Bonus whoring the Chicago Transit Authority

While on El trains, I’m nosey and crane my neck to see what people are reading. I seem to be too busy playing poker at home to find the time to read, so this is about as literary as I’ll get until the movie comes out.

Absolute Boyfriend (graphic novel) by Yuu Watase
When Good Things Happen to Bad People by Harold S. Kushner
Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs
Digital Filmmaking

As a thank you to the Chicago Transit Authority for five Red Lines showing up before a Brown Line finally did in subzero snowy weather (adding to the wait was 5x the people sardining into the Brown Line), here’s how to take advantage of a little loophole.

Trains and buses cost a flat $2. If you use a card, the rate is $1.75 with transfers being 25 cents each.

A Chicago Card Plus is a one-time cost of $5.

Every $20 you load to the card, you receive an extra 10 percent credit.

For $75, you can upgrade the card to get 30 days of unlimited bus and train rides.

Beginning your 30 days on Monday morning would give you 22 roundtrip workdays of CTA trips, a value of $88.

If you paid per trip, you would have received an $8 bonus, bringing the cost down to $80.

Upgrading to the flat $75 for 30 days will save $5 monthly just in daily commutes to work (assuming you’re working every weekday), not counting the 8 weekend days of extra unlimited rides thrown in.

If you upgrade to the flat rate, the charge to your account is $75 minus your remaining balance… which they overlooked to not remove the added 10 percent. Even if you purchase and upgrade immediately.

The maximum you can add to a pay-per-use card is $60, for a bonus of $6. (If you’re in the RTA/CTA Benefit Program, your maximum is $300, for an additional $30.)

Load the card with $60, receive the $6 bonus, then upgrade to the 30-day-pass for another $9.

This would essentially give you 30 days for $69.

At the end of your 26th day (the card renews $75 automatically on the 27th), switch the card back to pay-per-use, top it off with another $60 for the $6 bonus, then switch back to the flat rate.

Now whether all this is worth saving an extra $6 a month is up to you, but $6 will get you a Wendy’s mandarin chicken salad and small vanilla Frosty.