Leap card Ireland: top-up, balance, caps and refunds

The TFI Leap card is Ireland’s prepaid travel card: you load credit onto it, tap on and off, and pay less than the cash fare on bus, Luas, DART and commuter rail. It is run by the National Transport Authority, and every action — buying, topping up, registering, refunds — happens on the official site at leapcard.ie.

This page is not the official Leap site. It exists to answer the questions the official site answers slowly: which card you actually qualify for, what the caps really mean, how long an online top-up takes to land, and how to get your money back.

Everything below was checked against TFI’s own pages on 1 August 2026. Fares and caps are reviewed annually, so check the date at the top before relying on a figure.

What a Leap card is and where it works

A Leap card is a contactless smartcard that stores travel credit and, in some cases, prepaid tickets. It works on Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland, Luas, DART, Irish Rail commuter services, Bus Éireann city services, TFI Local Link, and a long list of private operators.

Two things make it worth carrying rather than paying cash:

• Leap fares are cheaper than cash fares on most services.
• Daily and weekly caps stop you paying more than a set amount, which cash payment never does.

The card itself is not the money. The credit sits on the chip, which is why a top-up bought online has to be “collected” by tapping somewhere before you can spend it. That single fact explains most Leap card confusion.

Leap card types and which one you qualify for

There are seven card types. Choosing the wrong one is the most expensive mistake people make, because the discount differences are large.

Card	Who it’s for	Deposit	Where to get it
Adult	Anyone 19+	€5	Online or from around 2,500 Leap agents
Adult personalised	Adults who need photo ID on the card (required for TaxSaver)	€5	Online only
Child 5–8	Ages 5 to 8, up to the 9th birthday	Not stated by TFI	Apply online, posted out
Child 5–15	Ages 5 to 15, up to the 16th birthday	€3	Leap agents or online
Child 16–18	Ages 16 to 18, up to the 19th birthday	€3	Online only, photo required
Young Adult 19–25	Ages 19 to 25, up to the 26th birthday	€5	Online only, photo required
Student	Aged 16–18 or 26+ in full-time education	€5	Online only, photo required

Every card except the free Child 5–8 card needs a minimum €5 of travel credit when you buy it. The deposit is refundable on a registered adult card.

Young Adult card. This is the one most people are searching for, and it is worth the paperwork: it gives 50% off TFI fares for anyone aged 19 to 25, right up to their 26th birthday. The upper age limit used to be 23 and was raised to 25. It can only be bought online, needs a photo, and is posted to you. If you already hold a valid Student Leap card, you get the same 50% reduction without applying for a Young Adult card.

Student card. Confusingly, the Student Leap card is for people the Young Adult card does not cover: those aged 16 to 18, or 26 and over, in full-time education. Full-time means 15 or more hours a week on a course lasting at least six months or 25 weeks. You need a letter from your college on headed paper confirming both.

Child 5–8. Children aged 5 to 8 travel free across the TFI network on this card. Under-5s travel free anyway.

How to top up a Leap card

There are four ways to add credit, and they differ mainly in how fast the money reaches the chip.

1. The TFI Leap Top-Up app (instant). The free Leap Top-Up app tops up your card instantly by holding it against your phone. It needs NFC — an iPhone 7 or later, or an NFC-enabled Android phone. This is the fastest method and the only one that works from your sofa. Get it from the official apps page; do not download Leap apps from third-party APK sites.

2. Leap agents (instant). Around 2,500 shops nationwide — mostly Payzone newsagents and convenience stores. Hand over the card and cash or a card payment, and the credit is on the chip before you leave.

3. Ticket machines (instant). Luas, DART and commuter rail ticket machines top up Leap cards directly. Put the card in the card pocket.

4. Online at leapcard.ie (not instant). You buy the credit on the website, then collect it by tapping. TFI’s own FAQ says to allow up to 36 hours for the credit to be ready at your nominated collection point, though another TFI page quotes up to 48 hours — assume the longer figure if you are travelling tomorrow.

That collection step is the part people miss. An online top-up is not spendable until you tap at your chosen load location: a Leap agent, a Luas validator, a DART or commuter rail validator or gate in the short hop zone, or the Leap Top-Up app.

Limits. The minimum top-up is €5. A Leap card can hold a maximum of €150 of travel credit at any one time; a top-up that would push you over is refused.

Auto top-up

Auto top-up tops the card up automatically by direct debit when the balance falls below €10. You choose a fixed amount of €30, €40 or €50.

Setting it up takes longer than people expect:

1. Register the card at leapcard.ie and open Manage Auto Top-Up.
2. Enter a SEPA bank account that accepts direct debits, with BIC and IBAN.
3. TFI sends a tiny payment (a couple of cent) to that account within three working days, with a verification code in the reference, formatted like Leap-1234-87654321.
4. Enter that code online.
5. Travel with the card within 42 days. The instruction is written to the chip when you tap, and takes two to three days to become active.

