Public Transport in Almaty

Updating info about the Onay card:

The price has increased to 500 tenge. The card comes with one free ride. You can top it up via Qiwi terminals.

Where to buy:

• At the airport, railway stations, and Sairan bus terminal;
• In Karavan kiosks;
• At Akson-Mobile communication shops;
• At outlets of “Tourist Information Center” LLP;
• At Onay service centers: 33/1 Ryskulbekova St., 3A Abylai Khan St., and "Altyn Taraz" shopping center;
• At Guidejet TI’s office at 7B Manas St.;
• In the Rixos hotel.

Sometimes, conductors also have them available for purchase.

You can create a free virtual Onay card in the Onay app on your smartphone and link your payment card to it.

Now you can download the Onay app, open a virtual card, and pay using a QR code. Top-ups can be done via any banking app using the Onay card number (e.g., Kaspi, Halyk). Plastic Onay cards are also available for 500 tenge, which includes 100 tenge for one ride. The advantage of the plastic card is that it works in the metro, where there’s no internet access.

Sharing some firsthand experience, as I had a rough time!

You can’t buy the Onay card at the airport or in the metro. They’ll send you off to look for newspaper kiosks (I didn’t find any) or special pavilions in malls. There’s a grocery store at the airport with a sign saying cards are available, but I thought I could get one easily at the metro for 500 tenge, so I didn’t buy it for 1000 tenge there.

Starting my search from Raiymbek Batyr metro station, I logically went to the railway station. Near the station, there’s an Onay service center in the "Altyn Taraz" mall, but it was closed on weekends. I eventually bought the card at an inconspicuous souvenir shop in the station for 700 tenge.

Verdict:
a) Buy it at the airport; or
b) Download the app and link your international card.

P.S. When I had two rides left (I counted!), the card stopped working, and I had to pay the driver in cash for my last ride back to the airport. Drivers typically don’t provide receipts, saying, “Relax, no one’s checking!”

Starting August 3, 2024 a new fare of 120 tenge per ride will be introduced for public transport in Almaty. Cash payments are entirely discontinued for safety reasons—drivers get distracted when handling money.

@simmonsh944, all you needed was to find Karavan kiosks, which always have cards without markup. One is located right at the entrance to the Raiymbek Batyr metro station on Raiymbek Batyr Avenue.

Good day! I downloaded the Onay app, but it requires a Kazakh phone number for registration. SMS doesn’t come through on my Russian number.

How can a tourist pay for transport in Almaty if the mobile app is inaccessible and cash payments are no longer accepted?

You can buy a Kazakh SIM card and pay via SMS. Alternatively, purchase a plastic Onay card and top it up.