitpeople, CC BY 2.0

Quick answer: If your trip is mostly inside Seoul and you’ll take about three or more subway or bus journeys a day, buy a Climate Card (기후동행카드) short-term pass: ₩5,000 for 1 day up to ₩20,000 for 7 days, plus ₩3,000 for the card. If you’re leaving Seoul (Busan, Gyeonggi day trips, the Shinbundang Line) or riding less, get a plain T-money (티머니) card and pay per ride. The Korea Tour Card (코리아투어카드) is no longer sold; T-money now offers the Tmoney Travel Card (티머니트래블카드) instead.

Which transit card should you buy?

Start with where you’re going, then think about how much you’ll ride. The Climate Card only works inside Seoul. T-money works on public transport nationwide.

	Climate Card short-term pass (기후동행카드 단기권)	T-money (티머니)	Tmoney Travel Card (티머니트래블카드) — replaces Korea Tour Card
How you pay	Flat price, unlimited rides	Pay per ride from a stored balance	Pay per ride from a stored balance
Card cost	₩3,000 (physical card)	₩3,000–5,000	₩4,000
Ride cost	1-day ₩5,000 · 2-day ₩8,000 · 3-day ₩10,000 · 5-day ₩15,000 · 7-day ₩20,000	Subway ₩1,550 base fare; city bus ₩1,500	Same as T-money
Where it works	Seoul subway, Seoul-licensed buses, exit at Incheon Airport stations	Public transport nationwide, plus taxis and T-money stores	Nationwide, like T-money, plus partner discounts
Not covered	Shinbundang Line, GTX, subway outside Seoul, red wide-area buses, airport buses, Ttareungyi bikes, Hangang Bus	—	—
Where to buy	Ticket machines in Line 1–8 stations; convenience stores near Line 9, Ui-Sinseol and Sillim stations	Convenience stores (GS25, CU, 7-Eleven etc.), Line 1–8 station info centers	Convenience stores, staffed bus ticket counters at Incheon Airport
Best for	Seoul-only trips with lots of rides	Light riders, trips outside Seoul	People who want T-money plus tourist discounts

Fares are adult card fares from Seoul’s official fare tables. Subway fares rise with distance: +₩100 for every 5 km after the first 10 km.

How much does the Climate Card cost, and when does it pay off?

The short-term pass is a fixed price for unlimited rides on covered subways and buses. You also pay ₩3,000 once for the physical card, which you can recharge with another pass later.

A basic subway trip costs ₩1,550 on a card, so here’s roughly how many journeys you need before the pass saves you money. Count journeys, not taps: a subway-to-bus transfer within Seoul’s transfer system is mostly charged as one trip.

Pass	Price	Journeys at ₩1,550 to break even	Including the ₩3,000 card
1-day	₩5,000	4	6
2-day	₩8,000	6	8
3-day	₩10,000	7	9 (3 a day)
5-day	₩15,000	10	12
7-day	₩20,000	13	15 (about 2 a day)

The last column matters on a first trip, because you also pay for the card. Longer rides cost more than ₩1,550 (distance surcharges start after 10 km), so cross-city sightseeing reaches break-even sooner.

Watch the start time. The pass starts the day you charge it, and you can’t charge it ahead of time. It runs from the first train (around 04:00) on day one until the last train on the final day. A 1-day pass charged at 7 p.m. only covers that evening. Charge it in the morning of your first big transit day.

Where does the Climate Card work (and where doesn’t it)?

Per Seoul Metropolitan Government’s page (updated 1 October 2026), the short-term pass covers:

Subway lines within Seoul
Exit only at Incheon Airport Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 stations on AREX (공항철도). You can ride to the airport on your pass, but you can’t use it to board at the airport.
Seoul-licensed city and village buses (마을버스), including late-night (심야) and circular buses, even when they stop outside Seoul.

It does not cover:

Shinbundang Line (신분당선), including the Gangnam–Pangyo stretch
GTX
Subway stations outside Seoul
Red wide-area buses (광역버스), airport limousine buses, and buses licensed by other cities
Ttareungyi (따릉이) bike share and the Hangang Bus (한강버스) ferry

The trap: if you board inside Seoul and get off outside it, the pass doesn’t cover the trip. Seoul’s own example is Jongno 3-ga (Seoul) to Indeogwon (Gyeonggi). Staff will charge the full fare at the exit gate. If you’re heading to Suwon, Incheon city or Pangyo, use a T-money card for that day.

Seoul’s page doesn’t say whether the AREX Express (직통열차) is included, so don’t assume it is. Check with station staff before you board.

How do you buy and charge each card?

Climate Card short-term pass (physical card)

Visitors should use the physical card. The mobile Climate Card only works on Android phones running OS 12 or later, through the Mobile T-money or Samsung Wallet app, and paying for it is built around Korean accounts and cards. iPhone users have to use the physical card.

