MTA sets June grace period on all pre-hike MetroCards

Shortly before the MTA raised the fares last week, the agency announced a grace period of indeterminate length ending no early than today. With that early deadline upon us, the MTA has issued guidelines for all pre-fare hike MetroCards that savvy straphangers looking to save a few bucks purchased.

According to the release, the MTA, after assessing the run on MetroCards, set a series of June dates for the Unlimited Ride cards. The MTA set the following deadlines to allow riders to receive the full number of days:

• 30-day MetroCards purchased for $76 must be first swiped no later than June 1.
• Seven-day MetroCards purchased for $24 must be first swiped no later than June 24.
• One-day Fun Pass MetroCards purchsaed for $7 must be first swiped no later than June 30.

As long as you begin to use your Unlimited Ride cards on or before that date, you will be entitled to the full time period of the card. If you stockpiled more cards than you can use before June, the MTA will provide refunds for unused cards and pro-rated refunds for partially used card.

To get a refund, straphangers will have to mail their cards back to the MTA or drop them off at the NYC Transit Customer Service Center in Lower Manhattan. I’ve had to mail back a MetroCard once to get a refund, and the process works painlessly. Three weeks later, I had my card back with the proper balance. All told, this seems like a fair deal to me.

As always, you can use your pay-per-ride cards with no worry about a grace period. The machines will simply deduct $2 per ride until empty.