Compass Card

To purchase a Monthly Pass, you need to have a Compass Card. Monthly Passes are transferrable and valid for the calendar month in which they are activated. Visit our Where to Buy page for information on where to get a Compass Card.

You can pre-purchase your next month's pass online, at a Compass Vending Machine, by phone or in person starting on the 20th of each month until the 15th of the next. You can purchase a Monthly Pass at any time online. Your credit card will be charged at the time of purchase, and passes are activated the first time you tap during the period for which your pass is valid (typically on the first of the month).

If you have a 1- or 2-Zone Monthly Pass on your Compass Card, but need to travel through extra zones on rail or SeaBus, just load Stored Value onto your Compass Card in advance of your trip and your upgrades will be seamless. Compass will deduct the correct amount for your trip when you tap out. Visit our Transferring and AddFare page for more information.

With a Compass Ticket you can transfer between bus, SeaBus, HandyDART, and SkyTrain services as many times as you need in the number of zones purchased for up to 90 minutes. Compass Tickets are valid from the time of purchase until 4 a.m. the next day regardless of use.

Your fare must cover all the zones of your trip. Check the Fare Zones ahead of purchase.

Find out where to buy tickets.

Tip: If you are buying one single adult ticket you don’t need to print a ticket. Save time by tapping your debit, credit card, or mobile wallet right at the SkyTrain fare gate or bus and West Coast Express card reader to ride. Learn more at Pricing and Fare Zones page.

A DayPass provides unlimited transit use on all buses, SkyTrains, SeaBuses, and HandyDART for one full day from the start of the first transit service until 4 a.m. the following day. You can use it for travel through all zones, and save money over buying single fares when you take multiple trips in the same day.

There are two ways to purchase a DayPass:

• Load a DayPass onto your Compass Card (can be done at a Compass Vending Machine or online at compasscard.ca). These can be used the same day or on a future day.

• Buy a Compass DayPass Ticket (a single-use paper ticket, available at Compass Vending Machines (CVMs). These must be used the same day of purchase.

Find out where to buy DayPasses.

The $5 AddFare charge applies to Compass Tickets and DayPasses purchased at the YVR Airport, Sea Island Centre, and Templeton stations for travel outside of Sea Island.

For more information on AddFare, visit the Transferring and AddFare page.

Just like a Compass Card. Tap in and out when travelling on transit and reload online, at a Compass Vending Machine, by phone or in person. Just like a Compass Card, you’ll pay a $6 refundable fee when you pick up your wristband and/or mini. Remember to tap the part of the wristband that displays the contactless symbol. For minis hold it flat against the card reader. Hold both products against the reader until you hear a beep and see a check mark to proceed.

We have to encode them with a special machine before they're used for the first time and this can only be done at our customer-service centre in Vancouver.

Minis and wristbands work just like Adult and Concession Compass Cards, which means you can load a U-Pass BC onto a blue adult wristband or Compass Mini. At this time, only U-Pass BC program cards can be loaded onto a Compass Wristband and Mini.

The wristbands are adjustable and can accommodate small and large wrists.

Yes, but this can only be done at one of our customer service centres, because we need to encode the wearable before use.

We don’t have anything planned at this time. However, we’re always monitoring the availability of new products.

Like a Compass Card, you can register your wearable online which gives you balance protection and the option to sign up for other features like AutoLoad or our Bike Parkade program.

Just like Compass Card, you can register and sign up for AutoLoad online. This will provide you with balance protection, in case you lose your wristband or mini.

At CVMs, please select the receipt option at the end of your transaction and retain your receipts.

For purchases made at the TransLink Customer Service Centre, please retain the receipt provided to you by the customer-service clerk.

You can also view and download a history of the types of products loaded and purchased to your card by logging into compasscard.ca and selecting "My Cards" and then "Card Usage." Choose "Sales transaction" to filter your history. You'll see the types of products you've loaded, but only Stored Value amounts will appear; passes will show up as a $0 value.

Visit the Monthly Pass or West Coast Express fare pages for monthly pass fare pricing.

Sales transactions show the types of products loaded to the card.

Usage transactions show your taps in and out, along with the amount deducted if paying for your trips with Stored Value.

Stored Value is refundable only if your Compass Card is registered. Requests for Stored Value refunds must be made within two years of the last tap in or tap out.

Monthly Passes and DayPasses are refundable to registered cardholders, as long as the pass hasn’t been used for travel. Requests for refunds of Monthly Passes and DayPasses must be made within 60 days of the pass purchase date.

The $6 deposit, minus any insufficient fare (e.g., negative balance), is refundable when you return your Compass Card to TransLink either in person or by mail along with a completed refund form.

There are no deposit refunds for "Initial Release" or "No Deposit" Compass Cards and most program cards.

If you’re visiting from outside the country and would like a refund for any unused transit fare product or Compass Card deposit, we encourage you to visit us in person at a location listed above to obtain a refund.

You may also return your Compass Card to us by mail, along with a completed refund request form, but please note the refund polices outlined above.

If you have leftover FareSavers, you can keep using them on the bus or convert them to Stored Value on a Compass Card. To convert FareSavers to Stored Value on a Compass Card, visit the TransLink Customer Service Centre at Waterfront Station. The amount that is converted is the amount that was paid for the FareSavers, not the face value of the tickets. For instance, if the book of FareSavers cost you $21, the conversation is based on $2.10 per ticket.

Please note that FareSavers distributed at no cost as part of a program can only be converted to Compass Tickets.

If a Compass Vending Machine (CVM) issues a receipt indicating that an amount to be refunded was not returned, a product was not dispensed, or another error occurred, a refund will be issued upon presentation of the receipt.

If no receipt is issued by the CVM, the request for a refund must include:

• The station name where the malfunction occurred.

• The five-digit CVM number (located on the front of the CVM).

• The amount, date, and approximate time of the attempted transaction.

TransLink will verify the error and once the error is verified, will issue a refund, in-kind fare product, or adjust the Stored Value balance on a Compass Card.

Requests related to a CVM errors must be made within 60 days of the error.

Requests for refunds must be made by submitting the above-noted information to Compass Customer Service or submitted in person at TransLink Customer Service Centre at Waterfront Station.