Charlie Card

This is *review for charlie card* alone. *Not* a review for MBTA or charlie card store.
For people who are commuting inside Boston, MBTA is the best way. There are couple of ways to use MBTA. If you are using it just for one or two rides, I would suggest to buy charlie ticket. At every station, you can pay cash and get charlie ticket at The Fare Vending Machine. Each ride using charlie ticket is priced slightly higher compared to charlie card. I will discuss difference between fares later in the review.
Another way is to use charlie card. You can use charlie card just by adding cash to it.
There are couple of differences between charlie card and charlie ticket. Charlie card can be purchased only at particular train stops or online/​Charlie ticket can be purchased where ever there is a fare vending machine which is generally at every train stop. Charlie card looks similar to credit card/​Charlie ticket is paper ticket but it is reusable similar to charlie card. Each ride using charlie card is priced lower when compared to using charlie ticket. Both charlie card and charlie ticket doesn’t need card purchase fare, i.e. all the money added to card/​ticket can be used for rides. If you need either weekly or monthly pass, you might have to purchase charlie card at one of the charlie card stores or online. You can get more info regarding charlie card stores @
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Charlie card for adult local bus — $ 1.60/ Charlie ticket for adult local bus — $ 2.10.
Charlie card for adult rapid transit — $ 2.10/ Charlie ticket for adult rapid transit — $ 2.65.
Main thing I don’t like about charlie card and to give 3 stars instead of 4 stars is, they advertise that these cards could be registered online and reloaded. I bought 2 – 3 different charlie cards and couldn’t get to register them online. I keep getting error message when I try to register it. I am not sure why MBTA management doesn’t address this issue when multiple people have similar issue!

If you just need a regular blank charliecard, DO NOT go to Downtown Crossing charliecard store. the lines are ridiculous and that place is really only useful for people trying to apply for discounted charliecards or if they any errors or complaints. You can ask any regular MBTA worker that is behind one of those window office within any of the major stations for a free blank charliecard (Park St, Harvard Square, Alewife, North Station etc) now some of the station you have to had paid first to enter to speak with one, but come on 50 cents vs wasting your time in a line that is like the DMV is not worth it. Also, make sure to always do exact value, do not do the preset $ 5, $ 10, $ 20 it is a way for them to get extra money off you if you leave a balance left over. it is $ 2.10 per trip on a charliecard just do the math and load exact amount you will need.

Love that any transfers are free and you aren’t charged by destination or distance. Easy pay stations. Easy turnstiles. Relatively cheap fares, definitely a whole lot cheaper than taxi or even über depending on where you are heading.

Get card at store. It is in the downtown crossing station. Follow signs once in station. You can get other places… Google charliecard locations, but you can get the senior discount card only at this location. Long line around noon… Like license registration location, with number machine. Plan on ½ hour wait. Google the charliecard senior discount to see benefits. Rating was based on long wait time and lack of alternative locations.

update: finally managed to locate a charlie card. 1^st time I swipe it, it says: see agent. there are of course no agents around. I swipe again & it take 2 fares from me instead of 1. I find an agent who tells me I have to fill out a form & mail it in to get my refund. it seems I can choose between different methods of theft: either I pay 50 cents more each ride by using charlie tickets or get robbed by the machine with the charlie card. I give up, mtba… you win.

Must have if commuting in Boston and still saves you money (I think .50 cents a day) compared to just using cash. If new to the city make sure not to purchase this card if taking the commuter rail because it will not work.
While I’ve never done this, I do have friends who have gone on Craigslist and purchased passes at a discounted rate but be careful b/​c they’re are fakes out there. Just be smart if a #CharlieCard typically $ 60/​month is going for $ 40 or less something is up.

Having this card definitely improves your life in Boston. It works perfect. The only problem is the unpleasant process of getting a card, it should have been much easier. We waited 30 minutes in line.