You cannot change the €30/€40/€50 amount once it is set — you have to switch auto top-up off and reapply. Cancelling takes up to three working days, and a top-up can still trigger in that window. If a direct debit fails for want of funds, the card is blocked.

How to check your Leap card balance

Four ways, all free:

• Leap Top-Up app — tap the card to an NFC phone. Fastest and shows the balance actually on the chip.
• Ticket machine — put the card in the card pocket at any Luas, DART or commuter rail machine.
• Leap agent — any Payzone or TFI Leap agent will read it.
• Online — log in at leapcard.ie if the card is registered, and you also get transaction history.

One caveat worth knowing: the online balance is TFI’s record, not the chip’s. If you have bought credit online and not yet collected it, the two will disagree. The chip is what the validator reads.

Fare capping and the 90 minute fare

These two features are where the savings actually come from, and neither requires you to do anything except tap.

The TFI 90 minute fare

Tap on and you get 90 minutes of travel across bus, Luas and Zone 1 rail for a single fare. You are charged for the first journey; subsequent journeys inside the 90 minutes are free, as long as you tap on for each one.

	Dublin	Cork city
Adult	€2.00	€1.70
Young Adult / Student	€1.00	€0.85
Child (5–18)	€0.65	€0.55

In Dublin it covers Dublin Bus (excluding Xpresso and Nitelink), Go-Ahead Ireland city services, both Luas lines, and DART or commuter rail within Zone 1. Xpresso and Nitelink services are charged at €2.40 adult, €1.20 student. In Cork it applies to city bus services only, not rail, and excludes routes 200, 226, 228, 240, 241, 245, 260 and 261.

The catch: if the driver takes a payment for more than one passenger, that payment falls outside the 90 minute fare.

Daily and weekly caps

Once your spending in a day or a week hits the cap, everything else that period is free.

	Dublin daily	Dublin weekly	Cork daily	Cork weekly
Adult	€6.00	€24.00	€5.10	€20.40
Young Adult / Student	€3.00	€12.00	€2.55	€10.20
Child	€1.95	€7.80	€1.65	€6.60

The clock matters. A daily capping period runs from 4:30am to 4:29am the next day. The weekly period runs from 4:30am Monday to 4:29am the following Monday. Nothing carries over. A journey home at 2am on Saturday still counts against Friday.

Capping applies across Dublin city bus (Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland), Luas, DART and commuter rail within Zone 1, and eligible Cork city bus services. It does not apply to Nitelink, tours or Bus Éireann.

Fare zones

Dublin and its commuter belt are divided into four Leap fare zones reaching about 50km from the city centre. Zone 1 is the city; Zones 2 to 4 are the commuter area. Single Leap fares on rail run to €3.90 (Zone 2), €6.00 (Zone 3) and €7.50 (Zone 4) for adults, and half that for young adults, students and children. The zonal structure came in on 28 April 2025.

Registering your Leap card

Registering is free, takes a few minutes, and is the only thing standing between you and losing your balance if the card goes missing.

Go to leapcard.ie, click Register, and enter the 14-digit number printed on the card. Wait 24 hours after buying the card before you try — a brand new card will not be recognised immediately.

Registration gets you: protection of your credit and tickets if the card is lost or stolen, online transaction history, the ability to request a refund or replacement, and access to auto top-up. An unregistered adult card cannot be refunded or replaced. That is the whole argument.

Renewal and expiry

Adult Leap cards do not have a fixed expiry date. Age-based cards do, and they expire automatically:

• Child 5–8 — on the 9th birthday
• Child 5–15 — on the 16th birthday
• Child 16–18 — on the 19th birthday
• Young Adult 19–25 — on the 26th birthday
• Student — at the end of the academic period you evidenced

What to do next depends on your age. If you are 19 to 25, apply for a Young Adult card and keep the 50% discount. If you are under 19 or over 25 and still in full-time education, renew as a Student card. If you are 26 or over and no longer studying, you need an Adult card.

Renewing a Student Leap card means applying online with fresh documentation: proof of date of birth, and a letter from your college on official headed paper confirming the course is full time (15+ hours) and runs for more than six months or 25 weeks. Allow up to five working days for the confirmation email, then collect the card from a Student Leap Card agent with your student ID and proof of age. It costs a €5 refundable deposit plus a minimum €5 of travel credit.

Separately, a card that has not been used for more than 24 months is treated as dormant under TFI’s terms and can be cancelled. If a card has been in a drawer for two years, check the balance before assuming it is still there.

Refunds and getting your money back

You can get travel credit and the card deposit back, but only on a registered card. Start at leapcard.ie: log in, choose Refund or Replace, and follow the steps.

The rules, plainly:

• Registered adult cards can be refunded or replaced, including the €5 deposit and any remaining balance.
• Young Adult, Student and personalised Child cards can be replaced without registering — you simply reapply.
• Visitor cards cannot be refunded or replaced under any circumstances.
• Refunds are paid by bank transfer only. TFI no longer issues cheques. You supply IBAN and BIC for an Irish or SEPA account. If your account is outside SEPA, the only option offered is to donate the balance to the Irish Red Cross, Focus Ireland, UNICEF Ireland or Médecins Sans Frontières.
• Wrong charge? Refunds for incorrect charges are only available for 30 days after the transaction. Do not sit on it.
• Expired card? You generally have six months after expiry to claim the balance. Student cardholders have until 31 March of the following year.

