Pass or pay as you go?
Note: Educational estimate for planning. Confirm final amounts on official channels.
What a nol card costs to buy
A Silver card costs AED 25 and arrives with AED 19 of travel credit on it, so the card itself is effectively AED 6. A Gold card is the same AED 25 with the same AED 19 of credit — Gold is not a more expensive card, it is a more expensive fare. A Personal card costs AED 70 with AED 20 of credit and has your name and photo on it, which is what makes a concession possible. A Red Ticket is AED 2, is paper, and is meant for one trip or a short stay.
Those purchase prices are reported consistently across transport guides but are not on RTA’s fares page, so treat them as reliable rather than official.
Fare by zone, every card type
RTA charges by the number of zones your journey passes through, not by distance. Dubai is divided into seven zones; a 2 km trip and a 10 km trip inside the same zone cost the same.
| Journey | Silver | Gold | Personal | Red Ticket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Within 1 zone | AED 3 | AED 6 | AED 3 | AED 4 |
| 2 adjacent zones | AED 5 | AED 10 | AED 5 | AED 6 |
| More than 2 zones | AED 7.5 | AED 15 | AED 7.5 | AED 8.5 |
Gold is exactly double Silver on every band — that is the whole of the Gold pricing rule. The Personal card’s standard fare is the same as Silver; the 50% concession is not a property of the card but of an approved category. People of determination travel free on a Personal card, and children aged 5 and under travel free on any card.
Every pass price RTA publishes
This is the table most searches are actually looking for, and it is the one most guides do not carry in full.
| Pass | Silver | Gold | Student / senior Emirati |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 days | 50 / 80 / 110 | 100 / 160 / 220 | 25 / 40 / 55 |
| 30 days | 140 / 230 / 350 | 280 / 460 / 700 | 70 / 115 / 175 |
| 90 days | 330 / 550 / 830 | 660 / 1,100 / 1,660 | 165 / 275 / 415 |
| 365 days | 1,060 / 1,770 / 2,670 | 2,120 / 3,540 / 5,340 | 530 / 885 / 1,335 |
Prices in AED, shown as 1 zone / 2 zones / all zones. The student column also covers social affairs cases and senior Emiratis.
A few things fall straight out of it. The 30-day all-zones Silver pass is AED 350, not the AED 300 that circulates in older guides. The 365-day all-zones pass at AED 2,670 works out at about AED 223 a month, a saving of roughly 36% against buying twelve 30-day passes at AED 350. And a concession pass is exactly half the Silver price at every duration and every zone band.
RTA’s published pass table starts at 7 days. There is no 1-day pass on it.
Is a pass worth it?
The calculator above answers it for your own pattern, but the break-evens are easy to state. On a 2-zone Silver fare of AED 5, a 30-day 2-zone pass at AED 230 pays for itself at 46 journeys in the month — which a ten-journey commuting week clears in just over four weeks, so the pass wins only barely. Add weekend trips and it wins comfortably.
On an all-zones Silver fare of AED 7.50, the AED 350 pass breaks even at 47 journeys. For Gold, both the fares and the passes double, so the break-even journey count is identical — Gold never changes whether a pass is worth it, only what the whole thing costs.
There is no daily cap
A great many pages state that Dubai Metro caps a day’s spending at AED 14 on a Silver card and lets you ride free afterwards. RTA’s published fare page does not say that. It gives a fare per journey by zone, a maximum journey duration of 180 minutes, and a maximum of three transfers. There is no daily ceiling on it.
Plan on the assumption that the tenth tap of the day costs what the first one did, because that is what the published tariff says. If you want a ceiling, buy a pass.
The 30-minute transfer rule is worth real money
Metro-to-bus and bus-to-metro legs completed within 30 minutes of each other count as one journey, charged once on the total zones crossed rather than separately on each leg. RTA allows up to three transfers inside a maximum journey duration of 180 minutes.
On a commute with a feeder bus at each end, that rule is the difference between one 2-zone fare of AED 5 and three separate taps. Missing the 30-minute window by a few minutes restarts the charge.
How to use this calculator
- Enter how many journeys you make in a typical week, counting every tap.
- Pick the number of zones your usual journey crosses, not the distance.
