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Update 11/9/19: This has been extended through December 27th, 2019. Hat tip to reader TC
The Offer
- NYC’s MTA subway system recently rolled out tap and go contactless terminals. Mastercard is offering free rides every Friday through December 27th, 2019
The Fine Print
- at any station between Grand Central and Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center on the 4, 5, or 6 subway lines to pay for a single-fare subway ride, and Mastercard will refund your fare
- Limit two rides per cardholder per Friday
Our Verdict
Should be useful for NYC readers.
View Comments (22)
Worked for me in Chinatown. I used Comenity bank card promotion
Great I dont have to jump on the turnstile on a friday until june =)
Does ApplePay count as contactless payment method? It worked in Chicago (CTA), though without promo.
Mastercard (including World/World Elite) is to lose price protection and extended warranty effective 7/1/2019. Does this happen to all mastercard regardless issuer?
https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/consumers/find-card-products/credit-cards/world-elite.html
Can this be used along multiple mastercard cards? i.e., Placing Citi Doublecash via samsung pay wallet and using the Citi Rewards+ card directly for a total of 4 entries/rides.
I am wondering that too
Is any of Citi DoubleCash, Dividend, and Paypal/Sychrony (grits teeth) Cashback MC contactless? What makes a MC contactlesss?
Great, this will be nice for my visit end of June. Thanks!
0 concactless / 3 mastercard (Arrival and debit cards from bank of the west and onewest)
Great for tourists traveling between Manhattan and Brooklyn on a Friday.
For any NYC residents/employees who already use unlimited-ride Metrocards, any benefits of this promotion are non-existent. Seems to be a pilot to encourage end-user testing with single-ride fares.
On the occasional short work+pleasure trip, I've found a 7d unlimited ($33) to end up being more cost effective, even though... $33 is 12 rides in 3 days (no more 5% bonus), even excluding airtrain.
Maybe with careful planning, I'd get some use out of the 'free' (N cards) day, but probably not.
Some residents take pay-as-you-go because they want flexibility for bus/express bus vs. subway, though. I did when I was temporarily in a walking cast.
ETA: It's also a pilot program because they want to encourage less folks to get MetroCards, a la London and its Oyster system.
Would Samsung Pay work?
"To redeem this offer, Mastercard cardholders must use their contactless credit or debit Mastercard or their Mastercard credit or debit card through their contactless-enabled device to pay..."