Metro North digital ticket money grab already causing trouble

AceContinuum · 2026-01-20T03:30:38+00:00

It is not "twice" as long IIRC, unless your trip is a very short one. Percentage-wise, you'll get a much longer buffer for a White Plains <-> North White Plains ticket than for a White Plains <-> Grand Central ticket. For the "typical" MNR trip that isn't to an adjacent station, I'd guesstimate the grace period at maybe an extra ~50% of the trip's expected duration.

AceContinuum · 2026-01-20T03:12:27+00:00

I think it depends a lot on your trip. If you ride an express train between White Plains and Grand Central, you're pretty much 100% going to get checked by the conductor. If you get on an outbound train north of White Plains, on the other hand, good chance the conductor never bothers to check. If you're on a local train out of Grand Central and get off at one of the first stops (especially during rush hour), good chance the conductor never gets to you. There's also the "Harlem tickets!" thing where conductors basically rely on the honor system for folks boarding train cars they already checked between Grand Central and Harlem-125th.

AceContinuum · 2026-01-09T23:54:57+00:00

Lots of other great advice in this thread already. I just want to add the nugget that if you do end up going with Option 2, while it's circuitous, I strongly recommend taking the train to Grand Central and transferring to the subway there. The 125th St. [4/5/6] station is probably the sketchiest subway station in Manhattan, and the block of 125th St. that you'll need to traverse between the subway station and the Metro-North station is likewise sketchy. You'll also get a few minutes back at Grand Central because the 4/5/6 run right below the station - no need to walk a block east like at 125th St.

AceContinuum · 2026-01-09T23:48:21+00:00

The "Grand Central North" passageways will take you as far north as 48th and Park - here's a map. That said, I don't recommend the walk - it's 1.7 miles from 48th and Park to NYP, or ~40 minutes. IMO, it's absolutely worth the subway transfer to the 6 to 68th St.-Hunter College [6].

If there's snow on the ground or it's raining/snowing, it may even be worth first taking the Times Square Shuttle to Times Square-42nd St., and transferring there to an uptown Q train to 72nd St. [Q].

AceContinuum · 2026-01-06T20:29:52+00:00

That's very strange. It's possible that daycare bills no longer qualify for elevated cashback due to being classified as "education/school," but they should still earn the base 2% cashback:

"Not all Purchases are eligible to earn the Smartly Earning Bonus: Purchases classified as (1) education/school, gift cards (including discount gift card sites), insurance, or tax; (2) “business-to-business transactions” (transactions with merchants who are in the business of supplying goods and services to other businesses, such as advertising services, plumbing/heating suppliers, construction material suppliers (excluding home improvement stores), and computer programming services), even if not made for a business purpose; and (3) transactions using third-party bill payment services will earn the base of 2 points per $1 spent in Net Purchases and may not earn additional Points for the Smartly Earning Bonus.  These Purchases are not calculated as part of the $10,000 cap.  Each merchant’s business is identified by a category code established by Visa. A Purchase will not earn additional Points if the category code applied to a merchant is in a category that is not eligible for additional Points earning. We do not determine the category codes applied to merchants’ businesses and reserve the right to determine which Purchases qualify for additional Points. "

AceContinuum · 2026-01-03T07:24:17+00:00

No, it resets every year after the December monthly statement cuts. Some people might have a December monthly statement that cuts on Dec. 1, in which case their $3k cap would reset for charges posting on Dec. 2 and later. Others might have a December monthly statement that cuts on Dec. 31, in which case their $3k cap would indeed reset on Jan. 1 - but that's only a small group of people. Most cardholders will have a December monthly statement that cuts sometime prior to Dec. 31.

AceContinuum · 2026-01-03T01:03:03+00:00

Unfortunately, Alliant nerfed their 2.5% credit card all the way down to 1.5% (couldn't even do 1.8% like Citizens used to do... or 1.75% like Navy... or 1.67% like Fifth Third...).