They give these out INSIDE THE TURNSTILES? So I HAVE TO PAY TO GET IN? Including the 50 cents over charge? WHY??? Also it doesn’t say you have to online so I went up and down all of the stairs at Park Station hoping to find the customer service store…
[this is just me being horribly annoyed right now]

I found this to be a very handy item. It definitely made my life easier having an idea of how many times I would be riding this thing and to pay on a single transaction and be set for a few different trips all at once.
It was very similar to the San Francisco BART card, however these machines took cash or credit cards, and I dont think I have paid in SF with anything but cash. This card did make life easy as it would deduct at each stop and made life much easier when commuting on the train.
The fact that it did what it was supposed to and worked at all of the stations that I went to was wonderful. I wouldnt hesitate to get another one of these next time I am in beantown. I would even hope to take my old one so that I could use it from the airport through to a hotel if it was near one of the stations for the MBTA.
I found this to be a great tool.

OK, I let the matter go for a while, (a month) having spent time and energy for my $ 50. Maybe things take time…
So, about a week ago I start emailing to check in. Same stuff. Very nice cordial replies. No real help and not the promised phone call with any update.
Wait a couple of days and start hitting the emails harder. One a day. Peevish but trying not to crossover to the dark side.
Finally a call. They are trying to get my card refunded but that comes from MBTA accounting.
Can I have their number? They transfer me. The people there are out eating and should be back after 2:30. Only interns are at the phones right now.
Call back later. My card is being credited. Should take 2 – 3 business days.
We’ll see…

Apparently people who have been riding the T for a long time think the charlie card kicks ass because it’s better than the tokens they had to use until recently. Apparently, a mere few years ago, you had to buy, carry, and utilize tokens. Okaayyyy, I can see why you think the charlie card is the cat’s meow!
But for the rest of us, the Charlie card system is still horribly outdated. You can create a MyCharlie account online and register your card (so if you lose it, theoretically they can deactivate your card and transfer the balance to a new card), but that’s about all you can do online. You can add value, but you still need to tap your charlie card at a machine for the value to load, which is useless if the next station where you plan to board the train lacks charlie card machines (which is most of the green line). Also, value/​passes that you add online are not available until the next day. And there is no way to do an auto-​reload, for example to add $ 25 whenever the charlie card balance drops below $ 5, like you can do on a Starbucks card. You also cannot access your account history online, for example to verify that the appropriate amounts were credited to your account upon reload and deducted upon use.
The charlie card gets 2 stars because it exists, and is an improvement over the tokens. But the lack of ability to manage it online prevents a higher rating.

I love the Charlie Card for the sole fact that it will save me money. As a person who travels with the T 4 – 5 times a week for school and recreational purposes, it’s great to save money on each trip.
What I don’t like is the fact that if you lose your card, you have to go to Downtown Crossing to get another one. They used to have it at all the stops, if they’d bring that back that would be awesome. And I have elderly parents who occasionally uses the T and it’s such a hassle to have to go to Downtown Crossing to get Senior passes.
The best part is having gotten rid of those awful tokens… but I still hate how the price of a single ride has skyrocketed and continues to do so every few years.

The Charlie Card is so much better than the tokens!
After fumbling around when I first moved to Boston with those faux currency tokens, this is a welcome change. Those little tokens always got mixed up in my change purse and could be a total in the you-​know-​what to find, particularly when faced with the pressure of an incoming train. I’m so relieved to be rid of the stress. I’m a sporadic user of the T (only weekends really), so never invested in a monthly pass.
I find the machines at the stations easy to use when reloading my Charlie Card. I don’t tend to load up the card, as I’d rather not loan the MBTA funds without services rendered. One of the nice benefits of the card is a reduced fare. Now granted it’s just 50 cents off bus or train services, but in the world where the MBTA continues to increase fares, every little bit helps. I also like how the turnstiles will tell you how much is left when you scan your card to enter. The worst feeling in the world is having $ 1.75 left and getting dinged when you try to go through.
If you use the T at all, it’s worth it to get a Charlie Card.

