The Korea tour Card is a card that tourist or short term travellers can use to ride all forms of public transportation as well as get discounts at popular attraction spots and shopping destinations across South Korea
But how does it compare to other korea travel cards such as the WOWPass, Discover Seoul Pass and T Money and event the latest Climate Card?
Im gonna start off by first outlining exactly what the Korea Tour Card is and what it does before comparing it to other well known Korea Travel Passes
By the way this article is basically just an excerpt of my YouTube video, you can choose to watch it instead and don’t forget to subscribe if you prefer your information in video form
Alright let’s get into it!
Korea Tour Card 101
What is a Korea Tour Card?
The Korea Tour Card basically combines the capabilities of a TMoney card that allows you to take public transport in South Korea with discounted access to over 180 popular attractions, restaurants, and shops.
Where can you purchase?
You can easily purchase a Korea Tour Card at machines that look like this, they will cost you 4,000 Korean WON and you will find these machines at the arrival halls of any of the international airports or alternatively you will also be able to purchase this card at basically any convenience store in South Korea
Do note however that only cash is accepted so be sure to have some cash on hand, not to worry if you didnt already exchange some before your trip, there are money exchangers located at the arrival halls
How Can You To Up the Korea Tour Card?
As the Korea Tour Card is basically a TMoney card with some added benefits you can top up the card at the same places you top up a Tmoney card and that includes the recharge kiosks located at any subway station as well as any Korean convenience store
Much like the purchase of the card only Korean WON cash is accepted for top ups
Can Balance be Refunded?
You can also choose to get any balance on your Korea Tour Card refunded you are at the tail end of your trip and you can do this at basically any Korean convenience store, subway stations and TMoney Town which is located at exit 10 of the Seoul Station
Korea Tour Card vs TMoney Card
So what exactly are these benefits that I’m getting with the Korea Tour Card I hear you say?
Why thank you for asking as that leads quite nicely into the next section of this video aka what is the difference between the Korea Tour Card and the TMoney card?
The only key difference between these 2 cards is that the Korea Tour Card gives you the ability to purchase discounted access tickets to popular attraction spots shopping, services, restaurants, cafes, hanbok rental, river cruises, and more in South Korea
In Seoul you can get for example 20-30% off the entrance tickets to N Seoul Tower, 10% off Seoul Sky and 20,000 Korean WON off the DMZ Tour, aka a tour of the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea just to name a few
The card also gives you discounts and special offers at shopping malls, restaurants, cinemas and many more
Also these offers are also not limited to Seoul, the card also gives you discounted privileges at various locations in Busan and Jeju
And so if you were planning to visit most of these places anyway then the Korea Tour Card is not a bad choice!
Korea Tour Card vs Discover Seoul Pass
But if you’ve been watching my other videos you may also be aware of the Discover Seoul Pass which combines the same TMoney Pass capability with free or discounted entry to over seventy attraction spots in Seoul
So what’s the difference between these two cards?
Well for one the Discover Seoul Pass offers freebies and discounts for MORE spots in SEOUL, the Korea Tour Card on the other hand also has available benefits in Busan and Jeju Island for example that the Discover Seoul Pass will not cover
Second thing to note is the discounted or free tickets covered under a Discover Seoul Pass is only valid for either 48, 72 for 120 hours whereas the benefits under a Korea Tour Card is valid for your entire trip
Third is price, the Discover Seoul Pass covers more locations in Seoul but the pricing starts at 70,000 Korean WON for a 48 hour pass
And so to cut a long story short, if you’re only gonna be in Seoul and plan to do a LOT of sightseeing then get the Discover Seoul Pass
If you’re going to be moving around South Korea get the Korea Tour Card Instead
Korea Tour Card vs WOWPass
But what about the WOWPass?
Both cards have the Tmoney card capability built in so in that respect they are the same
However the WOWPass’s main selling point is that it allows you to exchange your home currency to WON at a competitive rate to either store and use on the card like a credit card or even withdrawn to be used as cash
The WOWpass accepts money from 16 difference currencies and you can check the exchange rate they offer on their official site or within their app
The card also offers you discounts and cash back rewards for purchases at major shopping malls, convenience stores and even Starbucks as you can see here
And so if you’re planning to do a lot of shopping the WOWPass could be a better choice for you.
Korea Tour Card vs Climate Card
But what about the Climate Card?
What’s the difference between the two?
The Climate Card gives you unlimited use of the subways and buses WITHIN Seoul whereas you will need to pay per ride when using the Korea tour Card which is basically a Tmoney card
The climate card however cannot be used outside of Seoul and so basically if you’re planning to explore places outside of Seoul having climate card alone will not suffice
I talk about the Climate Card in quite a bit more detail here if you are leaning more towards that
Combining Passes to Save on Travel!
As different passes have different functionalities you may even want to consider using a combination of these passes to maximise on your travel savings
For example if you only plan to stay in Seoul for your ENTIRE trip you might be better off getting a climate card tourist pass and choose to combine that with a Discover Seoul Pass to also get free or discounted access to many attraction spots in Seoul
But if you plan to travel to other places such as Jeju and Busan then the Korea Tour Card is a better alternative especially when compared to a normal TMoney Card
In summary whether you should get a Korea tour Card really depends on what you plan to do during your trip.
Conclusion
There are of course other things to consider before your upcoming trip which is why I have previously done a first timers guide to South Korea in which where I talk about everything I learnt through research before my trip and also what I had to learn the hard way whilst I was there
I Definitely recommend watching that so you dont end up making the same mistakes as I did, I’ve linked it here.
If you have any further questions or anything else you wanna say dont forget to leave me a comment in the comment section of the YouTube video or follow me on Instagram and Tiktok!
Enjoy Your Korea Trip!
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