Sure, you could ask why I live my life in such a way that I maxed out my Spirit Airlines Bank of America Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard's $2,000 credit limit, which led to it getting declined by the OMNY reader at the West Fourth Street subway station three weeks ago. And yes, you could ask me why it took me three weeks of getting the "Card Not Accepted" message on the OMNY reader every time I tried to pay for the train or bus with my phone, despite having subsequently paid off the balance on my Spirit Airlines Bank of America Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard, and having to return to Metrocard usage for the first time in two years, to finally call OMNY customer service.
Those are certainly valid questions, but I have a few questions of my own: Why did tap-to-pay continue to not work even after I paid off my Spirit Airlines Bank of America Free Spirit® Travel More World Elite Mastercard? And why, when I signed into my OMNY account online (yes, I set one up years ago) to get to the bottom of this, did I see that I owed a balance of $2.90 to the MTA? And why was it then impossible to simply switch payment methods to my debit card to pay off that $2.90 balance I owed the MTA? In short, why isn't OMNY a reliable, easy alternative to the MetroCard yet?
To back up a little bit: That day three weeks ago, I had (or so it seemed at the time) seamlessly been able to use my phone to pay for the subway ride from my apartment to the West Fourth stop. It was upon my return to Brooklyn that I got the "Card Not Accepted" message. I tried again; same message. I then realized what must have happened—I had maxed out my credit card with the subway ride from my apartment. I then approached the MTA worker at the station for some assistance. I told her, I'm sure you deal with fare evaders all the time, but I'm not one of those. I'm a grown man, a professional with, yes, a maxed-out credit card, but a checking account with thousands of dollars in cash in it. I'm ready to pay my share and ride the train, and you're paid to help people pay for and ride the train. We're a match made in heaven. What do you say?