Septa airport line and advanced purchase?

Hello
I am not very experienced with SEPTA so I just want to clarify something. I know that the Zone 4 ticket costs $6.50 advanced purchase and $8.00 on board. The Philly airport website states that

" Fare: $8.00 one way to the following convenient stops (an additional fare is required for connections to other SEPTA regional rail lines)"

I assume this is just to simplify that when you board, you will pay $8.00, correct? I will be picking up a friend at the airport via rail and I thought I'd just buy him a ticket at 30th street station to save the hassle (and $1.50!). Can I do that?

You are correct. There is no SEPTA ticket sales location at the airport, so most inbound passengers would have to pay the $8 onboard fare. But, you can certainly buy a ticket at 30th Street ahead of time. Why give SEPTA more money than you have to?

Also, will you be transferring to another Regional Rail line?

MichaelBug wrote:You are correct. There is no SEPTA ticket sales location at the airport, so most inbound passengers would have to pay the $8 onboard fare. But, you can certainly buy a ticket at 30th Street ahead of time. Why give SEPTA more money than you have to?

Also, if you board at one of the inbound stations that do not have a ticket office (or it is closed when boarding) and pay the extra onboard fare, keep the ticket receipt as you can get the surcharge rebated at a CC ticket window.

the sarge wrote:

MichaelBug wrote:You are correct. There is no SEPTA ticket sales location at the airport, so most inbound passengers would have to pay the $8 onboard fare. But, you can certainly buy a ticket at 30th Street ahead of time. Why give SEPTA more money than you have to?

Also, if you board at one of the inbound stations that do not have a ticket office (or it is closed when boarding) and pay the extra onboard fare, keep the ticket receipt as you can get the surcharge rebated at a CC ticket window.

"Rebated" - The rebate applies only to the purchase of any roundtrip at a center city window.

Thank you for your responses. We will be connecting at 30th street but to AMTRAK, so this will be the only regional rail line we will use.

barciur wrote:Thank you for your responses. We will be connecting at 30th street but to AMTRAK, so this will be the only regional rail line we will use.

Septa has some very backwards fare policies. you get to pay extra because of their inability to have an agent or ticket vending machines. Fwiw amtrak will provide you with red cap service if you need it at 30th st.

Another alternative if you have enough advance* leeway would be to order the ticket(s) online. I've done it a couple of times; the tickets were put in the mail the same day and arrived a couple of days later, with no delivery charges.

Suburban Station wrote:Septa has some very backwards fare policies. you get to pay extra because of their inability to have an agent or ticket vending machines. Fwiw Amtrak will provide you with red cap service if you need it at 30th st.

+10. It amazes me that the city hasn't stepped in, at least for Airport riders. Every time I take the Airport Line I hear passengers grumbling about having to pay extra, which must do wonders for the city's image among visitors. At one point I tried writing to Rina Cutler about the problem but wasn't even honored with a form-letter response.


(*) SEPTA also has some very backwards grammar. The rest of the industry and most dictionaries say the term should be "advance purchase", but SEPTA sets its own (sub)standards.

barciur wrote:Hello
I am not very experienced with SEPTA so I just want to clarify something. I know that the Zone 4 ticket costs $6.50 advanced purchase and $8.00 on board. The Philly airport website states that

" Fare: $8.00 one way to the following convenient stops (an additional fare is required for connections to other SEPTA regional rail lines)"

I assume this is just to simplify that when you board, you will pay $8.00, correct? I will be picking up a friend at the airport via rail and I thought I'd just buy him a ticket at 30th street station to save the hassle (and $1.50!). Can I do that?

BC: Yes-you can...You would ask for Zone 4 weekday tickets which cost $6.50 each...From what I see you would need three which would
cost $19.50 - They are good for six months from the date of sale...Why pay the on-board penalty charge when there is no need to?

MACTRAXX