Frequently Asked Questions

Simply put: it’s a contactless transportation card that allows you to pay as you go on all public transport throughout the Netherlands. After you grab your card, link it to your preferred payment method and the Netherlands is yours to explore.

Once you buy your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card, you can register it in the app and add your (international) payment method. Once that’s done, you can make use of these benefits:

- see an overview of your travel data, costs and payments
- have your card be automatically topped up, ensuring that you’ll never have to manually load money onto it
- be automatically and conveniently charged for all your travel costs on the payment method you entered
- receive a 15% discount on weekday off-peak hours and weekends.
- make any updates to your registration or payment methods

Follow these steps to register your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card:

1. Sign-up for an account with your email address
2. Confirm your account with the verification code sent to your email. 
3. Also check spam!
4. Create a password you won’t forget.
5. Agree with the terms of use and privacy policy.
6. Enter your name and phone number.
7. Verify your phone number with the verification code we sent to it.
8. Add your (international) payment method.
9. Enter your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card details.

Once that’s done, we’ll take care of the automatic payment and card top-up. After four hours, you’ll be able to pick up these digital products from an NS ticket machine or an OV-chipkaart service point at the train station closest to you.

Before you can start using your card, and after you’ve registered it in the app, you’ll have to give us 4 hours to get your digital products ready for pick up. After, you can just head on over to a train station near you, where you’ll be able to “pick up” your digital products at a yellow NS ticket machine or at an OV-chipkaart service point. Follow the steps below for either:

Yellow NS ticket machine:
1. Scan your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card
2. Change the language to English
3. Select “pick up products”
4. Wait until the machine shows you your two digital products
5. Click on agree and wait for the machine to prepare them
6. Place the card against the machine once more
7. You’re all set to travel!

OV-chipkaart service point:
1. Scan your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card
2. Choose “collect purchase order”
3. Be patient while the machine shows you your products
4. Select “automatisch opladen ‘TLS’”
5. Choose “activeer trein zakelijk 2e klas”
6. You’re all set once you see “retrieval of products has been completed”. 

Remember that you’ll never have to load money onto your card because it’ll top up automatically. Please note that, if you do charge it, we won’t be able to give you a refund.

It’s the same process as taking the train. Hold your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card against the card readers either on the platform or at gates that will open once you’ve scanned. Don’t forget to check out again at your destination station!

Your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card can be used to rent an OV-bike from nearly 300 locations in the Netherlands – train stations, bus and metro stops, city centers and P+R (park+ride) ocations. Prices start at 4,45 EUR per day and it’s up to you how long you’d like to keep yours. They can be stored in both guarded and unguarded storage areas, as well as self-service bicycle lockers or carousels. You can use this tool to find the nearest OV-bike location near you.

On trains, you can only sit in second class. Trams, metros, busses and ferries only have one class, so there’s nothing to worry about there.

There are a few reasons why students in the Netherlands should choose the Student/Tripkey Mobility Card over a regular OV-chipkaart:

- Travel without worrying: your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card is the only thing you’ll need in order to travel through the entire country. Whether public transport, bike or train, the Netherlands is yours to discover.
- Discounted travel: With the Student/Tripkey Mobility Card, you’ll get a 15% discount on Dutch Railways (NS) trains during weekends and weekday off-peak hours. That’s Monday through Friday between 6:30 and 9:00, as well as between 16:00 and 18:30.
- Automatic balance top-up: Once you’re all registered, we’ll make sure that you never have to put money onto your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card. You’ll never again miss a train due to an insufficient balance!
- International payment options: We’ve created a seamless buying and registration process specifically tailored to international students for the Student/Tripkey Mobility Card. You won’t have to worry about not speaking Dutch, and you can pay for everything using an international bank account.
- Bikes: Not only can you take public transport and trains, but with your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card you can also make use of OV-fiets at many NS train stations. Not only can you rent a bike, but you can also store your own bike in the guarded bicycle storage to keep it from being stolen.

It’s available in the Apple App Store and Android Google Play store.

Without the digital perks – like the discount and automatic top-up – your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card cannot be used to travel. Instead, you’ll need to load the digital products that are a part of your monthly subscription with us onto your card. You can “pick them up” at an NS ticket machine or an OV-chipkaart service point at a large train station near you.

If you’re using a machine, you’ll simply have to switch the language to English, scan your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card and press on the “pick up products” option. That’s it. Then you’ll be all set to travel.

At every Dutch train station, you’ll find card readers, either on the platform itself or as gates that will open once you scanned your card. If it’s your first time, you can usually follow the lead of other people. Don’t forget to check out again at your destination station!

Both on tram and bus, you’ll find card scanners at the entrance and exits. It’s important that you check in on arrival and out on departure of every vehicle. So, for example, if you’re catching a bus after a tram, you’ll have to check out of the tram before checking in again in the bus. On both, you’ll hear a single beep when you check in and two beeps when you check out.

