Train and bus tickets can be a little bit expensive, but luckily there are lots of options for traveling with a discount! On the NS website, you can see their section for the cheapest train tickets available. Choose from a cheaper ticket or a full excursion that includes a meal or a snack. There are lots of different options to pick from, and you can see the whole range here.
You can also use the website Treinrijziger, which will help you to find the cheapest ticket for your chosen journey. They also provide a list of the best places to buy a day pass.
What is a discount day pass?
A day pass (dagkaart) is a great money saving option if you need to travel by bus several times on a single day. You can buy them from a bus driver for €6. This grants you unlimited travel after 9 am with the Arriva buses for one day. Remember to store your ticket securely and show it to the driver whenever you enter a bus. The Arriva website provides details about the discounts (all in Dutch).
For €12.50 you can buy a dagkaart which allows you to travel on Arriva trains and buses in Limburg. This ticket is valid on the route Maastricht Randwyck – Kerkrade Centrum between 9 am and 4 pm. You can buy the tickets from the Arriva ticket machines in the station. If you need to travel by bus or train before 9.00 am you will have to buy an additional ticket (‘PLUSkaart’) for €2.50.
Arriva offers another type of dagkaart which is not valid for all of the Netherlands but for the whole Euregio Maas-Rhine. For €18.50 you can use a variety of trains and buses in the provinces of Limburg (Netherlands) and Liège (Belgium), as well as in the Regio Aachen (Germany). The ticket is valid for the whole day on which it is stamped; it’s valid for a single person on regular calendar days and on holidays it is even valid for up to 2 adults and 3 children. For more detailed information see here (all in Dutch).
The NS only offers a day pass if you have an OV-chip card and it will cost you €55.80. With the NS day pass you can travel on all NS and other train carrier trains until 4 am on the following day. Read the most up-to-date information about prices and conditions on the NS website.
What are NS season tickets?
The NS also offers different types of “season tickets” with which you can get discounted travels. These tickets start at as cheap as €2 for a 40% discount on off-peak travel at the weekends. This is definitely a good option for those planning to do a lot of travelling next to their studies!
There are several options for NS subscriptions.
The weekend subscription allows you to travel with a 40% discount during weekends and public holidays. In addition, if you travel with other people, up to 3 people can get a joint journey discount during off-peak hours. This subscription costs you €2 each month.
The Dal subscription allows you to travel on a 40% discount during off-peak hours, weekends and public holidays. In addition you can get a 40% discount on joint journeys with up to 3 extra passengers during off-peak hours. Off-peak hours are weekdays from 9 am to 4 pm and from 6.30 pm to 6.30 am. This subscription costs €5.10 monthly.
The always subscription is best for those who travel on a daily basis. With this subscription you can get a 20% discount during peak hours in addition to the benefits that you get with the Dal subscription. This subscription costs €24.20 per month.
In addition to the regular subscriptions, NS also offers unlimited travel subscriptions for weekends, off-peak hours and peak hours on all and fixed routes. Check these out on the NS website. In order to purchase the subscriptions you will need a personal OV chip card.
Group tickets
An NS group ticket is a way of travelling cheaply by train. This ticket allows a group of between two to seven persons to travel to or from any destination in the Netherlands. Passengers who want to use a group ticket will have to travel together in the train. The main rule is that a fellow passenger must always travel together with the main ticket holder, however, the fellow passengers can get on at a later station on the same route. The group ticket is for a single journey, but the group can buy a ticket for the return journey along with their outward journey. The return can also be for a later date. The group ticket is not valid in the morning or afternoon peak hours!
Where can I buy a NS group ticket?
You must buy the ticket online. The price is €6.30 per person when travelling in a group of seven and slightly higher the less people there are. Also, take into account that the tickets have to be pre-assigned to specific persons when purchasing the ticket.
When can I travel with the group ticket?
Important to note is that the group ticket only allows you to travel during off-peak hours. This means that on weekdays travelling with the group ticket is possible before 6.30 am, between 9 am and 4 pm and after 6.30 pm. On weekends, the group ticket is valid from 6.30 pm on Friday until 6.30 am on Monday.
