[Leeoku]

For July 2012, Presto is having a promotion. Go to Hamilton GO station (Hunter street) and apply for a Presto Card without having to pay the $6 issuance fee. Catch is you have to trade in 5 bus tickets (worth 10 dollars) and they will load that up for you. Get yours now!

Edit: This promo is also at Compass when you add $10+

(Not sure if other cities doing this too)

I got the 6$ fee waived too! At union GO station there are guys with Presto shirts and bags, and they sell you a pre-loaded card for $20 which has $26 on it, on your first use the $6 fee gets deducted, leaving you with your original $20 and then the price of your trip gets deducted.

I highly recommend it! Not only do you get 7.5% off your first 35 trips, but its way better than buying a 1-way - you dont have to stand in line and risk missing your train (this is an issue at union) and you can decide halfway through your trip that you want to get off and you just tap-off.

You can also get the $6.00 fee waived at Compass, as well as changing it to a student account.

Can anyone explain to the discounts from using Presto card to me? I know that we get a student discount but is it cheaper than using a 10 ride ticket? I generally buy a 10 ride from Hamilton to Toronto Union and I'm looking to get a Presto card but I'm confused as to their 'discount' system and how much you'll be saving each time compared to a 10 ride ticket.

thanks , thats good info but that was so confusing.. i have to buy a presto card now because there will be no 10bus tickets :((((( so if i just go to union and look for those people, and buy off them i get the discount? more than at COMPASS?

Originally Posted by N.Cheng

Can anyone explain to the discounts from using Presto card to me? I know that we get a student discount but is it cheaper than using a 10 ride ticket? I generally buy a 10 ride from Hamilton to Toronto Union and I'm looking to get a Presto card but I'm confused as to their 'discount' system and how much you'll be saving each time compared to a 10 ride ticket.

So they are no longer selling 10 and 2 rides, so you'll have to either buy a single ride, a monthly pass or load your presto card.

Its been a while since I bought my last 10 ride, but when I bought it at Compass I think I saved about 10% because it was a student ticket.

Now on your Presto card your first 35 trips in a month are 7.5% off. If you commute regularly (so probably about 40 trips or so a month), when you pass the 35 trips you get something 87.5% off, and when you pass 41 trips in the same month your next trips are free.

When you set your card as a student fare the 7.5% becomes 15% and the 87.5% becomes 90%.

http://www.gotransit.com/public/en/fares/presto.aspx

The big thing they emphasize though is DONT FORGET TO TAP-OFF at the end off your trip. Other wise your card will be charged for the most expensive trip possible, and then next time you get on GO you might not have enough money.

Originally Posted by kwyhan

thanks , thats good info but that was so confusing.. i have to buy a presto card now because there will be no 10bus tickets :((((( so if i just go to union and look for those people, and buy off them i get the discount? more than at COMPASS?

You can still buy single rides right before you get on the train/bus.
It looks like the Presto card is the same price as at Union (i.e. $6 fee is waived) so go to Compass... and have them set it for Student Discount (make sure you have Student ID when traveling though).

Then register your card on the Presto site, so if you lose your card they give you back your balance on a new card.

And then all you ever have to think about is if you have enough money on your card to take your trip. You can check the balance online, load the card from online, and even set up auto-load.

Again, the weird this is, even after changing my PRESTO card to student, I get charged much more for a York trip than if I were to use 10-rides.

A single ride using 10-ride tickets cost $8.70ish.

Tapped on and off using PRESTO and I got charged close to $12.00, which is ridiculous. I am wondering where this so called "discount" is.

Did you make sure to have them set your card as a student one? You have to bring student ID etc.

Originally Posted by Watoko

Again, the weird this is, even after changing my PRESTO card to student, I get charged much more for a York trip than if I were to use 10-rides.

A single ride using 10-ride tickets cost $8.70ish.

Tapped on and off using PRESTO and I got charged close to $12.00, which is ridiculous. I am wondering where this so called "discount" is.

That cant be right. Was this your first trip? Maybe $6 of that was your initial fee, and the other $6 is the actual trip - which would be a good discount.

EDIT: Did you register your card online? Because you can look at your transactions online, and it showed me that I got a $0.70 "Loyalty Discount" on my trip from Union to McMaster.

Yup. I specifically asked the person at COMPASS to change it to a student account, and she said that she changed it for me, so I'm not sure what happened.

If I have time this week, I'll probably go ask them to check my card. I just haven't cared to bother with PRESTO the past week.

Tap on at Hamilton Go is the first row. Tap off at York is the second row.

Apparently I do get "loyalty discount" (last column), but either way, WITH the discount is still much more expensive!

I transferred my 10-rides onto my PRESTO card, thinking it would be the same price, but that turned out as a failure...


EDIT: I'm guessing as you use it more, the loyalty discount will go up, and will eventually equal the price of a 10-ride, so DON'T transfer your 10-ride tickets to PRESTO if you want to get the most out of it

Originally Posted by Watoko

Yup. I specifically asked the person at COMPASS to change it to a student account, and she said that she changed it for me, so I'm not sure what happened.

If I have time this week, I'll probably go ask them to check my card. I just haven't cared to bother with PRESTO the past week.

Well if that really is the case that they charged you near 12$ thats total bull!

I got confused at first when I tapped off, the number that came up on the screen said $11.25, and Im used to an $8-9 trip, and I was like WHHHAAAAAT? and when I checked online, that $11.25 was my remaining balance, not the cost of the trip.

I don't get it.
You have to buy your first 10 hsr tickets, and then they'll put those tickets on a presto card for you (and you don't have to pay the 6 dollars)?
Is go-station july promo a student-only promotion or valid for anyone?


edit: waaaait, is this a GO-only promotion? or does it apply for HSR?

Originally Posted by Melanieee

Well if that really is the case that they charged you near 12$ thats total bull!

I got confused at first when I tapped off, the number that came up on the screen said $11.25, and Im used to an $8-9 trip, and I was like WHHHAAAAAT? and when I checked online, that $11.25 was my remaining balance, not the cost of the trip.

Yeah, for a trip that would normally cost me $8.70, that's a huge difference....