A good rule of thumb to follow is that, if you’re traveling on most public transportation, you’ll have to check in and out of each individual vehicle. So, if you’re switching from a bus to a tram, you’ll check in and out of the bus before checking in and out of the tram. 

This is also the case if you’re transferring between the same mode of transport. Check in and out of one tram before checking in and out of another. The exception are NS trains and metros. Here, you check in once at the beginning of your journey and out again at the end. You’re free to transfer between several inbetween without worrying.

Everything is fair game. You can travel on all Dutch trains, trams, metros, busses and ferries. If you’re ever looking for a short-term bike solution, it’s also possible to rent an OV-bike with your card.

It’s up to you. You can either pick up your card at the introduction days of your university or choose to have it sent directly to your Dutch address for a fee of 2.5 euros. The choice is yours.

We can break the costs into a one-time purchase price, a monthly subscription fee and your personal travel costs.

- Purchase price: You can order your Student/Tripeky Mobility Card for 15EUR on our website.
- Monthly subscription fee: In order to use your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card, we ask for a subscription fee of 4,50 EUR per month.
- Travel costs: We’ll also charge the (international) payment method you entered on the app with your travel costs. How much this will be depends on how much you travel. You can keep track of this at any time in the app.

Yes! Nice, right? You’ll get 15% off during off-peak hours and wekeends on NS (National Railway) trains. Off-peak hours are the following:

- During the entire weekend from Friday 6:30PM and Monday 6:30AM
- Monday to Friday between 9AM and 4PM and between 6:30PM and 6:30AM

Please note: even if the check-out gates at NS stations may show you a non-discounted travel price, your discount has been applied. You can always check your Student/Tripkey Mobility app for the accurate travel costs.

Your travel transactions can be found in the Student/Tripkey Mobility app under “travel history”. An individual transaction will show up 48 hours after you trip. Each transaction also shows you whether it has been billed and within which invoice. All bills are sorted under “bills” in the app.

You can use an international credit card, as well as iDEAL if you have a Dutch bank account. This is great for international students, as most public transport cards do not accept credit cards.

This depends on the mode of public transportation, as well as the distance you travel. For NS trains, you can always check the price in advance by entering your starting location and destination on NS.nl.

The 4,50 EUR monthly subscription fee enables the student-friendly benefits we offer. That is the NS train discount of 15%, the international payment methods, English-speaking customer service, and the once-a-month invoice you receive.

Before you can start using your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card, you’ll have to link it to a payment method – credit card or via iDEAL on your Dutch bank account. Costs will automatically be charged from your payment method as you travel. These are charged at the first day of each month alongside the monthly 4,50EUR subscription fee or as soon as you have reached 20EUR worth of travel costs. This could mean that, depending on your trips, you may be charged multiple times per week or even daily.

No. This is not necessary. After you’ve “picked up” your digital products, you’ll be all set to travel. The card tops up automatically, so you’ll never again have to worry about missing a train due to an insufficient balance. If you do put money on the card, you’ll see it in your account balance and can use it for traveling, but we won’t be able to return it to you.

You can do this in the Student/Tripkey Mobility app via the following steps:
1. Login on the app
2. Click on “payment method”
3. Press “continue” and be redirected to our payment provider Mollie.
4. Pay a one-time 0,01 EUR fee for verification

That’s it. Your changes have been applied.

A: We’re sorry to hear that. Report your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card as lost in our Student/Tripkey Mobility App. Check the following steps below:
1. Login to the app
2. Choose “block card”
3. Select “I have read the warning and understand the risks” to continue
4. After confirmation, you’ll receive an email with further instructions

Important: make sure to immediately report your card as missing if it’s been lost or stolen. If not, someone else could freely travel on your tab.

Yes. You can sign up to be emailed every time this happens. You can do this here by clicking on and subscribing to “missed check-out alert”.

Public transport companies in the Netherlands charge you a fixed boarding fee for every vehicle entered (20EUR for trains and 4EUR for tram, subway or bus). Upon checking out, your actual travel costs are calculated and you’re only charged for how much you traveled. However, if you forget to check out, you’ll be charged the entire pre-determined boarding fee. Don’t worry if this happens, though. You can ask for a refund here.

If you want to cancel your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card or end your subscription, you can do this on the app:
1. Login on the Student/Tripkey Mobility app
2. Choose “block card” option
3. Select “I have read the warnings and understand the risks”
4. Wait for further instructions via email

Please note that if you have any outstanding travel expenses, we’ll charge these at the next billing moment. Once you’ve cancelled your subscription, you can no longer use your Student/Tripkey Mobility Card. We’re also unable to refund any money you may have charged onto the card yourself.