Time restrictions and refund fees
Most LIRR and Metro-North ticket types can be refunded up to two years after they expire. The expiration date is printed on paper tickets and can be viewed under "Ticket Details" in the TrainTime app for mobile tickets.
Monthly and weekly tickets can only be refunded before or during the time they are valid. Their refund value declines significantly each day they are valid. If you are not using your monthly or weekly ticket, submit it for refund as soon as possible.
MTA Away packages are refundable for 60 days from the purchase date or event date, whichever is later.
Fares paid in lieu of forgotten, destroyed, or damaged tickets are not refundable.
A $10 administrative fee applies to each refund transaction. If the total refund value of the tickets you submit is less than $10, you will not receive any money back. If you have multiple tickets to refund, submit them all at once to save money. We will deduct any outstanding invoices for fares you owe us from your refund.
If you bought a paper ticket at a station with a ticket office, you can refund it with no fee at the window up to 30 minutes after purchase.
Mobile tickets on the TrainTime app can be refunded with no fee for two minutes after purchase if they have not been activated.
In accordance with our Pledge to Customers, the refund fee for unused one-way or round-trip tickets may be waived when service is suspended on your line or branch and no alternate transportation is provided. If this applies to you, please visit a ticket office or contact us to request a refund.
How much you will receive
One-way and round-trip tickets: You will receive the full value of the ride(s) remaining, minus the refund fee.
10-trip and 20-trip tickets: We will subtract the price of a one-way ticket for each ride you used from the price you originally paid for the ticket. Some of these ticket types are sold at a discount, which means that:
- 10-trip off-peak and intermediate tickets have no refund value if nine rides have been used.
- 20-trip tickets have no refund value if 16 or more rides have been used. (These tickets are no longer sold, but can still be refunded for two years after they expire.)
MTA Away deals: Refund requests are reviewed by the MTA Away team. All tickets in a package must be submitted. There are no refunds for separate components of a package. Please include a phone number and an explanation of the reason you need a refund when you submit your ticket.
Monthly and weekly tickets: We will subtract the value of a round-trip ticket for each day that the ticket was valid and in your possession, whether or not the ticket was punched. Peak fares will be deducted on weekdays and off-peak fares will be deducted on weekends and holidays when off-peak fares are valid all day. When refunding a monthly ticket, the weekly ticket price will be used if the cost of a round-trip ticket for each day of validity exceeds the price of a weekly ticket for any given Saturday to Friday period.
Example: You turn in a monthly ticket from Babylon to Penn Station at the ticket office in Babylon before 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday the 8th in a month that started on a Tuesday.
The cost of the least expensive tickets that could have been used is $208.25:
- One weekly ticket for Tuesday-Friday, days 1-4 ($121.25)
- Two off-peak round-trip tickets for Saturday and Sunday, days 5 and 6 ($52)
- One peak round-trip ticket for Monday, day 7 ($35)
Original price $341 - $208.25 = $132.75 - $10 fee = $122.75 refund
Because monthly and weekly tickets are sold at a discount, they lose their refund value approximately halfway through their validity period.
Applying for and receiving a refund
All refunds are processed based on their original form of payment. Tickets purchased with cash or check will be refunded by check. For tickets purchased with a credit or debit card, refunds will be issued back to the same card. If your credit card has been canceled since the purchase was made, the refund will be applied to the replacement card. If there is no new card to apply the refund to, you may need to work with the bank that issued the original credit card to retrieve your funds.
Tickets purchased with a transit benefit card can only be refunded to that card. Check with your transit benefit provider to ensure that you will able to receive the refund before submitting tickets. Similarly, tickets purchased with a gift card can only be refunded to the gift card. Please ensure that you still have the gift card and that it is still valid before submitting tickets for refund.
Combo Tickets should be submitted to the railroad whose name is printed on the ticket.
Paper tickets
You must submit the original paper ticket. Photocopies are not accepted. Lost, stolen, or damaged tickets are not refundable.
You can turn in your ticket at any staffed ticket office or by mail. If you’re submitting by mail, please include the ticket refund form for LIRR or Metro-North. Metro-North riders can also use the online claim form.
Submit tickets to:
LIRR Ticket Refunds Department
Jamaica Station – MC 1410
Jamaica, NY 11435
MTA Metro-North Railroad
Ticket Redemption
P.O. Box 4117
New York, NY 10163
The postmark date will be used as the date you turned the ticket in. If you turn your monthly or weekly ticket in at a ticket office prior to 9:30 a.m. (LIRR)/8:30 a.m. (Metro-North), it will be considered to have been turned in the previous day.
Mobile tickets
You can refund unexpired tickets yourself by selecting "Actions" on the ticket screen, then "Refund.” If you do this for multiple tickets that were purchased at the same time, the refund fee will only be charged once.
To refund multiple tickets that were purchased separately, or to refund an expired ticket, you will need to contact our refund department:
- For Metro-North tickets, fill out the claim form.
- For LIRR tickets, email us and include the following:
- The email address or phone number you use to log in to TrainTime. If you log in with an Apple or Google account, provide the email address associated with that account.
- The ticket ID for each ticket you wish to refund. You can find this by tapping on the ticket and selecting Details on the bottom right.
- A brief explanation of why you are requesting a refund.
Exchanging tickets
Mobile tickets cannot be exchanged.
Unused paper one-way, round-trip, and 10-trip tickets can be exchanged within 24 hours of purchase.
Paper weekly and monthly tickets can be exchanged for the same ticket type between different stations during the week or month they are valid.
Paper weekly tickets can be exchanged for monthly tickets on the day of purchase.
All exchanges must be made at a ticket office. No refunds will be given for exchanges. The ticket being purchased must be of the same or greater value than the ticket being exchanged. If you are purchasing a ticket of greater value than the one you are exchanging, you will be charged the difference in price.