Answering: “Is there any benefit to buy tourist card at all?”
The tourist Octopus card appears to be intended to be kept as a souvenir.
The Sold Tourist Octopus card has an iconic Hong Kong design, making
it an ideal souvenir that can be used again when you come back.
Also from wikipedia:
In contrast to On-Loan cards, Sold cards are sponsored and branded
cards. They are souvenir cards that are frequently released by
Octopus Cards Limited. The designs for these cards usually come from
fictional characters in popular culture, or they are inspired by
Chinese cultural events such as Chinese New Year. These cards are sold
at a premium, have limited or no initial stored value, and cannot be
refunded, but they can otherwise be used as ordinary cards.
The effective cost of this souvenir is 30 HKD over that of the on-loan card given the 9 HKD cost of returning an on-loan card early. If you choose to keep the card, you can use any remaining value up to 3 years after the last top-up.
Note: It’s not a confusing title, because it’s a question, so that means there has to be something to answer.
Some background to what the Octopus is
Octopus is a stored value card that was invented by an Australian company, but turned down by Australia for being too advanced, and subsequently sold to Hong Kong, where now “everyone has one.”
The idea is it has so many tentacles connecting to everything you can pay everywhere. It’s really useful.
You can purchase at 7-11, convenience stores, MTR (subway and railway), big buses, small buses, some taxis, some McDonald’s, some other food stores, and so on, using the badatong.
In Cantonese you say Octopus like: “bada tong”
Note: In Taiwan there is a similar card called an “Easy Card”, or “yoyo cut” in Mandarin
Answer to difference between Tourist Sold and Standard On Loan cards
Here’s a link with all the information on the difference between the two types.
A summary is:
Return policy:
More details on the on loan card:
Extra Notes: You can get refunds if you lose identity-linked octopus cards. These are AAVS cards and personalized cards. AAVS cards are linked to your bank account or card, and when the balance drops below a certain amount, automatically recharge from your account (awesome, right?). You can cancel these at MTR if you lose them, and transfer any balance to a replacement card. Personalized cards are linked to your identity, and you can get a refund for these and cancel them even if you lose the card, just by proving your identity.
Master Class
You can top up badatong at 7-11, or in MTR, and some other places.
If you want to top up the badatong in Cantonese say:
Which means “top up HKD 200”
So if you want to add 100 say:
If you want to add 300 say:
The aa pronounce like “a” in “are”.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