MRT Cellphone Pass

I went to Glorietta yesterday for a project and me who always like, acts in the last minute, surmised that since i will be riding in two state-of-the-art mass transit rail systems of the Philippines, namely the LRT2 and the MRT, i will be able to reach my destination at my self allocated and calculated time. The ride to Cubao on the LRT2 was a breeze alright, but horrors, the ride or should i say the "before the MRT ride" was a horrendous possibility after i saw a throng of people lining up to buy the MRT ticket pass. Then it hit me, where is that damn feature called "pass something" i saw in the early evening newscast. Instead of me lining up for the tickets, i decided since i have some time to spare why not just go back to Gateway where wifi is free and search the net instead for that "pass something" i saw on tv weeks ago.

And so while comfortably seated in the Gateway fastfood section, i quickly went back to business and googled, and i found two. But there were not much info really 'bout the MPass, yes, it was MPass, aside from people sharing their experience or the lack of it with a photo and captioning it with some impressive they have seen it in Hongkong or god knows where outside this country for effects.

Well, i went to the Globe Business Center instead and they said they don't know about it. Not surprised, telco's here are jurassic or gullible, look at the iPhone or 3G charging. And then i stumbled upon Sulit.com of all places (websites, actually) and there it was. It is called the AXS Card and it can be purchased and is reloadable in any LOADEXTREME outlets. I found one in those cellphone stalls in Farmers and it costs 250 pesos. It says it is preloaded with 100 pesos.



In its press release, AXS Card is said to be the latest stored-value card offering that is fast and convenient fare payment and access to the MetroStar Rail Transit (MRT) and Pasig Ferry rides. Shushal, di lang pang-lupa.

And they have lofty plans for the future. They said that it is the newest & easiest alternative to pay for your MRT or other form of rides in the future that is reloadable thru text. The stored value inside your AXS Card is used each time you take a ride. Yes, paying is just a tap away! No need to fall in line & fumble for cash. Just tap & conveniently take the ride. Look ma no hands!

I breezed through alright after that purchase to the MRT upstairs in Cubao but the MRT ride is another "experience" in itself really.