Which Seoul Transit Card to Buy: A KRW 3,000 T-money or the Mpass Day Pass
One card gets you onto every Seoul subway and bus. Which one is the question. The T-money you can grab at a convenience store for KRW 3,000 and the Mpass, sold only at Seoul Station for international visitors, work in very different ways.
T-money: a KRW 3,000 card, then top up what you need
T-money costs KRW 3,000 for the card, then you load any amount. Buy it at convenience stores, subway stations or tourist information centres, and top up at convenience stores, in the Tmoney Pay app or at ATMs. Every bus or subway ride gets KRW 100 off, and the balance never expires.
Balances under KRW 20,000 can be refunded at a convenience store for a small fee; bigger ones go to T-money headquarters. The KRW 3,000 for the card itself is not refundable.
Mpass: up to 20 rides a day, built for visitors
The Mpass is a card made for international visitors, good for up to 20 uses a day on most subways and public buses. Add money and it also pays at convenience stores and in taxis.
You buy it, and get refunds, at Seoul Station T-money Town. It activates on first use, lasts one month from purchase and expires at midnight on the last day.
Buy after 5 p.m. and save KRW 3,000
The 1-day pass is KRW 15,000, 2-day 23,000, 3-day 30,500, 5-day 47,500 and 7-day 64,500. After 17:00 they drop by KRW 3,000 each, to 12,000, 20,000, 27,500, 44,500 and 61,500.
If you land in the evening and start riding tomorrow, the after-17:00 price is the one to look for.
Pick by how often you ride
If your days are packed with five or six hops or more, the Mpass is what it was designed for. If you walk a lot and ride once or twice, a KRW 3,000 T-money with just the credit you need is simpler. The real saving depends on your routes, so run the numbers on the fare table yourself.
With T-money there is also KRW 1,000 off a KRW 10,000 purchase at a participating traditional market if you rode transit within the previous hour. Figures follow Visit Seoul's official page as checked on Oct. 27, 2026; confirm before you fly.
Sources & context
2026-10-26T23:17:06.561Z
Visit Seoul, Transportation page ↗Wikimedia Commons, Seoul Station concourse ↗Photo credit
Minseong Kim (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA 4.0The first-floor concourse of Seoul Station (taken Nov. 2014; not a photo of the card counter). Photo by Minseong Kim, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons