Leaving Nov 4 for Lisbon. I can't seem to get a sense of metro, train and subways. Are they the same exact thing? There are Carris passes, and then there are metro passes for only the metro? Then there is a Aero-Bus pass from the airport and you can use it that same day for the buses and streetcars. But not metro? I'm confused. Thanks.

We bought a pass for "anything that moves" in Lisbon , don't know whatit was called. Also covered the elevadors up the hillsides.

I have never bought any of those special cards for tourists (though they may be good deals, I just don't know) because the cost of public transport is so low. Sometime during 2008 or 2009, the system changed to make the same magnetic card read-able by machines on all forms of Lisbon transit -- the metro, buses and the trams. This is a tremendous convenience, and eliminates the need to guess how much you'll use in each one of the systems.

I have been back to Lisbon since then, and for a two week stay put 10 euros on a card and then re-charged it as necessary. The good thing about that system is that you don't need to worry about using the amount on consecutive days, etc, as you may with the tourist cards.

The easiest thing to do is to buy a daily pass that covers all transport (Metro and Carris buses and trams). You can buy from vending machine from any metro station or attendant in busier ones. Card is 0.50 euro is good for 1 year. Fare is 3.70 euro per day. If you don't need daily pass you can put any number of fares that don't expire on it using the machine (I think there is discount with 10 fares). CP rail (Sintra, Cascais, etc) also uses similar fare method but their card is different (looks the same but says CP on it)

Yes, AeroBus or AeroShuttle ticket (3.5 euro) can be used for 24 hrs on Carris system only. I guess you have to show it to driver. The card that I mentioned in my previous post is tapped on the fare scanner. Scanner lights green if card is good.

This Summer we bought a tourist card (cost 50c plus €3 to cover journeys) that covers all forms of public transport (including the ferry journeys from Lisbon across the Tagus, and the Elevadors). Each journey is deducted from the card, and it's a very simple process to "top-up" the card at any metro station. Your hotel or any turismo will be able to advise you on this. It's incredibly good value and so convenient not to be fiddling around with coins for each journey.

Metro and subway are the same thing.
Carris is the name of the company runing the buses, trams and elevadores.

Thank you. This answers my question. jk

Just back - we bought the 3.50 euro Aerobus ticket for the first day and traveled around on buses that day. The next two days we just bought the all-day all-transport pass for 3.75 euros per day - it was just simpler that worrying about how much was on the card and what transports it could be used on. The machines are in the metro, and all instructions are available in English so it's no trouble to do.