Where to Buy a NOL Card in Dubai
You can buy a NOL card at any Dubai Metro ticket office or ticket machine, at bus station counters and at authorised agents, from AED 2 for a Red Ticket or AED 25 for a Silver card. Machines take cash and cards and hand the card over on the spot. The Blue Personal card at AED 70 is the exception: it is applied for with an Emirates ID and delivered in 4 working days.
Where to buy a NOL card in person
Every metro station has a ticket office and a bank of ticket machines, and both sell the anonymous cards: the Silver card at AED 25, the Gold card at AED 25 and the Red Ticket at AED 2. Bus station counters and machines sell the same cards.
Away from the network, authorised agents such as Zoom shops handle cards and cash top ups, and RTA customer happiness centres deal with the paperwork cases. Every one of those counters sells the card ready to use, since AED 19 of the Silver card price is credit already loaded on it.
Both Dubai International terminals on the Red Line, Airport Terminal 3 and Airport Terminal 1, have station ticket offices and machines, which is where most visitors buy their first card. Our guide to buying a card at Dubai Airport covers the station timings and the machine minimums. The busiest counters are the airport ones at Terminals 1 and 3, Union and BurJuman in the city centre, Mall of the Emirates in Al Barsha and Ibn Battuta out west, and every one sells the same cards at the same prices.
Buy a NOL card online and have it delivered
Only the Personal card is sold this way. Service 634, Request Personal nol card, runs through the RTA website, the RTA Dubai app and the NOL Pay app, and it needs an Emirates ID or UAE Pass login plus a photo. The fee is AED 70, of which AED 20 arrives on the card as credit.
Delivery is free. Students whose enrolment KHDA verifies automatically get the card in 2 working days and everyone else in 4 working days. One person may hold up to 5 Personal or registered cards, with 1 active concession card among them.
Anonymous cards are not delivered, so the usual pattern is a AED 25 Silver card at a station to cover the wait. The Blue Personal card page goes through the application and the versions that cost more.
What a NOL card costs at the counter
Prices are fixed wherever you buy. A Silver or Gold card is AED 25 with AED 19 of it returned as credit, so the card fee is AED 6. A Red Ticket is AED 2 with AED 0 on it, and the NOL Travel card sold to visitors is AED 100.
Registration is the fee people forget. An anonymous card can be registered for AED 30, which raises the ceiling from AED 1,000 to AED 5,000 and makes the balance recoverable if the card goes missing.
| Card | Price | Credit on it | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | AED 25 | AED 19 | Station office, machine or agent |
| Gold | AED 25 | AED 19 | Station office, machine or agent |
| Red Ticket | AED 2 | AED 0 | Station office or machine |
| NOL Travel card | AED 100 | AED 19 | Station office |
| Blue Personal | AED 70 | AED 20 | Applied for online, delivered |
Based on RTA Choose nol, service 649 and service 634.
Cash or card, and the minimums at each counter
Ticket machines and ticket offices take both cash and cards. Agents such as Zoom take cash. The apps take a card, and the NOL Pay app also accepts Apple Pay and Google Pay, with an online ceiling of AED 150 per transaction.
Minimums differ far more than the payment methods do. A metro ticket machine will not take less than AED 20 and a metro ticket office starts at AED 50, while bus station machines, solar machines at bus stops and agents all start at AED 5. RTA charges no service fee on any of them.
| Where | Minimum | Payment | Credit lands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metro ticket machine | AED 20 | Cash or card | Instantly |
| Metro ticket office | AED 50 | Cash or card | Instantly |
| Bus station machine or office | AED 5 | Cash or card | Instantly |
| Solar machine at a bus stop | AED 5 | Cash or card | Instantly |
| Zoom and other agents | AED 5 | Cash | Instantly |
| NOL Pay app | AED 5 | Card or wallet | Instantly by NFC |
| RTA website by tag ID | AED 5 | Card | 45 minutes to 4 hours |
Based on RTA service 646 Top up nol card.
The first top up after you buy a NOL card
A new Silver card already carries AED 19, which is above the AED 7.50 minimum needed to check in, so the first trip needs nothing added. A Red Ticket carries AED 0 and needs at least one journey loaded before a gate will open for it.
Money added at a machine, an office, a bus stop machine or by NFC in the NOL Pay app is live at once. Credit bought by tag ID on the RTA website, in a bank app or through Dubai Now sits pending for 45 minutes to 4 hours, then loads on your next tap at a gate, parking meter or bus stop machine. It has to be collected within 180 days.
Bus validators cannot activate pending credit, which is the trap for anyone who tops up online before a bus trip. All 12 top up channels are compared with their minimums and activation rules.
When buying a NOL card is the wrong move
For fewer than four journeys, do not buy a card at all: a Red Ticket at AED 2 covers the trip and the AED 6 Silver issuance fee never pays for itself. The crossover is exactly four rides, after which the Silver card is cheaper on every fare by a dirham.
And buying a second anonymous card to dodge a lost one is money thrown away. An anonymous balance is only recoverable if the card was registered for AED 30, so a card holding close to the AED 1,000 ceiling should be registered on the day it is bought, not after it goes missing.
Keep reading
NOL Card Balance Check Online 2026: RTA Dubai
Check your NOL card balance with the 10 digit tag ID, then open the official RTA page. Minimum balance AED 7.50, every method, updated August 2026.
NOL Fare Calculator 2026: Dubai Metro, Bus, Tram
Work out any Dubai Metro, bus or tram fare by zone and card type: Silver AED 3 to 7.50, Gold double, Red Ticket, concessions. Updated August 2026.
NOL Card and Dubai Metro Questions and Answers
Straight answers on NOL balance checks, tag IDs, fares, zones, passes, refunds, lost cards, expiry and how our calculators are tested against RTA.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy a NOL card in Dubai?
At ticket offices and ticket machines in every metro station, at bus station counters, at RTA customer happiness centres and at authorised agents such as Zoom. Prices are the same everywhere: AED 25 for a Silver card and AED 2 for a Red Ticket.
Can I buy a NOL card online?
The Blue Personal card only, through service 634 on the RTA website or the RTA Dubai and NOL Pay apps. It costs AED 70 and arrives in 4 working days, or 2 for KHDA verified students.
Do NOL ticket machines take cash?
Yes, cash and cards at metro and bus station machines, and cash at agents such as Zoom. The catch is the minimum: AED 20 at a metro ticket machine against AED 5 in the NOL Pay app.
Can I use a new NOL card straight away?
Yes. A Silver card arrives with AED 19 on it, above the AED 7.50 minimum a gate asks for. A Red Ticket needs at least one trip loaded first, since it comes with AED 0.
How much should I put on a NOL card to start?
Enough to clear the AED 7.50 check in minimum with a return trip in hand, so around two fares of AED 5. Machines force AED 20 as a minimum load anyway, and the anonymous ceiling is AED 1,000.
Where is the cheapest place to buy a NOL card?
Price does not vary by seller. The only real saving is choosing the right card: AED 2 for a Red Ticket under four journeys, AED 25 for a Silver card beyond that, and AED 70 for a Personal card if a concession applies.