For a tourist, $ 18 for a week of unlimited travel is probably the best bargain in town. A battle with the Charlie Card dispensing machine forced us to make a cash vs. credit purchase, but otherwise the machine was pretty easy to use.
Musings about the T… Some of the trains are REALLY old. The screeching sound of the wheels around some of the corners will indelibly be imprinted in my brain as to what I imagine the sound emitted from the deepest bowels of hell would be like. You will find mysterious puddles of liquids in random spots in the stations and on the trains. The buskers at the various stations suck relative to other cities. But at the end of the day, you will get from point A to point B quickly, safely and inexpensively.

Dear Charlie, I Love You, but not your father & mother.
I’m sorry that you get a bad wrap because of the on time performance of the T. It is your fault? All you do it take money.
Those MIT kids almost beat you and stole your money. And not to mention those crazy people in the North Shore who were selling your soul for free.
Charlie — i miss you dearly… Please send your love to Philly and teach them your ways. They use this thing called «tokens?» Thank you for being down with the 21^st century.

I agree with the tenor of the other reviews that the Charlie Cards are a great idea with some execution flaws.
One problem I kept having is that I would tap my card and receive an error. Then I’d be the jerk holding up the line waiting for the turnstile to let me take another try with the card. Plus, there were definitely a few occasions on which my card balance went down after an error but the gates did not let me in.
Well, I’ve finally figured it out. The trick to not getting an error is to hold your Charlie Card against the sensor for until it registers. Don’t try to tap too quickly! Trying to be fast makes you slow!
I think Alanis Morrissette wrote a song about this once.

Go get the Charlie Card to save some money! If you have more than one person, then you can share a card. It is extremely easy to add money to the card. Just go to the kiosk, tap the card to the machine, add money, pay for the additional fare, and tap the card back to the machine. You’re all set to travel around Boston. Yay.
Single Fare for Subway — $ 2
Charlie Card Fare for Subway — $ 1.70

I think the Charlie Card, although a bit flimpsy and not exactly the easiest thing to put into the machines, was probably one of the best purchases I made towards the ease and facilitation of my Boston vacation for five days.
A mere $ 15 buys you 7 days of unlimited rides on all of the MBTA run buses and subways. This helped significantly since many of the places we went to were all over Boston. Instead of walking 1 — 2 miles, we can take a convenient train with fewer blocks of walking and catch more hours of museums and places open.
It seems very similar to the metro card so the only complaint I had was that my Charlie card was thick paper whereas the Metro card was plastic and much more durable and reloadable. I’d just feel weird reloading a paper card.

There is only one way to get around Boston, you have to have a Charlie (no not Charlie’s Angels or Charlie’s in Charge or Cho Cho Charlie though that ones close) ticket.
Why it’s called a Charlie ticket… See it all started back when… yeah, your guess is as good as mine. Seriously, Boston’s transit system looks crazy but is super easy. Though working the actual machines to get the Charlie tickets IS a little confusing. The El cars seem to have twice the space and are a lot cleaner then ours. If you’re lucky enough to ride a mini (not technical term, they look like trolley cars), you’ll probably be packed in but nothing us Chicagoans aren’t used to. I thought they were a lot of fun.

Charlie and I were great friends during my one week long trip in Boston. $ 15 for a seven day unlimited subway and bus pass!!! Great deal! Even if are on a 3 – 4 day trip, you should still get this card, so you don’t have to deal with the hassle of refilling the card when you are short on fare. You get your money’s worth after 6 uses anyways.
However, because I can be lame, I misplaced my Charlie Card twice. I still thought it was a great value despite paying $ 45 total. The transportation system in Boston was great and had no problem getting around town.
If you are visiting, get your Charlie Card and don’t drive! Walking and taking the subway is a great way to check out the city of Boston.