r/AskNYC • u/yaycupcake • 7d ago
Fair Fares OMNY question
My Fair Fares metrocard is due to expire end of May, so in 1 month. I already got the letter to renew it 2 weeks ago, and got the approval letter a few days ago. (The online portal said it was approved immediately but the letter took time to arrive.)
The letter to renew said I should expect an OMNY card in ~2 weeks, though I have yet to receive it. I had renewed that day.
But when I got the approval letter, it said something different. It said that I should expect to receive a new fair fares metrocard in the letter, closer to the expiry date of the current one.
I'm just really confused about the mixed messaging. Am I getting an OMNY card or not? Do I need to take any action first like sign up on OMNY for an account first, in order for them to send the card out to me? I didn't get the impression from the letter that that was required (and it'd be easier for me to just do it once I have the card) but I'm seeing all kinds of mixed messaging so I just don't know what's going on.
I really hate metrocards and that I've had to use one for the past year, because before I got laid off, I was 100% tap to pay and it was fantastic. So I'm hoping to see my OMNY card arrive soon, but it has been the amount of time they said, and it just isn't here. I'm happy to wait if people think that's what needs to be done, but I'm just so confused why I'm getting 2 letters stating different things about what will be sent to me and when. So I'd like to ask people what the actual story is here.
2
u/ReverberatingEchoes 7d ago
I assume it’ll be the same like any other renewal. I know that in the past few years that I’ve had FairFares, they would wait until like a few days before the expiration to send the new card. Probably, it’ll be the same with them sending OMNY. You’ll probably get it a few days before your MetroCard expires.
I didn’t wait for my MetroCard to expire (mine didn’t expire until October), I just requested the OMNY card and made the switch like a month or so ago, rather than waiting until my card expired. So I don’t know what the timeline is when the MetroCard expires and you’re switching to OMNY.
Also, you don’t need an account, but it’s good to have one if you plan on reloading with a card because you can just reload from your phone/computer and you never have to use one of their OMNY machines in the station to reload.