On 22/06/17 09:07, Tony Gallowayarg@... [TramsDownUnder] wrote:
>

>

> Using your Opal card to rip off Sydney Airport Corporation - priceless !

>

> I’m cheering all the way.

>


But it's not Sydney Airport Corporation that loses - they get their fees
regardless.

It actually takes a bit of work to run an Opal card down to the level to
make this really worth while, so I'm rather surprised at the values of
'loss' being bandied about.

Since treasury just can't abide by any one getting anything for free (cf
removal of the 'free trips' travel reward and a hidden 12.5% fare
increase for all regular commuters as a result), I'm sure a 'fix' will
be forthcoming.
The regular way to do this is to charge a card deposit close to the
maximum a card can be driven negative.
If you get an opal card from a retailer - the receipt has a line 'card
deposit $0'. I'd say in a month or so the card deposit will be $10 and
no more free Opal cards. (Which cost a few bob on their own, so they
really don't want people using them only for a few trips and tossing
them away).