Korea's autumn transport discounts (1 Oct – 30 Nov): rail, TMAP, flights, rental cars — and who can claim them

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization have declared October and November the 2026 Travel Autumn campaign period and opened four transport incentives at once. They work in different currencies — rail pays back in coupons, cars and flights in points, rental cars as an instant discount — and each has its own counter: Korail, TMAP, Naver Flights and Carmore. Because the mode of travel and the destination decide which one you can use, it is quickest to line the four up side by side before planning.

The campaign opened with a launch ceremony on 15 September at KT&G Sangsang Planet in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, under the slogan 'autumn deep, travel light'. The transport package carries over the Korail fare rebate that drew a strong response during the spring travel month and adds two new strands — TMAP points for drivers and a rental-car discount for coastal districts. All four share one condition: they close early once the budget is spent, so the calendar dates are a ceiling, not a promise.

How do the four incentives differ?

The first difference is the period: the rental-car discount lasts through October only, the other three to 30 November. The second is that 'depopulated area' means two different lists. TMAP's 89 districts are the whole set designated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety; Korail's 41 are only the districts that have signed an agreement with the railway. Being on one list does not put a place on the other.

Rail: what do you have to do to get the fare back as a coupon?

The rail incentive has three steps and all of them matter. First, buy a depopulated-area free-travel package (not an ordinary ticket) on Korail's website or in the Korail Talk app. Second, actually go to a designated sight in that district and check in there, either by scanning the QR code in Korail Talk or by using the Digital Tourist Residency card. Third, a train coupon worth 100% of the fare on the ticket you bought is issued to you. The two conditions people miss are that the money comes back as a coupon for a later train rather than as a refund, and that it has to be the package product, not a plain ticket. Packages can be booked from 15 September to 26 November for departures up to 28 November, and travel runs from 1 October to 30 November.

The 41 partner districts are listed by region in the ministry's press release. Your destination has to be on this list for the fare coupon to apply.

• Gangwon, 5 — Samcheok, Yeongwol, Jeongseon, Taebaek, Hoengseong
• Gyeongsang, 12 — Gunwi, Mungyeong, Miryang, Bonghwa, Andong, Yeongdeok, Yeongju, Yeongcheon, Ulleung, Uljin, Uiseong, Cheongdo
• Chungcheong, 10 — Gongju, Goesan, Nonsan, Danyang, Boryeong, Seocheon, Yeongdong, Okcheon, Yesan, Jecheon
• Jeolla, 14 — Gangjin, Gokseong, Goheung, Gurye, Gimje, Namwon, Muju, Boseong, Jangseong, Jangheung, Jeongeup, Imsil, Hampyeong, Haenam

Three further rail benefits sit alongside the fare coupon. Buy a package to one of 13 of the 41 districts — Haenam, Hampyeong, Jangseong, Taebaek, Boseong, Imsil, Gangjin, Gunwi, Goesan, Bonghwa, Jangheung, Uiseong or Muju — and you also receive KRW 20,000 per person in digital Onnuri vouchers (a government shopping voucher for local markets), first come, first served. The five scheduled themed tourist trains — the Donghae Santa, Namdo Haeyang (Jeolla and Gyeongjeon lines), Jeongseon Arirang, West Sea Golden and Baekdudaegan Canyon trains — are 50% off the fare. The Naeilro pass, Korail's hop-on rail pass, is KRW 20,000 off for KTX and conventional trains (ITX-Maum, ITX-Cheongchun, ITX-Saemaeul, Saemaeul, Mugunghwa and Nuriro); its booking window is different, 24 September to 23 November, and only passes that start by 24 November qualify.

Car: how do TMAP stamps and points add up?

If you are driving, the whole scheme lives inside the TMAP navigation app. The sequence is take the eco and safe-driving pledge → search for a listed sight in one of the 89 depopulated districts as your destination → drive 30 km or more from your starting point and arrive → collect a stamp → receive points according to how many stamps you hold. A stamp is counted once per district, and your own district of residence does not count, so two trips to the same county earn one stamp.

• First stamp 5,000 points, second 10,000, third 15,000 — three districts bring the account to the cumulative maximum of 30,000 points
• Driving an electric vehicle adds 2,000 points
• Using the Korea Tourism Organization's Digital Tourist Residency card after visiting a depopulated district adds 5,000 points
• Posting a video review in TMAP adds 2,000 points — the organisers say the running period of each extra may change

The event page opens only in the TMAP mobile app. Open the link on a desktop browser and you get nothing but a prompt to launch the app, so the conditions and the list of qualifying sights have to be read in the app itself. The scheme runs from 1 October to 30 November.

