We all know that travelling around the Netherlands can really rack up a bill. Most importantly, we know that the shadow of our student budget follows us everywhere. Why not save as much as you can during travelling so that you can buy an extra case of beer or spend it on things you don’t really need at Primark?
Here a few ways you can do this:
Invest in a personal OV-chipkaart.
This is your golden ticket to all kinds of public transport discounts! It costs the same amount as the blue anonymous card and has many more benefits attached to it. You can get access to train subscriptions on the ns.nl website and tram, metro, and bus transcriptions on the ret.nl website. Depending on what kind of transport you want to save on, we recommend looking into their monthly/yearly plans. For example, I have a yearly subscription of €50 euros called Dal Voordeel for 40% discount on all trains during off-peak hours and the weekends! Instead of paying €25 euros to go to Maastricht, you can spend €15. Head on over to those websites to see how much you can save!
Buy a RET day card if you plan on travelling a lot by tram, metro, or subway on a specific day.
It only costs €8 for a day card for unlimited travel! This is bound to be cheaper than all of your trips added together, so we suggest planning accordingly.
Travel by train with someone who has a subscription.
Most times people with subscriptions are allowed to give others up to a 40% discount. You know what that means? Befriend a Dutch student or someone with a subscription!
Travel by train in a group.
This group ticket is available for 4-7 people during off-peak hours and the more people you have, the cheaper you pay by train. For 7 people, each one-way ticket is less than €5 to anywhere in the Netherlands!
We hope these tips will save you some extra cash and encourage you to discover new parts of this country during your exchange/study period.