Because the PATH is reimbursed by the MTA for the trips on a per trip basis.

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Port Authority being who they are will always want you to pay another fare--that said, it would seem that since PATH accepts MetroCard, they could work something out so you could put both your unlimited fares on one card. Even better there could be a discount for someone buying two unlimited fares, but that seems highly unlikely.

If the same Metrocard works on both Path and MTA, why won't Path accept unlimited? Think this will ever change? Kind of annoying.

The only way to add as much as you want is to buy the 30 day unlimited (which doesn't help you on PATH), so you'll have to divide it into two purchases.

Money-wise, it's best to split the money between a SmartLink card and a MetroCard, but that might not be an option.

Side note: As of this year, you can add rides to an unlimited card, but the card will use up the unlimited amount before you can use any of the pay-per-rides.

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Why can't you just do it in two transactions of $56. One at the beginning of the month and one in the middle.

Wikipedia says you are limited to adding $80 in a single transaction, AND also limited to $100 on a card at one time. That sounds about right, as I recall.

I have a $120 pretax deduction for transit every month, and I usually add that in two bites, $60 at a time. I think I developed that habit to avoid hitting the add and total limits.

Well, I'm not trying to add value to an unlimited.

I have up to $112 per month that I can spend on Metrocards on my company's dime. I'm looking for the best way to use that, so that I can use the Metrocard on both the MTA and the Path.

I tried adding $100 to a pay per ride Metrocard yesterday, and it told me that it was an invalid amount. I also tried several other amounts (like $90, $85, etc)...same thing, invalid amount.

Ideally, I'd like to add $112, each month, to my existing pay per ride Metrocard. Is there any way for me to do that?

I don't think you can add value (dollars) to an unlimited ride Metrocard - you would need to buy a separate pay-per-ride Metrocard in order to be able to add dollars to it.

On an unlimited card, you can only add time - on a pay-per-ride, you can only add value. You can't have both on one card.

Thanks for the answers so far guys. Here's my deal: I can use my corporate account each month to purchase an unlimited ride 30-day Metrocard ($112). Of course, the Path doesn't accept the unlimited ride cards (why not??). So what I'm looking to do is add $100 (or ideally $112) each month to my Metrocard so that I can use those rides on either Path or MTA. Make sense? I'm wondering what the best route is...

This isn't exactly an answer to your question, but do you know about the EasyPay MetroCard? It's linked to your credit or debit card and automatically replenishes when you hit a certain threshold (dollars for pay per ride, date for 30 day unlimited).

I love mine. Now both my PATH card and my subway card automatically replenish and I never have to think about it. (I keep both linked to a credit card, not the debit card that's attached to my checking account, as I think it's easier to fight mistaken charges on a credit card. I've never had any issues, but I don't completely trust either PATH or MTA to not screw up.)

Info and link to sign up here: http://web.mta.info/metrocard/EasyPayXpress.htm

Don't know about $100, but I've specified my own amounts in the past--everything from $35 to $0.05. Maybe you just lucked out with a faulty machine?

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Not sure but why not just keep adding $40 and $20 until you hit your goal?

When filling a MetroCard, does anybody know how much you can add to it? I was hoping to add $100. The amounts are: add $20, add $40, and "add another amount"...but when I entered like 5 different amounts in the "add another amount" option, it kept saying "amount invalid". Any advice?