Air: which routes earn Naver Flights points, and which do not?

The air incentive pays Naver Pay points when you buy a domestic round trip on an eligible route through Naver Flights and actually fly it. Any airline or travel agency listed there will do, but the booking must appear in your Naver Flights 'My' page after payment; if it is not linked automatically you have to add it yourself before the end of November. Booking runs from 10am on 15 September to 30 November, and travel from 1 October to departures on 30 November inclusive.

Two things in the route table deserve a second look. First, the busiest route of all, Gimpo–Jeju, is not included, and neither is Gimpo–Gimhae. The Jeju routes that qualify are round trips from regional airports such as Gimhae, Cheongju and Daegu. Second, the mainland routes are defined as round trips that start at Gimpo and head out to the regions, so a round trip from a regional city to Seoul (outbound leg landing at Gimpo) is excluded. Eligible routes can change with airline schedules, and points are not paid if they would push your Naver Pay balance over its holding limit of KRW 2,000,000.

Rental cars: why only in October, and only low-emission cars on the coast?

The rental-car discount belongs to the 'Sea Travel Month' programme, whose aim is to keep people longer in coastal districts where public transport is thin, which is why both the area and the vehicle type are restricted. The coupon applies only to hybrid, electric and LPG cars booked and paid for online through Carmore in one of 64 coastal districts outside the Seoul metropolitan area (Gangwon, Chungnam, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam-Gwangju, Gyeongbuk, Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam and Jeju). It is the only one of the four whose use period ends on 31 October, so it is the first to close.

• KRW 10,000 off a rental of 24 hours or more, KRW 20,000 off 48 hours or more — on Jeju, up to KRW 5,000 and 10,000 respectively
• Coupons issued and bookings made 15 September – 31 October; car use 1 – 31 October
• One coupon per person · online booking and payment only (no on-site payment) · does not apply to insurance or fuel
• Information on the Sea Travel Month site (seatravelmonth.kr, Korean), the coupon on Carmore's event page, enquiries to the Carmore customer centre 1544-5344 (Korean)

What should you check before you press book?

All four incentives have a fixed budget and stop when it is gone, whatever the end date says. Naver Flights pays only the bookings that fall inside its first-come allocation, and Korail's Onnuri vouchers are first come as well. If you have a plan, check the live status on the platform before you commit. The conditions below are the ones most likely to send you home empty-handed.

• Rail: it must be the free-travel package, not an ordinary ticket, and the coupon is issued only after you have checked in at a designated sight.
• TMAP's 89 districts and Korail's 41 are different lists. TMAP does not count your own district or a repeat visit to the same one.
• Air: Gimpo–Jeju and Gimpo–Gimhae are excluded, only round trips count, and the booking must be registered on your My page within November.
• Rental cars: low-emission models, online payment and coastal districts only, and the scheme ends on 31 October.
• The Travel Month site's front page advertises the rental-car discount as 'up to KRW 22,000', but the same site's transport page and the ministry's press release say KRW 20,000. This article follows the detailed pages.

In short: travelling by train to a depopulated district earns a coupon worth the fare, driving earns up to 30,000 TMAP points, flying earns up to KRW 40,000 in Naver Pay points, and renting a car on the coast saves up to KRW 20,000. The incentives can be combined, but the counters are four different companies, so it pays to fix the destination and the mode of travel first and then read the conditions of that one scheme closely. The minister's line at the launch was that the campaign should leave families with good memories and give the regions a lift; the small print above is what stands between that and your bank balance.

Can a visitor who does not live in Korea actually claim any of this?

Honestly, in most cases no — and the reason is sign-up, not language. Korail's membership registration verifies identity through a Korean mobile number or the Korean i-PIN system and offers no passport route; Korail's English booking site, which does take a passport and a foreign card, sells ordinary tickets and the KORAIL PASS but does not carry the depopulated-area package or its coupon. Naver Pay points can only be received by a Naver Pay account, and opening one requires identity verification with a mobile phone registered in Korea in your own name. TMAP likewise verifies a Korean mobile number when you create an account, and the event itself is visible only inside the app. Carmore is a Korean-language booking site and the coupon is issued to an account there; of the four it is the most plausible for a foreign resident with a Korean card, and you will need an international driving permit alongside your licence to rent at all. What that leaves for a short-stay visitor is the ordinary way in: the KORAIL PASS or point-to-point tickets on Korail's English site, domestic flights booked on any airline or agency without the points, and the Korea Tourism Organization's 1330 helpline, which answers in English around the clock, for questions about the destinations themselves. The sights these schemes point to — Andong, the Jeolla coast, the Baekdudaegan canyon line — are open to everyone; only the rebate is gated.