The only (*only*) advantage I've seen so far to the roll out of the Compass Card in Vancouver is that if I lose the physical card, I can shut it down online and move the value to a new physical card. I'm not sure that feature outweighs the other hassles (getting the new physical card and performing the switcheroo without needing to, you know, use the transit system), but there you go.

And yes - having just enough money to last until the next money means that any new thing creates an entire system meltdown. Best wishes for finding the bus pass.