We will be in Ireland in May for two weeks, spending 4 of those days in Dublin. I realize that Dublin is a "walking" city. But we will be staying at the Gibson Hotel by the 02 and will need to take the red line into city center every day. When we visit other cities, we like the idea of having a transportation "pass" that we can use for our time there. Is the Leap Card geared for tourists, however? I understand that it's a card that you load with a certain amount of money which takes a deduction every time you make a trip. But I also read on a tripadvisor discussion that the 5E deposit you make when you first load a card is only refundable by mail and then you deposit it in an Irish bank. Not possible for a tourist. That dicussion is 8 months old, so I don't know if that is still the case. Has any tourist used this card?
Using the Leap Card in Dublin for transportation
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Anyone?
Yes you will effectively lose your EUR5 deposit (unless you keep the card for the next time you are back!). On the plus side, fares are a little cheaper with the Leap card so you may make the EUR5 back, and you avoid having to scramble for change.
However you are taking the Luas not the bus, so the scramble for change is not such a big issue - the Luas ticket machines accept notes and give you change. The bus drivers do not give any change, so if you do not have change you can end up paying way over the odds for your tickets.
If you plan on taking mostly luas, I don't see any real reason to bother with the Leap card.
The Leap card is basically a good idea for regular bus commuters and not many others.
Thank you, littlejane and Tony1phones. I won't bother getting the Leap Card.