Sube Balance-Overage allowance.

[Anna3313]

Hi all,

I haven't gone under on my Sube balance before but I know there is an allowance you're allowed to use after the basic balance and then pay off the next time you top-up. Does anyone know the current peso amount you're allowed to overcharge to your bus pass before it stops working? Thanks, all, hope you're enjoying your finde largo.

 

[gracielle]

Hi all,

I haven't gone under on my Sube balance before but I know there is an allowance you're allowed to use after the basic balance and then pay off the next time you top-up. Does anyone know the current peso amount you're allowed to overcharge to your bus pass before it stops working? Thanks, all, hope you're enjoying your finde largo.

AR$54 pesos.

 

[Ries]

Like many things in Argentina, this is a moving target. I remember when it was ten pesos, then 20. This week it may be 54, and next, who knows. The very fact that it exists, however, is kind of amazing. They do not let you go below your balance on any other transit system I have ever ridden on. Certainly not in the USA.

 

[dilmah]

They do not let you go below your balance on any other transit system I have ever ridden on. Certainly not in the USA.

FWIW this was possible at some point in SF Bay Area https://sf.streetsblog.org/2010/11/09/clipper-cards-dirty-little-secre-hint-it-can-go-negative/

My understanding is that the key factor which allows SUBE to safely allow negative balance is that every SUBE card is tied to an identification document
while most transit cards in the rest of the world can be bought just by any random Joe.

 

[gracielle]

....My understanding is that the key factor which allows SUBE to safely allow negative balance is that every SUBE card is tied to an identification document while most transit cards in the rest of the world can be bought just by any random Joe.

Currently there are two types of SUBE card in circulation:

One registered to a specific card number + a DNI number or a foreign passport number. If lost, stolen, or broken the recipient can file a claim. The card will be replaced by one with a new number at a cost of AR$90 pesos. Whatever balance is left on the old card will be transferred to the new one. Overage allowance is AR$54.

AND one that does not require any registration. The cost is AR$90 pesos. This card also has a number on the front of it. But if lost, stolen, or broken the recipient cannot file a claim to request the transfer to a new one if there is a balance left. If there is an Allowance overage, I don't know the amount.
.

¿Perdiste, te robaron o se rompió tu tarjeta SUBE?

Si tu tarjeta estaba registrada: - Dala de baja desde [tu cuenta.](https://tarjetasube.sube.gob.ar/SubeWeb/WebForms/Account/Views/Login.aspx) - Adquirí una nueva tarjeta en cualquier [Punto SUBE](https://tarjetasube.sube.gob.ar/SubeWeb/WebForms/admin/views/mapa-sube.aspx?id=1), [Centros de...

www.argentina.gob.ar

Preguntas frecuentes SUBE

**¿Qué es la tarjeta SUBE?** Es la tarjeta con la que podés pagar tus viajes en colectivos, subtes, trenes, metrobuses, trolebuses y lanchas en 61 localidades de todo el país. **Perdí / me robaron / se rompió mi tarjeta, ¿cómo la doy de baja?** Si tenías tu cuenta creada, podés darla de baja: -...

www.argentina.gob.ar

 

[semigoodlookin]

I have four SUBE cards and none are tied to my DNI. Each still allows me to go into a negative balance.

Ries is correct, it's a good feature for sure. It it also a neccesary feature in my opinion, one other cities would do well to copy (London has something similar with "One Last Journey" on Oyster cards).

 

[Kookaburra]

I had a balance of minus $50 on my SUBE card this week. It's not tied to DNI.

 

[dilmah]

Well, SUBE card is issued for 90 pesos paid up front.
Allowed negative balance is 54 pesos which is still almost half of the amount that was originally paid in order to receive a card.
Don't see anything surprising.

It would be surprising if negative balance could exceed initial cost of a card, which it does not.

 

[Kookaburra]

I sent that as a reply to Anna's question (see top of thread). If we were all as well-versed as dilmah in the economics of magnetic cards, we wouldn't be on this thread.

 

[Ries]

I have sube cards I paid 30 pesos for. With inflation, the intitial cost is a moving target, and its inevitable that some of them will have a negative value larger than the intitial purchase price- its just how math works south of the equator, the same way that the water in the drain swirls in the opposite direction as it does in the north.
One thing I have learned in 12 years- rules generally do not apply in Argentina. Everything is always shifting.