Common Mistakes with the 7-Day OMNY Card

The 7-day unlimited OMNY card for New York is a convenient payment method for public transport in New York, including the subway and local buses. If you use the prepaid OMNY card for 12 rides, it will be converted to an Unlimited OMNY card for the rest of the week. However, sometimes things go wrong, causing you to miss out on free rides. I’ll tell you more about common problems when using OMNY so that you can avoid them and make the most of your bus and subway pass.

How does the 7-day OMNY card work?

On my other OMNY page, you can read all about how the 7-day OMNY card for New York works. Please read this information carefully before leaving to ensure you’re well prepared for the trip.

Guidelines for using OMNY

Are you buying a 7-day prepaid OMNY card? Then there are two important guidelines you need to remember so that you don’t miss out on the free rides. If you unintentionally fail to follow these rules, you may need to take action to continue enjoying unlimited travel after 12 paid rides.

🚫 Use the OMNY card for yourself only; do not share it.
🚫 Tap your card no more than once per station/bus every 18 minutes.

The 18-minute rule

In order to continue using the unlimited feature, you may not tap your card more than once every 18 minutes at the same station or on the same bus. However, you can transfer from the subway to a bus or tram, or vice versa, within 18 minutes. You can also tap your card at a different station or on a different bus. But you may not use the card twice in quick succession at the same station.

This rule has been put in place to prevent multiple people from using the same card one after the other, thereby travelling with one unlimited card.

Problems using the OMNY card

I sometimes hear that travellers encounter problems when using the OMNY pass. They then have to make adjustments to keep their unlimited OMNY. I’ll go over some of the most common mistakes so you can avoid the same thing happening to you.

You take the wrong line

You want to take the subway to Downtown and tap in. But when you’re on the platform, you realise that all the subway trains are going to Uptown. Sometimes it’s not possible to reach the other platform inside the subway station. So you walk back upstairs, cross the street and tap in again at the entrance for the right direction.

Problem: In this case, you have tapped in twice at the same station within 18 minutes.

Consequence: You pay for two rides, but only one of them counts towards the weekly fare cap (unlimited travel after 12 rides). This means that your remaining balance is too low to cover all 12 rides.

Solution: Top up your OMNY card with $2.90 at a ticket machine so that you have enough credit to complete the 12 rides.

You share the card with multiple people

You and your partner both have your own OMNY card. However, your partner cannot find their card, so you decide to travel together using the same card. You tap to enter first, hand over the card, and then your partner uses the card.

Problem: You use one card for multiple people.

Consequence: You pay for two rides, but only one of them counts towards the weekly fare cap. As a result, your remaining balance is too low to pay for the rest of the 12 rides.

Solution: Top up your card with $2.90 at a ticket machine so that you have sufficient credit for the remaining rides.

You take the JFK AirTrain with your Prepaid OMNY card

You have purchased a prepaid 7-day OMNY card for 12 rides. Since you also need to take the AirTrain from JFK Airport, you decide to pay for the JFK AirTrain with the same OMNY card.

Problem: Your 7-day prepaid OMNY card is loaded with exactly the balance you need for 12 rides. A ride on the JFK AirTrain is more expensive than a metro ride and does not count towards the weekly fare cap.

Consequence: There’s insufficient balance on your OMNY card to pay for the 12 rides in public transportation, which means you will not reach the weekly cap and receive unlimited travel.

Solution: Top up your card at a ticket machine with the amount of the AirTrain ticket, that is, $8.50. This will restore the balance and allow you to travel 12 times by metro or bus.

You have used the card too early

This problem can occur for people who are in New York for more than 7 days. For example, you plan to use public transportation extensively from Friday onwards and want to take advantage of the 7-day fare cap. However, on the Tuesday before, you don’t have your credit card at hand, and you decide to use your OMNY card for that one ride.

Problem: The OMNY weekly period (7 calendar days) does not start on Friday as planned, but on Tuesday when you first used the card. Therefore, your unlimited travel period also ends earlier, on Monday instead of Thursday. Unfortunately, you cannot change the start date, meaning that your free travel days will not match your travel pattern.

Consequence: You may miss out on days when you would have liked to travel for free, because the week has already been “used up” before your intensive travel period begins.

Solution: Unfortunately, once this has happened, there is no solution. You will have to pay for the rides separately.

You are at the ticket machine and see a negative balance

It is possible for your OMNY card to go into the red. This means that you have travelled more than the amount of credit you had on your card. This could be due to one of the situations described above, for example.

Consequence: You cannot use the card at this time.

Solution: Top up the card with any amount you wish, but at least the negative balance plus the price of one metro ride ($2.90), so that you can use it again for your next journey.

You get an error message when trying to tap in

Occasionally, the device may display an error message when you try to tap in. The following messages are the most common:

• Tap Again / Tap One Card: Please try again and ensure that you do not accidentally hold another payment method (such as a credit card) nearby.
• Card Not Accepted: Your card may have expired, you may have insufficient funds, or the reader may not be functioning properly.
• Ride Limit Exceeded: You have tapped the same card more than 4 times, or too quickly in succession.
• Inspection Mode Active / Not In Service: The reader is offline or undergoing maintenance.

Do you have any questions about (the use of) the 7-day OMNY card? Feel free to email me at eric@newyork.co.uk!