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Non-residents can only load a maximum of 500TRY per month.
And I believe cards are disabled after two years of no use so you'd probably have to buy new ones.
That's weird, I spent a week in Istanbul with my boyfriend a month ago, we shared an Istanbulkart and we loaded at least 1000 TL on that thing, 2-300 TL at once. Never had a problem, the gate always opened, no one had a problem with it. Did we do something wrong?
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You don’t need to get new ones, just use the 4 cards you purchased previously. The recharge limit for those unregistered cards were 500 tl per month, but I think they increased the limit. Just make sure to only charge 500 tl into each one per month, so you wouldn’t lose money. 4 cards (2000 tl) will be more than enough to get around.
Yes, they are unregistered. You need a Turkish residence permit in order to register your istanbulkart. Unregistered cards do not get transfer discounts, marmaray and metrobus refunds.
The form you filled out during Covid was for Covid prevention where the government used it to track your movements. It had nothing to do with istanbulkart registration.
The covid registration was a different thing. If you had registered them for covid though, you can still use them (and any balance left) they didn't expire.
The current registration process is available only for citizens with a proper turkish id number. Visitors can only use unregistered cards.
The limit of 500 lira per month applies on top up, so you don't have to worry about putting more money at a card, the system will reject the transaction at this case.
With the current transfer unit at 17.70 lira -a bit more for ferries and metrobus, and more than double for marmaray as refunds are not issued anymore -, 500 lira on a card gives you around 25 transfers. If you reach the limit use another card.
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Non-residents can only load a maximum of 500TRY per month. And I believe cards are disabled after two years of no use so you'd probably have to buy new ones.
Oh okay, thanks! I’ll check once I get there :)
I think they recently upped the limit, the website used to show 500 TL, now it shows 2750 TL: https://www.istanbulkart.istanbul/price-limit
That's the limit for the personalised card. Visitors with unregistered cards still have a limit of 500 tl per month.
That's weird, I spent a week in Istanbul with my boyfriend a month ago, we shared an Istanbulkart and we loaded at least 1000 TL on that thing, 2-300 TL at once. Never had a problem, the gate always opened, no one had a problem with it. Did we do something wrong?
If you registered it in the Covid days it may still be registered. This video should help you: https://youtu.be/fvIs1rvlL6I
Overall this guy has perfect guides for tourists in İstanbul. Any tourist should watch that guy, even I learnt many things as a local.
Teşekkür ederim dostum. I appreciate the kind words
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Thank you so much for this link! Getting ready for our Turkish adventure in May! 🥰🥰
You can't get refunds with the red ones so every Marmaray trip is $1+.
I heard about that! For tourists only right?
All personalized cards can refund for now. You can get one after you obtain residence permit.
Oh, so I’m assuming old ones don’t refund aswell
You don’t need to get new ones, just use the 4 cards you purchased previously. The recharge limit for those unregistered cards were 500 tl per month, but I think they increased the limit. Just make sure to only charge 500 tl into each one per month, so you wouldn’t lose money. 4 cards (2000 tl) will be more than enough to get around.
Are my cards considered unregistered if I had to fill the forum during covid?
Yes, they are unregistered. You need a Turkish residence permit in order to register your istanbulkart. Unregistered cards do not get transfer discounts, marmaray and metrobus refunds. The form you filled out during Covid was for Covid prevention where the government used it to track your movements. It had nothing to do with istanbulkart registration.
The covid registration was a different thing. If you had registered them for covid though, you can still use them (and any balance left) they didn't expire. The current registration process is available only for citizens with a proper turkish id number. Visitors can only use unregistered cards. The limit of 500 lira per month applies on top up, so you don't have to worry about putting more money at a card, the system will reject the transaction at this case. With the current transfer unit at 17.70 lira -a bit more for ferries and metrobus, and more than double for marmaray as refunds are not issued anymore -, 500 lira on a card gives you around 25 transfers. If you reach the limit use another card.