Travel with 20%, 40% or 100% discount on Dutch railways. Bonus: rent a bike for free!
The Netherlands offers some very generous rail discounts. They are available for non-residents, too, although getting them is somewhat tricky if you don’t live in the country.
The OV Chipkaart
First of all, you will need an ‘OV Chipkaart’. This card will be your pass to access all public transport services in the Netherlands. Every time you board a train (or a bus or tram), you will need to check in with this card (on the station at an electronic check-in terminal, or, in case of buses and trams, on board the vehicle). Similarly, when you finish a journey, you need to check out the same way. If you travel on a journey involving multiple transport companies, you need to check out and back in when you change to a vehicle of a different company.
There are two types of OV Chipkaart: Anonymous and Personalized.
You can get an anonymous Chipkaart at any of these service points in the Netherlands or order one online in OVShop.
For most rail discount subscriptions, however, you will need a personalized OV Chipkaart. Getting it is a bit tricky, since a plastic card needs to be posted to a Dutch address, and a bank account that supports the payment system iDEAL. Luckily though, Revolut supports iDEAL, and you can get a Revolut account all over the world. This means, once you agreed with your hotel or with a friend in the Netherlands, that you can have your card posted to them, nothing can stop you from enjoying the benefits. Once you have the card, it is yours to keep for the next five years, so you can use it freely if you (hopefully!) decide to return or even move to the Netherlands.
If you would like to order a personalized OV Chipkaart, don’t do it yet, read on instead.
Subscriptions on the OV Chipkaart
NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen), the Dutch national railway operator, offers many discount subscriptions that you can put on your OV Chipkaart.
Always buy your OV Chipkaart along with a NS discount subscription. This way, if you choose anything more expensive than the cheapest Weekend Voordeel, you will get the OV Chipkaart for free. Even though these are yearly subscriptions, you can cancel them every month if you don’t need them anymore.
| Subscription | Type of OV Chipkaart supported | Price | Discounts provided | Free OV Chipkaart included | Purchase |
| Dal Voordeel | Personalized + Anonymous | €5.60 / month | – 40% discount during off-peak hours – 40% discount at weekends and public holidays – 40% joint journey discount during off-peak hours for up to 3 passengers travelling with you | Yes | Buy now |
| Altijd Voordeel | Personalized only | €2.20 / month | – 20% discount during peak hours – 40% discount during off-peak hours – 40% discount at weekends and public holidays – 40% joint journey discount during off-peak hours for up to 3 passengers travelling with you | Yes | Buy now |
| Weekend Voordeel | Personalized only | €2.20 / month | – 40% discount at weekends – 40% discount on public holidays – 40% joint journey discount during off-peak hours for up to 3 passengers travelling with you | No | Buy now |
| Weekend Vrij | Personalized only | €34.95 / month | – Unlimited travel at weekends – Unlimited travel on public holidays – 40% joint journey discount during off-peak hours for up to 3 passengers travelling with you | Yes | Buy now |
| Dal Vrij | Personalized only | €119.95 / month | – Unlimited travel during off-peak hours – Unlimited travel at weekends and on public holidays – 40% joint journey discount during off-peak hours for up to 3 passengers travelling with you | Yes | Buy now |
| Altijd Vrij | Personalized only | €353.80 / month | – Unlimited travel during peak hours – Unlimited travel during off-peak hours – Unlimited travel at weekends and on public holidays – 40% joint journey discount during off-peak hours for up to 3 passengers travelling with you | Yes | Buy now |
Can you combine these subscriptions?
You can’t, however, there is a way around this. When buying some subscriptions, you can book additional discounts, as you can see here:
Bonus: Rent a bike for free all over the Netherlands!
If you buy any of the NS subscriptions above with the payment modality NS Flex (pay monthly with a personalized OV Chipkaart), you will be able to rent two bicycles for free at any of the OV Fiets stations around the country.