Cost of subway in NYC?
 

I can't seem to find the fares for the NYC subway on the MTA website. Is it $2.00 per trip no matter the distance? Also, is there a catch to the 20% bonus on buying cards over $10? Basically, I'm trying to determine if we should pay per use or buy a 1 day pass each day for our trip over Memorial weekend. On last year's trip, we spent an absurd amount of money on cabs and are hoping to save a little by taking the subway...

It is $2 each way regardless of distance. A day pass would be better depending on how many times you will be riding the subway that day. Good Luck!

Yes, $2 regardless of distance. That also includes a free transfer to or from a city bus. No trick to the 20% bonus--as long as you purchase AT LEAST $10 (on a single card--which CAN be used for more than one person) you will see that the value of the card is actually 20% more than what you paid. So, figure that if you buy a $10+ card, you get rides at $1.67 instead of $2 each.
For 3 days, you would spend $21 per person for unlimited daily cards. Figure out which seems best for you

There's no catch that I'm aware of to putting over $10 on the cards and saving money. You can use them for more than one person as well (or could last time I was there), so the first person swipes and it takes off one ride, then pass it back and the next person swipes and it takes off another ride.

A one-day pass is $7 (and you have to pay for each person). If you're there for 3 days, you'd spend $21 each, or $42 for two people on passes. If you put $42 on a single metrocard you'd actually get about $50 worth of rides, or 25 rides, or let's say 12 rides each. Will you ride the subway or bus, on average, more than 4 times per day? If so, buy the passes.

You can also start with a card that you put $10 on, giving you 3 rides each (for two people) and see at what rate you're using them. If you use it a lot the first day, buy passes for the remainder of your trip. If not, you can continue putting money on in smaller increments.

If you'd enjoy the flexibility of being able to hop on a bus or subway whenever your feet are tired, even for short distances, the pass is your best bet.

No one answer is best for everyone, but this should give you enough to figure out what's best for you.

BTW - I got my info here:

http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/metrocard/mcgtreng.htm

Also there are free transfers between subways and buses. If you take the subway one way and take a bus the other, if it's withing a certain time frame (I don't know what it is, maybe within 2 hrs), the 2nd ride is free.

Great information - thank you! Good to know that the cards can be used by more than one person as well. Now I'll have to look at our itinerary and see whether the unlimited pass or pay per ride option is better.

Careful about more than one person using a subway pass. That is definitely fine with a pay-as-you-go Metrocard. But with the one-day pass or the 7-day pass (or any of those type of passes), it cannot be swiped more than once within 10 minutes or so.

Sorry, a better description of what I was trying to say is that the unlimited ride metro-card (whether it be one-day or more than one-day) can not be swiped at the same station or on the same bus line within 18 minutes of the first swipe.

Here is the info:

http://mta.info/metrocard/termsunltd.htm

This was news to me about two people using one card (the 20% discount deal). You mean one person swipes the card and goes through then hands the card to the second person to swipe and then he goes through?

The pay per ride cards can be used by more than one person at the same time. And yes, it must be swiped once for each person. However, if you later transfer to another bus or subway within two hours, the card will register two transfers with just one swipe. The fare box will indicate that. So it's important to look at the fare box and only swipe once when two people transfer on the same card.

Unlimited cards cannot be used by more than one person at the same time.

That's right.

The 20% discount deal is not an unlimited ride card. It is a pre-paid card with set number of rides at a discount. Once it is swiped, the remaining $ balance (at the non-discounted rate) is shown on the fare machine. If there's sufficient balance, then the companion can use the balance.

We swiped the same discount card for two each trip in Apr.
For more than two it makes more sense in Manhattan to take a taxi.
Wow, after years/decades away and more recently living in central Mexico, we were stunned by the prices.
M (SMdA, Gto.)

Based on our experiences last year, it was definitely more expensive to take cabs. There were 3 of us traveling together and we each put about $100 into a kitty over a 3.5 day period. 90% of the money was used on cabs!

kc, we walked most everywhere in Manhattan (staying at 6th/57th and visiting restaurants at 1st/1st, 10 E 60th; 1st/12th; 9th/18th) and the various theaters as we live at 6800 ft and walk the hills here, but the subway and taxis were a bit of a trade off for two.
M (SMdA, Gto.)

It's true that I walk a heck of a lot farther when in NYC than I would at home! There is so much to see that it doesn't really occur to you how much you have walked until your feet ache at the end of the day. Last year, however, I had a freshly broken collarbone and was not willing to walk very far distances. In taking a cab to get from Times Square (we stayed at the Westin) to Lower Manhattan every day, it added up quickly without us even realizing it.

We were in New York for the first time and took the subway once the weekend of April 29. We got the $10 (6 trip) pass and I passed it back to my friend after I went through. Worked fine, except she started to go through and then stopped and had to use 2 swipes to get through. We still have one trip left (souvenier). Just want to caution you that they apparently do maintenance work on the weekends and although we went from 7th avenue to the Washington Square exit without any problem, when we tried to come back we had a problem finding a station that was open and going in our direction. (or even anyone to ask -- we weren't the only ones who didn't know where to go, many tourists were asking us) We finally, somehow, arrived at the Spring Street station and got on the right train. I still would take the subway again -- just would plan my route ahead of time. Have a great trip -- can't wait to go back.

Also keep in mind, that subways frequently are much faster than taxis. A taxi in traffic, can be slower than walking, and it can run up the fare.