Find a new-type ticket machine (신형 교통카드 발매기) in a Seoul Metro Line 1–8 station, or a convenience store near a Line 9, Ui-Sinseol or Sillim Line station.
Buy the Climate Card (₩3,000). Since 17 March 2026, the new ticket machines in Line 1–8 stations take foreign-issued Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards. You’ll pay an average service fee of about 3.7%. Cash also works.
At a charging machine (Seoul Metro Lines 1–8, Line 9, Ui-Sinseol, Sillim or Gimpo Goldline stations), pick your pass length (1, 2, 3, 5 or 7 days) and pay. The pass starts today.
Register the card on the T-money Card & Pay website using the QR code on the back. It’s not required for riding, but without it you can’t get a refund or report the card lost. Seoul says registration takes about two days to show your pass.
Tap in and out on the subway, and tap when you board and leave the bus.

Refunds: you get the amount you charged minus the fares you actually used, minus a ₩500 fee. You must ask before the pass expires. If you don’t have a Korean bank account, you collect the cash refund at T-money headquarters. A lost card’s remaining days aren’t honored. In practice, buy only as many days as you need.

T-money card

Buy a T-money card at a convenience store (GS25, CU, 7-Eleven and others) or a station information center on Lines 1–8. Cards cost ₩3,000–5,000 depending on the design.
Top up at a subway ticket machine or at a convenience store counter. The card holds up to ₩500,000. Seoul’s March 2026 foreign-card change covers Climate Card and single-journey tickets only, so bring Korean won cash for T-money top-ups.
Tap in and out. Fares are deducted per ride, with transfer discounts applied.
Before you fly home, refund what’s left. Convenience stores refund the full balance minus a ₩500 fee, up to a limit: GS25 under ₩20,000, 7-Eleven ₩20,000 or less, CU and emart24 ₩30,000 or less. The card price itself is never refunded. For balances over ₩50,000, go to T-money headquarters (Tmoney Town, near Seoul Station Exit 10).

What happened to the Korea Tour Card?

T-money’s official page for foreign visitors now says that Korea Tour Card sales have ended. The page doesn’t give a date. If you already have one, it still gets the same partner-store discounts as its replacement.

The replacement is the Tmoney Travel Card (티머니트래블카드):

₩4,000, sold at convenience stores and staffed bus ticket counters at Incheon Airport
Works on buses, subways, taxis, airport buses and intercity buses nationwide, and in shops that take T-money
Comes with tourist partner discounts (sightseeing, shopping, culture)

There’s also a Tmoney Travel Card+ for ₩6,000 at convenience stores. It adds WOWPASS functions: you can tap it at any card reader that takes IC payments, top it up through the WOWPASS app or exchange kiosks, and withdraw your leftover balance in won at a kiosk.

Is it worth paying more than a plain T-money card? Only if one of the partner discounts is somewhere you’d go anyway. For transit alone, it works the same as T-money. And it doesn’t replace the Climate Card: it pays per ride, with no unlimited option.

What changed recently

28 June 2025: Seoul subway base fare rose from ₩1,400 to ₩1,550 on a card (single-journey ticket ₩1,500 → ₩1,650).
25 November 2025: Physical Climate Cards can be charged by tapping them on a phone in the Mobile T-money app.
17 March 2026: New ticket machines in 273 Line 1–8 stations started accepting foreign-issued Visa/Mastercard cards and Kakao Pay/Naver Pay for buying the Climate Card, charging short-term passes and buying single-journey tickets (average 3.7% fee). Before this, you needed cash.
31 August – 1 October 2026: The 30-day Climate Card was phased out. Charging stopped on 31 August, and the service ended on 1 October. Its replacement, the Climate Pass (기후동행패스), is only for Seoul residents aged 19 and over. The 1/2/3/5/7-day short-term passes for visitors continue.
Date not published: The Korea Tour Card was discontinued and replaced by the Tmoney Travel Card.

FAQ

Can I still get a 30-day Climate Card as a tourist? No. The 30-day Climate Card ended on 1 October 2026, and the Climate Pass that replaced it is limited to Seoul residents. For a long stay, buy a 7-day pass several times, or use T-money.

Can I use the Climate Card from Incheon Airport into Seoul? No, only the other way. The pass lets you get off at Incheon Airport T1/T2 stations, but you can’t board there with it. Use T-money (or a single-journey ticket) for the ride into the city.

Can I share one Climate Card with my partner? Plan on one card per person. Seoul’s rules require one registered card per person (1인 1카드), and a pass covers one rider.

Can I pay for a taxi with these cards? T-money’s page lists taxis among the places the Tmoney Travel Card works, and regular T-money works the same way. The Climate Card short-term pass only covers Seoul’s subways and buses.

Do I need both cards? Often, yes. A common setup: Climate Card for your Seoul days, plus a T-money card with ₩10,000–20,000 on it for the airport ride in, day trips outside Seoul and the Shinbundang Line. Refund the T-money balance at a convenience store before you leave.