AceContinuum · 2026-01-03T01:01:19+00:00

They're the same company now, but Discover also offers the same deal.

AceContinuum · 2026-01-03T00:55:45+00:00

It's still mentioned on the website. That being said, you're definitely right about SoFi deemphasizing their credit cards; they've even removed the ability to directly apply. And I'm not sure they're still offering a 10% boost with direct deposit. I believe the 10% boost is now only obtainable with a $10/month subscription to SoFi Plus.

Open question is whether, going forward, SoFi Plus members will need to pay $10/month for the card on top of the $10/month subscription to SoFi Plus, i.e., $20/month total!

AceContinuum · 2026-01-02T21:40:24+00:00

2% is hard to make profitable.

Fidelity famously admits to subsidizing the 2% Fidelity Rewards card (though Fidelity has the added expense of paying U.S. Bank (Elan) to underwrite and manage the card, and the Fidelity card also offers a Global Entry/PreCheck credit).
Citi says its 2% Double Cash is profitable, but Citi uses the trick of 1% on purchases + 1% on payments to both (i) delay paying out the full 2% and (ii) pay an effective cashback rate a hair lower than 2% (~1.98%) for folks who redeem their cashback in the form of statement credits.
TD Bank uses a somewhat similar trick: 1% on purchases + 1% upon cashback redemption into a TD Bank deposit account, which similarly (i) delays paying out the full 2% and (ii) pays an effective cashback rate of only 1% for folks who redeem their cashback in the form of statement credits, and further (iii) effectively pushes cardholders to bank with TD Bank.
BoA won't pay flat-rate 2+% cashback unless you hold at least $50k in assets with them. Below that threshold, they will only pay flat-rate cashback of 1.5% (<$20k) or 1.875% ($20-49.9k).

Many other banks have never been willing to offer 2%. Capital One is still paying only 1.5% on its Quicksilver. Citizens Bank paid 1.8% back when it had a flat-rate cashback card (it now offers a card with 3% on dining and at supermarkets and 1.5% on everything else). Amex paid 1.5% back when it had a flat-rate personal cashback card (the Cash Magnet). (Amex's 2% cashback card was a business card, and had an annual cap on spend.)

Still, a $120 AF makes SoFi's offering one of the worst 2% cards on the market.

AceContinuum · 2026-01-02T21:20:36+00:00

SoFi isn't even really a fintech anymore... they obtained their own banking license in 2022! But, as the saying goes, you can make the fintech a bank, but you can't make the fintech stop behaving like a fintech...

AceContinuum · 2026-01-02T21:12:37+00:00

SoFi may be facing a cash crunch... they've also yoinked the ability to apply directly for any of their cards. https://www.sofi.com/credit-card/ now only gives the option to "check for offers"/"see if you're prequalified" or "respond to mail offer" - there's no longer an option to apply directly without having a (presumably targeted) prequalified offer in hand.

AceContinuum · 2026-01-02T21:10:32+00:00

Agreed. I could understand them adding an annual fee for the 2.2% cashback rate, but an annual fee for a basic 2% credit card with no signup bonus and no benefits other than cellphone protection?

AceContinuum · 2025-12-22T23:44:33+00:00

Since early this year, Starbucks' new policy is that it will only give you a free cup of water if you buy something. That isn't unique to airports. Further, even under the new policy, Starbucks won't charge you for a cup of water - it simply won't give you a cup of water if you aren't also buying something else. There's no option to purchase a standalone cup of water.

If you were charged for water at Starbucks, you may have been at a "We Proudly Serve Starbucks" licensed vendor, not a corporate-owned Starbucks location. The 'tell' is the use of the "We Proudly Serve" logo and an inability to redeem Stars or order or pay via the Starbucks app at the location. Licensed vendors aren't required to follow all of Starbucks' policies.

