Incomplete journey charge
If you do not tap on and off correctly, you may be charged an incomplete journey charge.
An incomplete journey charge applies where a Pay As You Go journey is not completed with a valid tap at the beginning or end of the journey.
If you tap on using a mobile phone or other contactless device, you must tap off using the same device. It is your responsibility to ensure you have enough battery charge to complete your Pay As You Go journey, or you will have to pay an incomplete journey charge.
If the time between tapping on at the start and tapping off at the end of your journey is more than the applicable time limit, you will be charged two incomplete journey charges.
Viewing your journeys, payments and charges
You can see a 12 month history of your Pay As You Go journeys, payments and charges with your contactless payment through your account on the Stagecoach Bus website
You must provide your contactless payment (long) card number to link the contactless card or device you have used to your Stagecoach Bus account.
Contactless payment details can only be linked to a Stagecoach Bus account after they have been used to travel using Pay As You Go at least once and so cannot be added in advance of travel. Sign up or log in to your Stagecoach Bus account.
Refunds for Pay As You Go charges
If you have used your contactless payment card or device in error or have paid more than the published Pay As You Go price for your journey, we may refund the amount overpaid subject to you having tapped on and off as required.
You may request a refund after 48 hours and within 60 days of making a journey. Fill in our Pay As You Go contact form
We can only deal with the named account holder and you must keep your account details up to date and take all reasonable precautions to prevent unauthorised or fraudulent use of them.
Find out more about refunds and cancellations.
Contact us
If you have a query or need help travelling using Pay As Yo Go you can get in touch. Fill in our Pay As You Go contact form.
Or contact us if you need help with something else.
These Terms and Conditions are applicable where Pay As You Go is accepted on Stagecoach services (excluding in Greater London). For Greater London see Transport for London Conditions of Use for Contactless Payment Cards.
These Terms and Conditions detail your obligations and rights when using contactless payment to Pay As You Go and apply in addition to our Conditions of Carriage.
For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions, "contactless payment" is a Visa or MasterCard debit or credit card (including prepaid cards) or other payment device that supports Visa and Mastercard using Apple Pay, Samsung Pay or Google Pay including smart phones or other wearable devices such as smart watches that are used to make contactless payments and which can be used for Pay As You Go travel.
Pay As You Go can be used for full paying adult fares only.
Pay As You Go with contactless payment
You can use contactless payment to Pay As You Go on Stagecoach services where Pay As You Go is accepted.
It is your responsibility to check the price for your journey before you travel.
Pay As You Go price information differs by area. Find out more about Pay As You Go travel.
Using Pay As You Go on Stagecoach services
Only one customer per journey can use the same contactless payment method for Pay As You Go travel.
You must tap your contactless payment card or device on the card reader at the start and end of each journey.
The Tap On reader beside the driver will show “Please Present Card” to indicate that it is ready to check your contactless payment card or other device. When you present your contactless payment method, the reader will show an Amber light followed by a Green light and one high pitch beep to confirm a successful tap. The screen will also state “Accepted” when your tap is successfully completed.
The Tap Off reader (usually located near the door) will show “Present Contactless Card” to indicate it is ready to check your contactless payment card or other device. On presenting your contactless payment, the reader will show an Amber light followed by a Green light and one high pitch beep to confirm a successful tap. The screen will also state “Accepted” when your tap is successfully completed.
Where a card or other contactless device cannot be read the readers will show an Amber light followed by a Red light and two low pitch beeps. The screen will also state “Not Accepted” or "Already Used”. If you receive one of these messages, you must not proceed with your journey until either your contactless payment card or other device has been accepted or you have paid for your journey by a different means.
You must be prepared to show your method of contactless payment for inspection on every journey you make with it. You must let a Company Official inspect your contactless payment card or device at any time during your journey if asked to do so.
To validate your journey payment, you may be asked to tap your card or device on a portable card reader as part of the inspection or to state the last 4 digits of the card number for a physical card or the "Device Account Number" for Apple Pay or "Virtual Account Number" for Android Pay.
If you are found to have not tapped on at the start of your journey or if your mobile phone or contactless device has run out of battery and cannot be read by a Company Official, you will be liable to pay a fare for your journey or prosecution as per our Conditions of Carriage.
Any improper use of your card may result in it not being accepted for travel and those involved may be liable to prosecution.
Pay As You Go payments
To ensure you pay the correct amount, you must always tap on and off using the same contactless card or device. For example, if you tap on with your phone and tap off with your contactless payment card, you will be charged for two separate incomplete journey charge
A Pay As You Go journey must be completed within the specified time limit from when you tapped on. The time limit varies by area but will always allow for the expected maximum journey time for your trip. Find out more about Pay As You Go time limits.
Damaged contactless payment cards may not be accepted.
When you tap your contactless payment card on the card reader you are giving authorisation for the cost of your journey (including incomplete journey charges) to be charged to the payment account associated with your contactless payment card or device.
We will apply the charge after you have completed your journey(s) for that day. The amount charged to your contactless payment account will be for cost of the journeys you’ve taken, up to the daily or weekly cap if applicable.
If you have made sufficient journeys such that the relevant weekly cap has been reached, no further charge(s) will be made to the payment account associated with your contactless payment card or device during the relevant period.
If you have more than one contactless payment card or device and wish to benefit from daily or weekly (Monday-Sunday) capping, you must continue to use the same card or device to pay for any further journeys on the same day and throughout the same week from Monday to Sunday. You should tap only the card or device you want to pay with on a card reader.
If your card issuer declines our request for payment, you authorise us to seek to take payment again up to a maximum of six occasions, but not more than once a day.
If the contactless payment is declined it cannot be used on our services for 45 days (it will only be blocked for use on our services). Once the contactless payment is declined three times, it will be permanently blocked.
If your contactless payment does not work when you tap on, it may not be valid for use on public transport, or may currently be blocked for use on our services. Please check with your card issuer that it is valid for use on public transport or contact us for details of any prior failed transactions and to pay any unpaid fares.
If you have unpaid fares for previous travel, you will not be permitted to travel using the contactless payment associated with the unpaid fares until the amount owed has been paid in full.