HOP Cards

A HOP Card (or just HOP) is a smart card that you can use to pay for public transport.

Hop Cards used to be free, but now you have to pay NZ$ 10.00 for it.

You always get 10% off, no matter how much money you use to top it up. So, weather you top it up with NZ$ 2.00 or with NZ$ 100.00, you always get the same 10% off discount.

I advice you to register your card online. That way, if you lose or somebody steal it, you can buy another card and keep all the credits you had in the previous one. The process is really simple. You just have to go to this link¹ and fill out the form bellow:

In that website, you can also check your balance. Be aware that the balance system is only refreshed once a day (during the night), so it's better to check first thing in the morning.

Pay attention, though, that HOP Cards are not accepted in all means of transportation. For instance, you can't use a HOP Card in a train or a ferry². There are even some buses that you cannot use the HOP card (usually buses that go too far from the city center).

However, if you really use public transportation a lot, you can get the monthly, weekly or even daily pass. If you use public transportation more than twice a day, it is almost certain that these kind of passes are the best ones for you! For instance, you could take a day off and go visit the main sightseeing of Auckland paying just for a daily pass, without having to expend NZ$ 40.00 in the Sightseeing bus³.

Finally, using a HOP is a piece of cake. Just tag on when you get on the bus and tag off when you leave it. The GPS in the bus will automatically charge you the right amount of stages you have used.

By the way, here goes some things that might help you if English isn't your first language:

To tag on: to put your card next to the reader machine so the system knows you have just got on the bus.
To tag off: same thing as above, except that now the system knows you are getting off and then calculates how many stages you have traveled in order to charge you the right amount of money.

And here are 2 recorded sentences you will often hear when you tag on/off:

"Please, remember to tag off." (When you tag on)
"Please, check your balance." (When you tag off)

PS: When I first arrived in Auckland I though the later was "Please check your bags!!" (you know, so you make sure you are not leaving anything inside the bus). Just two weeks later, with my ears getting used to the accent, I realized that it was "balance", not "bags"!! =P



## Links, Resources & Extra information ##

1) https://www.myhop.co.nz/About-HOP/Pages/3-Steps-To-Using-HOP.aspx
2) In some rare times, they let you use the HOP card in a ferry or a train. You just have to check in their website.
3) http://www.explorerbus.co.nz/