DUBAI // A Smart Fare project that uses near-field communication is to be launched by the Roads and Transport Authority in October after successful trials this month.
The Public Transport app will be used with Nol travel cards to bring the card and the app near to each other, with the two communicating through NFC. Extra services will also be added to the app, such as credit transfer from one Nol card to another.
NFC technology is allowing for the launch of a new package of services relating to the use of Nolcard as a means of payment for services provided through the app.
NFC technology means that Nol cards will be read and updated directly through the smartphone app, which will be available on Android devices.
“The customer would be able to top-up an Nol card instantly and buy a bus and metro permit without visiting a ticket counter or renew such a permit,” said Khaled Al Awadi, director of Automated Fare Collection at Technology Support Services at the RTA.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
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Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.