TFI reserves the right to charge reasonable administration fees on refunds, replacements and personalisation; current fees are shown on leapcard.ie.

Lost or stolen. Report it immediately through your online account or on 0818 824 824. Blocking the card can take up to 48 hours, and anything spent before the block is gone.

Card not working. Try it on a different validator or machine first — a single faulty reader is more common than a faulty card. If it fails everywhere, request a replacement through your account.

TaxSaver Leap cards through your employer

A TaxSaver ticket is an annual or monthly travel ticket bought by your employer and paid for out of your gross salary, so you never pay income tax, PRSI or USC on the cost. It is loaded onto a personalised Leap card.

The part that catches people out: you cannot buy a TaxSaver ticket yourself. Revenue rules require the employer to purchase it on your behalf. If your employer does not operate the scheme, there is no individual workaround. The official scheme site is taxsaver.ie.

Other things worth knowing before you sign up:

• Tickets are non-transferable and tied to you.
• They cannot be paused or suspended for remote working, maternity leave or sick leave. An annual ticket bought before a change in circumstances is generally a sunk cost.
• If you leave the job mid-ticket, what happens depends on your employer’s policy — you may keep it or be asked to return it. Any refund goes through your employer, not to you directly.
• Part-time employees can take part if the employer offers the scheme.
• Tickets now include multimodal zonal passes, listed on the application e-form under Multimodal Zonal Based Tickets.
• If you previously held a Luas TaxSaver ticket, you will be asked to submit a photo, because a new card is required under the current ticketing system.

Public service staff apply through the NSSO annual travel pass scheme, which has its own deadlines — for a January start, applications typically close the previous October.

What’s changing: contactless bank cards

The NTA is replacing the Leap system with account-based ticketing that lets you tap a bank card, phone or watch directly. On the current timeline, hardware appears during 2027 and contactless payment goes live in 2028, starting in the Greater Dublin Area across bus, rail and tram.

Leap cards, Free Travel passes and discounted fare products will continue to be fully supported through the transition, so there is nothing to do now. If you are buying a Leap card in 2026, it remains the cheapest way to travel.

Frequently asked questions

How do I top up my Leap card online?

Go to leapcard.ie, select Top-up, enter your Leap card number, choose an amount and a collection point, and pay by debit or credit card. Then collect the credit by tapping at that collection point — a Leap agent, a Luas validator, a DART or commuter rail validator, or the Leap Top-Up app. Allow up to 36 hours before it is ready.

How do I check my Leap card balance?

Tap the card to an NFC phone using the Leap Top-Up app, put it in the card pocket at any Luas, DART or commuter rail ticket machine, ask any Leap agent, or log in at leapcard.ie if the card is registered.

What is the maximum balance a Leap card can hold?

€150. The minimum top-up is €5.

Do I need to register my Leap card?

Not to use it, but yes if you ever want to protect the balance. An unregistered adult card cannot be refunded or replaced if lost or stolen. Registration is free at leapcard.ie and needs the 14-digit card number.

Does a Leap card expire?

Adult cards have no fixed expiry. Child, Young Adult and Student cards expire automatically on the relevant birthday or at the end of the academic period. Separately, any card unused for more than 24 months is treated as dormant and may be cancelled.

How do I get a refund on my Leap card?

Log in to your registered account at leapcard.ie and choose Refund or Replace. You get the remaining balance and the €5 deposit, paid by bank transfer to a SEPA account. Unregistered adult cards are not eligible. Visitor cards are never refundable.

Can I get a Young Adult Leap card at 25?

Yes. The Young Adult card covers ages 19 to 25 and stays valid until your 26th birthday. Apply online — it cannot be bought in a shop — and it is posted to you.

Can I buy a TaxSaver ticket myself?

No. Revenue rules require your employer to buy the ticket on your behalf and deduct the cost from your gross pay. Without an employer scheme there is no individual route.

Does fare capping work across bus, Luas and DART together?

Yes, in Dublin. Capping is multimodal across Dublin city bus (Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland), Luas, DART and commuter rail inside Zone 1. Nitelink, tours and Bus Éireann are excluded.

What does the Leap Visitor Card cost?

€8 for one day, €18 for three days and €24 for seven days, giving unlimited travel on Dublin Bus, Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin city services, Luas, and DART and commuter rail in Dublin. The period starts from first use, not from purchase. It is not valid on hop-on hop-off tours or Bus Éireann, an unused card expires 12 months after purchase, and it can never be refunded.

Is my Leap card still going to work when contactless arrives?

Yes. The NTA has said Leap cards, Free Travel passes and discounted fare products will be fully supported throughout the transition to the new contactless system, which is due in 2028.