mTickets

You need an internet/data connection to purchase an mTicket. A weak phone signal when you board your bus should not be a problem. However, the First Bus App does need to communicate with our system on a regular basis to keep itself up to date when you're out and about, so long periods without connection may cause an issue.

Please note the app is not designed to work with Wi-Fi only devices such as tablets and iPads.

Once a ticket is purchased and downloaded, it will appear in the 'wallet' of the mTicket section of the app. Tickets in this section are listed from the oldest at the top to the newest at the bottom.

When you want to use a ticket, select the one you want and then select 'Activate Now'.

You'll then be informed of how long the ticket will be active for, before confirming that you want to activate this ticket. We would advise reading this carefully to avoid activating unwanted tickets.

Once activated, the app will generate a moving ticket image on your phone's screen and a QR code. This will stay active for the remainder of the ticket's validity and will include the time and a four letter 'word of the day'.

You'll need to scan the QR when you board the bus.

Unless stated otherwise on the ticket description, mTickets can be used anytime within 12 months of purchase. The countdown on the ticket states how long the ticket can be used for if activated at that moment.

The validity of single tickets varies across each First Bus region. For the most part, single tickets will remain valid for 30 minutes once activated. The app will remind you of this before activating the ticket, to avoid any misactivation.
 

We advise customers to only activate a ticket when ready to use it.

If the ticket expires after already being scanned, but while you are still on the bus, this is not a problem. The ticket is valid for the entirety of that single trip, and you do not need to purchase another ticket while on the bus.

For a step-by-step guide on ticket gifting, please check our dedicated page here: https://www.firstbus.co.uk/buy-tickets/ways-pay/ticket-gifting.

Please note, the First Bus App must be installed on the phones of both parties and each must have their own account. Tickets that can be gifted show the share icon  

The First Bus App is only designed to work with one device per account. However, should you purchase a new handset, or lose or damage your current device, you can transfer your tickets with the Transfer now button in your ticket wallet. Please note, mTickets should not be shared between users.

No; while you don't need an internet connection at the point you ‘activate’ an already purchased ticket, a regular internet connection is required by the app to keep content up to date and secure.

The validity of mTickets is similar to paper tickets. This means a day ticket is not valid for 24 hours, but rather the remainder of the day on which it is activated.

For example, typical validities are as follows:

(Example tickets, different tickets are available in different areas)

• FirstDay – the remainder of the day the ticket is activated
• FirstWeek – the remainder of the day the ticket is activated plus a further 6 days
• FirstMonth – the remainder of the day the ticket is activated plus a further number of days in the month less one
• First4Week – the remainder of the day the ticket is activated plus a further 27 days

We also include a period of grace past midnight, so if our services end at 2am locally, the period 00:00 to 02:00 forms part of the previous day and the hours & minutes countdown shown on the mTickets screen reflects this.

Please note that any expiry date shown in words on the ticket screen is the last full day of the ticket, and does not reflect the period beyond midnight. This is so customers do not wrongly believe they have an additional full day's travel.

Trip tickets are different as they are valid for the number of trips specified.