De Lijn appears NOT to offer contactless capping

[johncrossley]

When this was discussed earlier, this quote from the De Lijn website suggested that there is a 7.50 cap on daily fares, which is the same price as a paper or mobile day ticket

How many metros/bus networks allow contactless payments?

Yes you do need a Belgian SIM card. https://help.delijn.be/hc/en-us/articles/360039675111-Can-I-purchase-an-ticket-or-day-ticket-via-sms-through-a-foreign-mobile-phone-operator- You would have to either use a contactless card, or buy a ticket from a Lijnwinkel (Kiosk) or ticket machine...

www.railforums.co.uk

Why was 7.50 euros taken from my account when I made a contactless payment?​

On the first journey of the day, 7.50 euros is reserved (from the payment account linked to the medium used). A reservation does not mean that money is taken from the account.

Your reservation may look different depending on your banking app:

• You may see a reservation for 7.50 euros
• The available balance may be temporarily reduced by 7.50 euros
• 7.50 euros may seem to be debited from your account. This amount, minus the charge for your journeys, is then refunded the next day
• You don't see a reservation

Who do we reserve this amount?

We reserve this amount to limit the risk that a trip would not be paid for. We can only charge trips at the end of the day. Because we don't know how much you will travel during the day, 7.5 euros is reserved for the 1st trip of the day. We do this every day. At the end of the day, the reservation will be reversed.

But I was charged a total of 12.50 in a day on a recent trip, and I notice that the above link has changed from 7.50 to 2.50

https://help.delijn.be/hc/en-us/articles/360013472337-Why-was-7-50-euros-taken-from-my-account-when-I-made-a-contactless-payment-

Why was 2.50 euros taken from my account when I made a contactless payment?​

• Published on September 22, 2020 08:21

Whenever a ride is made in the course of the day, 2.50 euros is reserved (from the payment account linked to the medium used). A reservation does not mean that money is taken from the account.
Your reservation may look different depending on your banking app:

• You may see a reservation for 2.50 euros
• The available balance may be temporarily reduced by 2.50 euros
• It may look as if 2.50 euros has been debited from your account. This amount, minus the charge for your journeys, is then apparently refunded the next day.*
• You may not see any reservation

• Why do we reserve this amount?
  
  We do this to minimise the risk of a ride not being paid for. We can only charge for rides at the end of the day. And because we don’t know how much someone will travel in the course of the day, 2.50 euros is reserved for each ride in the day. We repeat this process every day. At the end of the day, the reservation is reversed.

 

[scragend]

I don't read anything there to suggest that there is a cap (now). It says "2.50 euros is reserved for each ride in the day". Each ride.

€2.50 is the cost of a single ticket, so presumably that is the reasoning for the hold being for that amount.

I don't know if there ever was a cap. The new wording "It may look as if 2.50 euros has been debited from your account. This amount, minus the charge for your journeys, is then apparently refunded the next day.*" is intriguing - as €2.50 is the cost of a single ticket, how could anything (other than all of it) ever be deducted from the €2.50 that they have reserved?

It would probably make sense for there to be a €7.50 cap, that being as you say the amount of a day ticket. But not everything in life makes sense!

 

[bevince]

Because settlements between De Lijn and banks only take place once every 24 hours, the 7.5 euros referred to the amount of your credit card limit that got reserved or blocked until the final settlement took place. This was introduced to avoid people surpassing their credit card limit, which could lead to banks not paying for trips that had already taken place. The 7.5 euros reservation was chosen, because it's the price of a day ticket and De Lijn assumes that everyone travelling more in a single day would choose a day ticket. Recently, the daily 7.5 euros contactless credit card limit reservation changed to a 2.5 euro reservation per trip.

Caps are not used in the Belgian ticketing system. Contactless payments are in practice not much used as they can only be used for single tickets. At 2.5 euros they are very expensive for anyone that takes a bus or tram more often compared to some other ticket types. At the moment, 10-journey passes cost 1.7 euros per trip and a 1-year omnipas, giving anyone between age 25 and 64 unlimited travel on every bus or tram in Flanders, currently has an affordable price of 351 euros. In fact, the majority of De Lijn users have a network travel pass, resulting in De Lijn not being very creative when it comes to ticketing.

 

[duncanp]

If you want to buy a day pass, you have to use a ticket machine or Lijnwinkel (ticket shop).

You can usually find these at major railway stations.

Buses and trams operated by De Lijn do not take cash any more.

 

[johncrossley]

Day tickets are also available from the app or website.

 

[rvdborgt]

If you want to buy a day pass, you have to use a ticket machine or Lijnwinkel (ticket shop).

You can usually find these at major railway stations.

You can also buy them online and in De Lijn's app.