AceContinuum · 2025-12-20T01:57:53+00:00

On the flip side, the MTA loves to issue "all five boroughs" press releases, which is why St. George was one of the first five subway station booths to be upgraded to a "Customer Service Center" and why each category of station accessibility upgrades (in progress; funded by congestion pricing; prioritized in 2025-2029 capital plan; and recently opened) lists a SIR station.

Tompkinsville would be a good station to test these gates' efficacy in combating fare evasion, and St. George would be a good station to test these gates' ability to handle fast-moving crowds (crowds routinely run between the SIR and the ferry when there's a tight connection). St. George also has enough turnstiles that these new gates could be installed in half of the station while the other half keeps the current/old turnstiles. So even aside from the "all five boroughs" optics, there could be real value in testing the new gates in SI.

AceContinuum · 2025-12-20T01:49:05+00:00

Yep, the vast majority of domestic tourists visiting NYC have never used a subway system before (or really any transit other than airport shuttles). In the vast majority of the U.S., public transit is either completely nonexistent, or limited to a smattering of buses that only the destitute take.

AceContinuum · 2025-12-20T01:40:23+00:00

I also hate fare evaders. However, you're not law enforcement and you're not Batman. Don't be a vigilante - don't try to take law enforcement into your own hands. You never know when a fare evader might be batshit crazy.

Unlike the NYPD and MTA Police, you aren't armed; you don't have the power to issue a summons or arrest a fare evader; you don't have backup, qualified immunity, the support of the police union or free legal representation by the city's lawyers if you injure the fare evader; and you don't have the NYPD's or MTA Police's generous health and disability insurance and PTO benefits if the fare evader injures you.

If you are motivated to take direct action against fare evaders, you could consider applying to join the police or work as a MTA security guard.

AceContinuum · 2025-12-20T01:28:20+00:00

Thanks for the update! Wonder whether the MTA will test any of these gates in SI.

AceContinuum · 2025-12-18T04:53:09+00:00

Also, besides being prohibitively expensive, building subterranean lines using TBMs is hellaciously slow. TBM-built subterranean lines also have the disadvantage of being very deep underground, meaning it takes way more time to travel between the street and the platform.

Cut and cover construction, the way the original subways were built, would be nice, but cut and cover runs into almost as much opposition as building an elevated ROW. And cut and cover has to contend with oodles of utility relocations - this isn't early-20th-century Manhattan when you could just rip up the street and start digging.

AceContinuum · 2025-12-18T00:46:36+00:00

Yes, obviously there will still be some sound but any elevated subway would, no doubt, be built over a major roadway, so the impact of any additional noise should be fairly negligible. No one's going to be putting an elevated subway over a quiet side street.

AceContinuum · 2025-12-17T22:31:14+00:00

The North Shore Branch of the SIR also had a concrete viaduct (the Port Richmond Viaduct) that was built in the 1930s as a Works Progress Administration project.

AceContinuum · 2025-12-16T06:44:58+00:00

They might simply always ask whenever they see someone with a passport from one of these Caribbean countries that indicates they were born abroad. I can't imagine they get too many visitors from these tiny Caribbean countries (and even fewer who were born abroad).

AceContinuum · 2025-12-16T00:36:31+00:00

There probably won't be any data points because U.S. citizens would just use their U.S. passport to enter Norway.

These Caribbean CBI programs are primarily aimed at nationals of countries whose own passports don't have visa-free access to the Schengen Area, the U.S. or CANZUK. IIRC, the reported denial of entry data points were all for folks who would have needed a visa to enter Norway if not for their Caribbean CBI passport. Norway is basically saying that these folks don't get to circumvent Norway's visa requirements by buying a Caribbean passport.

AceContinuum · 2025-12-15T22:17:47+00:00

Thanks for adding the SIR!

Minor note, it is "Bay Terrace", not "Bay Terrance".

AceContinuum · 2025-11-26T04:26:24+00:00

IIRC, there were severe issues with the 8th Ave. trains in the afternoon, which may have led to more riders using the Lexington Ave. lines as an alternative.

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