Venezia Unica travel card for frequent users

The price of a single vaporetto ticket in Venice is outrageous if you're a casual tourist: You'll pay a whopping €9,50, which is more than the cost of a pizza margherita in some restaurants.

The local transit authority's ACTV 24-hour to 7-day travel passes  are worth considering if you you're in Venice for a short time and plan to use the boats frequently, but they're expensive overkill for longer stays.

Fortunately, there's another alternative: the "frequent users" (a.k.a. "regular users") version of the Venezia Unica stored-value city pass and travel card. Although the card is intended primarily for residents of the Venice region, non-residents can buy it for a fee.

As a non-resident, you'll pay €100 for the "frequent users" version of Venezia Unica, but your card will be valid for five years, and you'll be able to add stored-value fares to the card whenever you're in Venice.

With this stored-value card, you can save money in either of two ways:

• By purchasing individual paperless waterbus "tickets" at the resident fare of €1,50, or even less if you buy 10 rides at a time. You can recharge your Venezia Unica card online.

• By purchasing a monthly or annual commuter pass, which offers even bigger savings to students and other visitors who use the vaporetti and motoscafi daily.

• Note: You can't share this card, with one exception: If you and a companion both have Venezia Unica cards and one of you has run out of stored fares, the other can pay two fares. (But both of you must have valid cards and present them to the ticket inspector if asked.)

Other cardholder benefits:

You can use the Venezia Unica "frequent user" card for public transportation on ACTV water buses (vaporetti) and the People Mover elevated tramway (which connects the Piazzale Roma with the Marittima cruise terminals and the Tronchetto parking island).

Venezia Unica also entitles you to a discount of about 50 percent on Alilguna airport boats.

Where to buy a Venezia Unica card:

You can purchase a Venezia Unica for frequent users stored-value card at larger Hellovenezia ticket offices and licensed agents.  We suggest using the main Hellovenezia/ACTV office at the Piazzale Roma, where you'll find a ticket counter inside the building.

On page 2, we provide illustrated step-by-step instructions for buying the card at the main Hellovenezia office (a.k.a. the ACTV ticket office) in Venice's Piazzale Roma.

• Please note: Don't confuse this "frequent users" card with the "tourist" version of Venezia Unica, which is a different product that's geared to short-term visitors.

Using the card:

Simply swipe the card on the electronic ticket reader at any ACTV waterbus stop. The machine will beep, and a green light will flash to confirm that the card has been read.

For more information:

Go to the official Venezia Unica Web site and see the "Venezia Unica City Pass for frequent users" page.