banares

I am using the travel planners in the Netherlands websites ns.nl and 9292ov.nl to estimate a trip from, let's say, Amsterdam to Rotterdam . Full price (one-way with a public transport chip card with no discounts) and reduced price are listed . We're wondering how we can get reduced price; we are over 65 years old.
I am comparing this to transit passes and trying to figure out if passes will be better. Can anyone help ? Thank you.

hetismij2

No you can't get a reduced price. The cards for over 65s have to be bought, and are available only to residents.

If you are using chip cards you must have at least €20 on them for every journey you make make train. It is usually cheaper for tourists to buy paper tickets, since getting the money left on an anonymous chip card back again at the end of your trip is difficult.

Loco2com

I second hetismij2 and so for any journeys that are by high speed train you should book in advance to take advantage of lower prices - the Thalys between main Dutch cities for example.

banares

Thank you both.
Has anyone used the Netherlands transit pass ? It is described in website GVB.NL available from 1 to 7 days use.

menachem

Where do you see that? Can't seem to find it, and the site has no search option?

Thalys between Dutch cities is just as fast but a whole lot more expensive as regular train services. The exception is the direct Fyra service between Amsterdam - Schiphol - Rotterdam - Breda. Please note that NS ticketing machines now drive you towards chipcard use, so you have two clicks to perform before you get through to the paper ticket screen. At Schiphol, machines drive you towards 1st class paper tickets (meant for tourists)
You can practice all transactions here:

http://www.ns.nl/kaartautomaatdemo/

hetismij2

Have you got a link to that banares? I can't see the product you are referring to either.

menachem

It's a pity that NS only have Ideal as a payment option, because they have fantastic daytrips and short stays on offer. For instance 20 euro will get you to rotterdam and back, including lunch. There are also great B&B offers and hotels, for instance a night in Arnhem for 45 euro p.p. including the hotel.

hetismij2

I agree menachem - it would be a lot easier all round if they accepted credit cards online, even if they charged a small fee for using them.

banares

http://en.gvb.nl/reisinformatie/welk...Toeristen.aspx

In GVB.NL, section Travel Information (bottom of screen), I selected "Which ticket is right for you", then Tourists.Next screen lists the options for 1 - 7 days and where to get them.

anyegr

banares: I think those multi-day cards are only for Amsterdam.

I've been looking at them for my own trip and calculating how many times I'd have to use the card to make it worth the cost.

A single ticket (valid for one hour) costs 2,6. A one-day card costs 7,50. If you're only doing two trips by bus/tram in one day it's not worth getting the card. If you're going to do three or more separate trips (with more than an hour between each) by bus/tram in that day the card will be worth getting. With a multi-day card you can make it worth the cost with only two trips/day.

But I still think it's only valid for Amsterdam. Daytrips outside would have to be paid for in some other way.

hetismij2

That's right anyegr - they are only for Amsterdam, and only for GVB buses, so not for Conexxion buses fo rinstance which also run through parts of AMsterdam.

If you are planning on using public transport within Amsterdam a lot then it could be worth buying one, but they are no use in the rest of the Netherlands, whereas an anonymous chip card is. I'd still recommend buying paper tickets for train journeys though.

Also it is worth weighing up whether something like the Holland pass offers you a better deal.

banares

Thanks to all of you.