Brisbane's Go Card: Flat 50-Cent Fares on TransLink, Explained
How the go card works across Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Sunshine Coast: the flat 50-cent fare (and the Airtrain exception), where to buy and top up a card, and how contactless bank-card and phone payments now work on every TransLink train, tram, ferry, and bus. Figures as at September 2026.
Read the full guide, with official sources →
Watch
Chapters
- 0:00 Every trip: 50 cents
- 0:12 50 cents covers almost everything —
- 0:24 Touch on. Touch off.
- 0:34 Buying a go card
- 0:50 Contactless payment works too —
- 1:04 Use the SAME card all trip —
- 1:15 Apple Pay ≠ your physical card
- 1:27 Where to read more
Transcript
In South East Queensland, every trip on a bus, train, ferry, or tram costs the same: 50 cents.
That flat 50 cents covers buses, most trains, CityCat ferries, and the G:link tram. It does NOT cover Airtrain, the separate service to Brisbane Airport — that's priced separately.
Touch on when you board. Touch off when you leave. Miss the touch-off, and you're charged a default fare instead of the flat 50 cents.
Get a go card at a train station, a convenience store, or order one online from TransLink.
Top up online, at a station machine, or set up auto top-up so your card recharges itself whenever the balance runs low.
You don't need a go card at all, anymore. Tap a contactless bank card, phone, or smartwatch instead — the same 50-cent fare, on every South East Queensland train, tram, ferry, and bus.
One rule to know: tap on and off with the SAME card or device for your whole trip. Mixing a go card with a bank card on a transfer can mean you're charged twice.
One more trap: Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Google Pay count as a DIFFERENT payment method from your physical card, even on the same bank account. Tap on and off with the same one.
The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description.
Short versions
- Every trip here costs 50 cents (0:26)
- You don't need a go card anymore (0:26)
- The go card mistake that costs you (0:24)
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