As noted here, it seems much better to get a CharlieCard rather than a CharlieTicket. Unfortunately, I didn't know this and bought a stored value CharlieTicket. Is there any way I can transfer the amount in my CharlieTicket into a CharlieCard instead, so I don't pay the higher ticket prices? Will the fare machines let me do this?
2 Answers
As usually, the MBTA is quite obtuse about this. Apparently this did work at some time (http://charlieonthembta.blogspot.com/2006/12/now-can-you-transfer-funds-from.html) but there is no current information whether this is still the case or not.
They are pretty clear that you can't redeem the remaining value of a Charlie Card for cash. It's a pretty devious system actually: the Charlie Ticket subway fare is $2.65 and the smallest default value at the vending machine is $5.00 (although you can select "other amount"). There are probably quite a few Charlie Tickets $2.35 remaining value been thrown away.
Your best shot is to go to the Charlie Card store in Downtown Crossing and ask.
-
The devious part is not the current fare, but the numerous increases in the fare over the years. May 11, 2016 at 21:31
-
Great, I'll check at Downtown Crossing. Thanks for the blog link too.– PonyEarsMay 14, 2016 at 3:01
-
Charlie Ticket fares being higher than Charlie Card fares when the Charlie Card is free is definitely very devious. Not to mention the default value that @Hilmar pointed out.– PonyEarsMay 14, 2016 at 3:02
-
A follow up: So I asked at Downtown Crossing, and was told that they have stopped doing this, but that there is a way to do it by mailing in the CharlieTickets. Unfortunately, the MBTA employee who said this was in a rush, and didn't seem to want to explain. When I tried to dig deeper, I was told that the "easiest" thing to do was to avoid doing the transfer and instead use up the CharlieTicket. I'm not convinced this is the policy, but oh well.– PonyEarsMay 20, 2016 at 1:48
-
FWIW, they recently changed the default values to be multiples of ticket prices. (At least, for filling Charlie Cards — I haven't checked tickets.)– mattdmAug 30, 2016 at 17:30
At least as of 2022, you can do this via mail using the "Consolidate cards or tickets" process listed at https://www.mbta.com/fares/charliecard