Since 13 March 2026 every EMT Palma bus takes contactless bank cards, and the card fare is 40% below the cash fare: €3.00 against €5.00 on the A1. There is no ticket machine and no ticket office at the airport stop, so the only two ways to pay are the driver's cash box and the reader — and the reader is the cheaper one.
Both airport buses leave from the same stop and charge the same fare, but the A2 runs east to Can Pastilla, Playa de Palma and s'Arenal — the beach strip, not the city. Travellers who board whichever bus arrives first end up 15 km from their hotel.
EMT drivers carry limited change and the company's own advice is that notes larger than €10 may be refused (on TIB coaches the limit is €20). Turning up with a €50 note after a flight is a common way to be stuck at the door.
Two buses serve s'Arenal from the same airport stop. The A2 takes about 32 minutes and costs €3.00 by card; the TIB A51 takes about 6 minutes and costs €2.70. The cheaper bus is also the faster one, which almost nobody checks.
Public transport across Mallorca is free in 2026 for residents holding the Tarjeta Única or Intermodal card — but that card requires an empadronamiento (local registration) and a NIE, and the Balearic government confirms it is not available to tourists. Guides that say 'buses are free in Mallorca' leave that part out.