What's the cheapest myki option for me?

[slothpomba]

A girl on my train yesterday got fined for not having a concession card. They're really locking down on it now.

First few months of uni, i thought i didn't need one either. Almost got fined...*twice*.

Luckily, i was able to talk my way out of it but it's not really worth risking it. The fine is a few hundred bucks. The concession card (the one with your photo etc) is only probably only like 10 bucks. It makes sense to not get caught and hassled and it makes good economic sense too.

There's no real reason to not get it, even if you're only going on buses where your chances of getting caught are pretty small compared to the train. It's one of the easiest fines they can give out too.

Go here and click "compare pass to money", it'll tell you which one is better in light of how many days you go in and things like that.

As b^3 said, anything under 3 days a week, you should get myki money. Anything over 4 days or more a week at uni, it's worth to get the myki pass. Also note the pass lasts for the entire month, so, if you decide to go out on the weekend and use the train, it won't cost you extra. If you're using myki money, it will. So, factor that in too.

[BigAl]

And I've heard that Centrelink is providing some assistance for fares if you are receiving youth allowance

[b^3]

And I've heard that Centrelink is providing some assistance for fares if you are receiving youth allowance

Not that I know of? Where did you hear that?

EDIT: Or were you talking about the $1000 start up scholarship thing?

[BigAl]

Here it is http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/fares-allowance

[paulsterio]

First few months of uni, i thought i didn't need one either. Almost got fined...*twice*.

Luckily, i was able to talk my way out of it but it's not really worth risking it. The fine is a few hundred bucks. The concession card (the one with your photo etc) is only probably only like 10 bucks. It makes sense to not get caught and hassled and it makes good economic sense too.

I actually got ticket-checked on a bus a few times now

And yeah, this is right, I've had friends who have been fined for not having a concession card - though I know one who appealed and succeeded, essentially he argued that he was a student at the time and had the papers to prove it, he just hadn't had the time to get a concession card yet. But of course, don't rely on this and its a lot of work, so just pay the $10

Also, I'm not much of a public transport frequent anymore, but if you're Zone 1 only or Zone 2 only and you have a myki pass, remember to keep a few dollars of myki money on your card in case you somehow end up stuck in the wrong zone and there's none of the recharging machines around. Happenned to me once, I travelled on a bus too far into Zone 1 to go somewhere from Monash and when I went back I couldn't touch onto the bus going back to Monash, so I just bought a Metcard with coins, but doesn't look like we can do that anymore (or not much longer - not sure ).

[werdna]

Myki is pathetic, you can't even top up on a bus... On many occasions I have heard bus drivers tell people to get off at the station to top up, and then hop on the next available bus..

[paulsterio]

Myki is pathetic, you can't even top up on a bus... On many occasions I have heard bus drivers tell people to get off at the station to top up, and then hop on the next available bus..

Agreed, should have myki machines on buses the same way they do on trams!

[b^3]

Here it is http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/fares-allowance

Thats only if you move out to live closer to uni though isn't it? Kinda defeats the purpose since you probably wouldn't be using public transport as much as you would have if you didn't move out... (although every little bit helps I guess)

EDIT: 2400^th post