Should I use passes or tickets?
(NOTE: This page talks about metropolitan areas. The new rules and changes prohibit BKK single tickets from being used on metropolitan areas, and there's now dedicated singular passes for metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. The information on this page is outdated until this page is removed)
(Note: No equivalent page exists on the BKK website (for what we know). This is a guide to picking either tickets or passes, instead of making another page more concise)
If you're just getting started with public transport in Budapest (or do not wish to deal with complicated rules), just go with single tickets or a block of them. They're much easier to understand.
Passes have very complicated rules:
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You can't use them outside of Budapest ("administrative boundaries of Budapest")
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You need a metropolitan ticket/pass along with a Budapest pass. Metropolitan tickets have their own rules:
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Discounts for metropolitan tickets/passes are conditional and on a completely separate page
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You can't use a discounted ticket for local transport (within the metropolitan area)
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Metropolitan passes have a kilometer number on it, which the information I could not find on the BKK website, and had to rely on someone else for information.
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Single tickets have these rules:
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Use them on allowed lines (see single ticket page)
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They are valid for entire lines, including outside of Budapest (no metropolitan ticket crap).
However, single tickets cannot be used for everything:
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Airport shuttle buses. It is line 100E, and it requires a separate ticket just for it.
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H lines, namely H5 to H9, outside of Budapest. That also comes with its own rules, and single tickets cannot be used for the entire H5 to H9 lines.