BKK’s bizarre ticketing: how to get a cheaper longer season ticket in Budapest

From 1 September, some Budapest Transport Company (BKV) tickets and passes will have new prices. Along with this, the world’s most idiotic price increase has happened – read about it in this article.

We might find an explanation for the fact that a product becomes 31.31 percent more expensive overnight. These reasons could be either the evolution of energy prices or the general inflationary climate.

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Inconsistent price changes

However, what BKK has done to the Budapest weekly ticket is quite interesting nevertheless. The BKK weekly ticket cost HUF 4,950 (EUR 12.43) in the past, until 1 September. Now, we have to pay HUF 6,500 (EUR 16.33) for one. This is a tough move in itself, but it is not unique, as can be seen from the list of fare changes. What is more, it is not the highest increase: the day ticket is going up from HUF 1,650 (EUR 4.14) to HUF 2,500 (EUR 6.28), which is an increase of 51.5 percent. The price of the Budapest 24-hour group ticket has increased by the same proportion: from HUF 3,300 (EUR 8.29) to HUF 5,000 (EUR 12.56).

However, in a structure that mixes different types of tickets and passes (e.g. time-based and line-based tickets), it is easy to fall into a trap if there is no systemic change in prices, Telex writes. BKV managed to slip into this: they did not change the price of half-monthly, 15-day passes, only the seven-day passes (which for some reason are not called weekly passes, but weekly tickets).

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The weekly pass has lots its meaning

As the price of a half-month pass was, and still remains HUF 6,300 (EUR 15.85), the situation is that from 1 September, a 15-day pass is HUF 200 (EUR 0.5) cheaper than a 7-day pass (HUF 6,300 vs HUF 6,500). So the BKK weekly ticket has simply lost its meaning. It makes no sense that such a ticket can be bought. Anyone who does so is basically harming themselves, as they can buy a pass for the same amount of time (plus an extra 8 days) for HUF 200 less.