Short answer for most visitors: buy a Silver Nol card and pay per trip — AED 3, 5 or 7.50 a ride depending on how many fare zones you cross. On a heavy sightseeing day, the 1-day Travel Pass (AED 20 Regular) gives unlimited eligible trips until midnight and starts saving money from about three long rides. For a full week of nonstop touring, the 7-day pass (AED 110, all zones) can beat both. Here is how to choose, with the actual sums.
Your three real options
| Silver Nol, pay per trip | 1-day Travel Pass | 7-day Travel Pass | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | AED 25 card (AED 19 of it is credit), then AED 3 / 5 / 7.50 per trip | AED 20 Regular / AED 40 Gold | AED 110 all zones (AED 50 one zone, AED 80 two zones) |
| Loaded on | Silver Nol card | Nol Red Ticket (up to five daily passes) | Silver Nol card — the only pass an anonymous card can hold |
| What you get | Pay only for the trips you take | Unlimited eligible trips until midnight on the travel date | Unlimited eligible travel for the seven-day validity period shown at purchase |
| Best for | Light days, one or two rides | Busy days with three or more long rides | A full week of heavy daily travel |
There is no automatic daily cap — plan around the day pass instead
Many travel guides still say a Silver card stops charging at AED 14 a day. RTA’s current fare page does not publish an automatic daily spending cap for Silver or Personal Nol cards, so every tap on a pay-per-trip card is charged in full. The way to get unlimited travel for a day is to buy it deliberately: the 1-day Travel Pass on a Nol Red Ticket, AED 20 for Regular class or AED 40 for Gold, valid until midnight. The full pass price table is on our travel passes page.
Day by day: pay per trip or buy the day pass?
The break-even is simple. Three long (3+ zone) rides on a Silver card cost 3 × AED 7.50 = AED 22.50 — more than the AED 20 day pass. Shorter rides shift the maths: four 2-zone rides at AED 5 cost exactly AED 20, so the pass only wins from the fifth.
- Arrival day — airport to your hotel and maybe one evening trip: pay per trip. Two rides cost at most AED 15.
- Big sightseeing day — Downtown in the morning, the Marina in the afternoon, the Gold Souq in the evening, back to the hotel: that is four rides and often two or three of them long. Buy the day pass.
- Beach or mall day — one destination, there and back: pay per trip. Two rides cost at most AED 15, and usually less.
Deciding the night before works well: if tomorrow’s plan has three or more cross-city hops, load a day pass; if not, keep tapping your Silver card.
When the 7-day pass wins
The all-zones weekly pass costs AED 110. Against day passes, it wins if you would otherwise buy a day pass on six or more days of your week (6 × AED 20 = AED 120). Against pay-per-trip, it wins once you average roughly two long rides every day for the whole week (7 days × 2 × AED 7.50 = AED 105, and any third ride tips it over). For a relaxed itinerary with rest days, it does not pay off — mix pay-per-trip days with the occasional day pass instead. Confirm the pass start date shown by your purchase channel; do not assume every pass activates in the same way. The AED 110 price is for regular class; Gold Class versions cost double.
Silver Nol vs Red Ticket for occasional rides
If you are not buying a pass, the Silver card is almost always the better pay-per-trip ticket:
| Silver Nol card | Red Ticket (paper) | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | AED 25 (AED 19 usable credit + AED 6 card) | AED 2 for the ticket |
| Fare per trip (1 / 2 / 3+ zones) | AED 3 / 5 / 7.50 | AED 4 / 6 / 8.50 |
| Trips | Unlimited while you have credit | Max 10 trips, one transport mode per journey |
| Validity | 5 years | 90 days |
The Red Ticket charges a dirham more per ride and cannot combine modes on one journey, so it only makes sense for one or two rides in your whole stay — or as the ticket you load a day pass onto.
How much credit to load, by trip length
- Weekend (2 days): the AED 19 already on the card covers three or four short rides. Top up AED 20 if you plan cross-city trips; buy a day pass for your busiest day.
- Typical 4–5 day trip: most visitors spend AED 40–70 on pay-per-trip across the stay, less if one or two heavy days go on day passes. Top up in AED 20 steps rather than all at once.
- A full week of heavy touring: compare the AED 110 weekly pass against your plan using the maths above.
Keep the balance above AED 7.50 — below that the gate will not open, even for a short trip. And avoid overloading the card: unused credit is refundable only through an RTA process, so small top-ups as you go are safer than sinking AED 200 at the start. See how to top up.
Buying your ticket the moment you land
Both airport terminals sit directly on the Red Line — Airport Terminal 3 (Emirates and most long-haul flights) and Airport Terminal 1 — so you can ride into the city straight from arrivals.
- Follow signs to the Metro. At the station, use a ticket vending machine or the ticket office.
- Buy a Silver Nol card and add credit; machines take cash and bank cards and the balance is instant. If today is a heavy day, ask the ticket office for a Red Ticket with a 1-day pass instead.
- Tap in at the gate, ride, and tap out at your destination — forgetting to tap out deducts the maximum fare.
One timing note that catches early arrivals: the metro opens at 5:00 AM every day except Sunday, when it starts at 8:00 AM. A pre-8 AM Sunday landing means a taxi for the first leg — see metro timings.
When Gold Class is worth it
Gold Class and boarding at a terminus do not guarantee a seat or luggage space. Follow the marked cabin rules and allow for crowding.
Five tourist mistakes to avoid
- Assuming a daily cap. RTA’s fare page does not publish one. On a heavy day, buy the day pass up front rather than hoping the card stops charging.
- Not tapping out. An incomplete journey is charged the maximum fare. Always tap both ends.
- Letting the balance fall below AED 7.50. The gate stays shut, even for a one-stop ride.
- Riding the wrong cabin. Gold Class and the Women & Children cabin both carry an AED 100 fine without the right ticket or eligibility.
- Eating or drinking on board. Even water is an AED 100 fine — see rules and fines.
Which ticket, in one line
- Most visitors: a Silver Nol card, paying per trip, plus a day pass on your busiest days.
- Nonstop touring every day for a week: the AED 110 all-zones 7-day pass on your Silver card.
- One airport hop and nothing else: a Red Ticket is marginally cheaper.
- Living here, not visiting: a registered Blue personal card unlocks monthly passes and balance protection.
Correction (26 September 2026): an earlier version of this guide advised relying on an AED 14 automatic daily cap. RTA’s current fare page does not list one, so the guide now compares pay-per-trip fares with the published 1-day and 7-day Travel Passes. See our editorial and corrections policy.
Related: Nol card types compared · travel pass prices · how to top up · airport to Downtown by metro · first time on the metro