The Octopus Card – Indispensable in Hong Kong

For my second post, I would like to talk about quite possibly the most important card a Hong Kong resident should have, the Octopus card. It’s no exaggeration to say that you’ll find at least 8 ways to use this card around Hong Kong. Let’s go through the main use cases:

Transport

You can use the Octopus card literally with any public transport system (and many private ones too!):

  • MTR trains (including Airport Express and light rail);
  • Buses;
  • Mini-buses (all green ones which are public, and many red ones which are run by private firms);
  • Ferries (Most commercial ferries accessed via the public piers should accept Octopus);
  • Trams; and
  • Some taxis (look for the Octopus card reader onboard)
You can also use the Octopus card to pay for tolls if you’re driving, including the new barrier-free tolls when you link up your Octopus card to your HKeToll account via the HKeToll app. I’ve never driven in Hong Kong though, so can’t verify how this system works exactly.

Dining

From my experience, you should be able to pay in most restaurants with the Octopus card, especially if they are franchised outlets. Even the mom-and-pop shops should accept Octopus as it’s fairly ubiquitous nowadays, though there’s always the odd ones who refuse to accept anything other than cash. Look for the signature orange colour and the infinite loop logo near the counter when making payment. 

As a rule-of-thumb, the further you are from the centre of Hong Kong (HK island & Kowloon), the less likely Octopus cards are accepted in the local (and older) outlets. It’s always a good idea to have about HK$1,000 or so in cash with you for the times where Octopus is not accepted (and also if you need to flag down taxis to get somewhere).

Shopping

Similar to dining, many stores, especially those with multiple branches or situated within shopping malls accept Octopus. Exceptions are likely the older standalone stores, and the stalls that line various shopping streets like Sham Sui Po. Probably one of the first few Cantonese words you should be learning is how to say Octopus (八達通), ba da tong. Even a butchered pronunciation should get the message across, plus it helps if you show your card or display it on your phone.

Online Payments

Due to its popularity, many online companies now accept Octopus as payment on their website or app. Notable shops/apps that I use regularly include Deliveroo, HKTVMall, HKTaxi, etc. However, in general, I would prefer to use credit cards to make payment to maximise miles-earning or cash back. I’ll touch base on online payments in future articles.

How Do I Get One?

There are two main ways to apply for the card:

  1. Physically : Buyt it at any MTR stations (except Racecourse station). There are other places you can apply for the cards (e.g. some Sun Ferry service centres) but you can’t go wrong heading to the service counter at most MTR stations;
  2. Digitally : Download the Octopus app on your phone (works for Apple phones and most Android phones which have Google Pay/Samsung Pay/Huawei Pay). That being said, if you’ve just arrived in Hong Kong and you do not have a local bank and/or credit card, you can only create an Octopus card for tourists (to top-up the balance with a non-HK credit card) which comes with higher transaction costs, so my advice would be to just get the physical card first – you can easily convert a physical card to a digital version in the future.

I’ll touch on some neat tips & tricks on maximising the utility of having a digital Octopus card (or at least downloading the Octopus app on your phone)

How Many Types Of Cards Are There?

There are 3 types of Standard cards that may be of interest. They are:

  1. Child (between 3 – 11 years old. Children below 3 years old ride for free in most public transport options)
  2. Adult
  3. Senior (those 60 years onwards can apply for the JoyYou card to get discounted rides)
There are other more unique cards such as student cards with their own set of benefits/discounts.

Where Do I Go For More Info?

I did not touch on the deeper aspects of using the Octopus card. I’ll be writing more posts about getting more value out of the card, but in the meantime please browse the official Octopus website here

Let me know if you found this guide useful, I’m happy to update it with even more relevant information!

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