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Octopus Card
After completing your immigration and customs procedures, and before leaving the airport, it is advisable for you to buy an Octopus card. This electronic stored-value card is just like money and is accepted on most public transport including buses, minibuses, trains, ferries, the Peak Tram, and some taxis. It's even accepted at convenience stores and fast food restaurants.
The Octopus will make your life easier when traveling around the city as most public transport requires exact change when you pay cash... When you pay a fare with Octopus, you simply place the card on the reader located next to the fare box and the fare gets deducted automatically (you won't even need to take the card out of your wallet).
A new Octopus card includes a refundable HK$50 deposit. Any leftover money is also refunded when you return the card.
Octopus card can be purchased at the Airport Express Customer Service Counter (Arrivals hall), as well as at the Customer Service Centers within the MTR/KCR stations. All outlets of 7-Eleven & Circle K Convenience Stores also sell the card.
The card can be reloaded at any MTR/KCR station, either by using the Add Value Machines or at the Customer Service Centers, located in the stations.
Please note : There is a type of Octopus card the allows unlimited travel on all public transport means, for a designated period of time. Unless you are sure you are going to use public transport extensively, this is not a very good deal, which means you are better off with the normal card.
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The Airport Express Travel Pass is something you may want to consider, especially if you are planning on using public transport extensively.
The pass gives you either 1 or 2 single journey(s) on the Airport Express, as well as unlimited use of the MTR and the KCR for a period of 3 consecutive days (except Airport Express, East Rail Line First Class, Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau stations).
At the time of writing, a pass with one-way journey on the Airport Express costs HK$ 220, while the one with a 2-way journey goes for HK$ 300 (in both cases, a sum of HK$ 50 is a refundable deposit, so you end up 'spending' only HK$ 170 / 250 respectively)
Considering the fact that a regular Airport Express ticket costs HK$ 90-100 / 160-180 (Kowloon or Hong Kong Island, 1-way / 2-way), you have to use more than HK$ 70 worth of travel fare in three days to "justify" the pass's cost... which is not so bad, but it's not such a bargain either... The main hassle is that this pass does not cover some public buses, tramways and the Star Ferry, so you'll either have to look for small change if you want to use them, or to buy a separate Octopus Card, which starts to be a bit of a headache...
The Tourist Day Pass, another product of MTR, costs HK$ 55 at the time of writing and gives you unlimited use of the MTR and the KCR for a period of 24 hours, from the moment you start your first journey (except Airport Express, Light Rail, MTR Bus, East Rail Line First Class, Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau stations).
Again... if you are transiting in Hong Kong, maybe it makes sense...
For more information and online purchase, you can visit the Airport Express Travel Pass webpage.
Otherwise, the tickets can be purchased at the Airport Express Customer Service, as well as in some of the larger MTR stations.
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Read more about:
To and from Hong Kong International Airport
Hop-on, Hop-off buses
MTR - Subway
Taxi
Buses and Minibuses
Tramway
Train and Light suburban rail
Ferries
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