- Choose your card type — Gold is double Silver on every fare and every pass.
- Choose a pass duration and the zone coverage it needs to have.
- Read the comparison: what pay-as-you-go costs over the same period, against the pass price.
- Check the break-even journey count before committing to a long pass.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a nol card cost?
A Silver or Gold card costs AED 25 and includes AED 19 of travel credit, so the card part is about AED 6. A Personal card is AED 70 including AED 20 of credit. A Red Ticket is AED 2. These purchase prices are reported consistently by transport guides rather than published on RTA’s fares page.
How much is a monthly nol pass?
RTA prices a 30-day Silver pass at AED 140 for one zone, AED 230 for two zones and AED 350 for all zones. Gold is double: AED 280, AED 460 and AED 700. Students, social affairs cases and senior Emiratis pay half the Silver price: AED 70, AED 115 and AED 175.
How much is an unlimited all-zones nol pass?
All zones on a Silver card is AED 110 for 7 days, AED 350 for 30 days, AED 830 for 90 days and AED 2,670 for 365 days. The annual pass works out at about AED 223 a month, roughly 36% cheaper than buying twelve monthly passes.
What does a Gold nol card cost?
The card is the same AED 25 as Silver, including AED 19 of credit. What differs is the fare: Gold is exactly double Silver on every zone band, so AED 6, AED 10 and AED 15 instead of AED 3, AED 5 and AED 7.50. Gold passes are double Silver passes too.
Is there a daily fare cap on Dubai Metro?
No. RTA’s published fare page gives a fare per journey by zone, a maximum journey duration of 180 minutes and a maximum of three transfers, and no daily maximum. The widely repeated AED 14 Silver cap does not appear on it. A pass is the only thing that puts a ceiling on a day’s travel.
Does the Blue nol card give 50% off?
RTA calls it the Personal card, and its standard fare is the same as Silver — AED 3, AED 5 and AED 7.50. The 50% discount applies to approved categories: students, social affairs cases and senior Emiratis. People of determination travel free on a Personal card, and children aged 5 and under travel free on any card.
How many journeys before a monthly pass pays for itself?
On a 2-zone Silver fare of AED 5, the AED 230 monthly pass breaks even at 46 journeys. On an all-zones fare of AED 7.50, the AED 350 pass breaks even at 47. Because Gold doubles both the fare and the pass, the break-even journey count is the same on Gold.
Is a yearly nol pass cheaper than monthly ones?
Yes, substantially. An all-zones Silver 365-day pass is AED 2,670 against AED 4,200 for twelve 30-day passes — about 36% less. The trade-off is paying up front and losing the flexibility if you leave Dubai mid-year.
Do you store my numbers?
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Where these figures come from
The fare and pass tables are transcribed from RTA’s nol fares page, read on 30 October 2026. That page also states the rules applied here: Dubai is divided into 7 zones, you are charged on the total number of zones passed through, transfers between metro and bus must be made within 30 minutes, the maximum journey duration is 180 minutes and a maximum of 3 transfers is allowed.
There is no daily fare cap, and this matters. Figures for an AED 14 Silver daily ceiling circulate widely and several third-party guides repeat them. They do not appear on RTA’s published fare page, which lists a fare per journey, a maximum journey duration and a transfer limit, and no daily maximum of any kind. If you need a ceiling on a day’s spend, a pass is the mechanism that provides one.
Card purchase prices are reported, not transcribed. RTA’s fares page prices journeys and passes; it does not list what a blank card costs. The figures below — Silver and Gold at AED 25 including AED 19 of travel credit, Personal at AED 70 including AED 20 of credit, and the Red Ticket at AED 2 — are consistent across transport guides but we could not read them on an RTA page. Treat them as reliable rather than official, and expect a few dirhams of variation at the machine.
Last checked against the source: 30 October 2026. Dubai Calculators is independent and not affiliated with RTA.
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Disclaimer
Disclaimer: Fare and pass prices are transcribed from RTA’s published nol fares page on the date shown. Card purchase prices are reported by transport guides rather than read from an RTA page. RTA revises tariffs without notice — confirm at a ticket office, on the RTA app or at rta.ae before buying. Not affiliated with RTA.