Train ticket options

Let me ask a personal question: Are you 65 or older? If the answer is yes, you can buy a same day return ticket to anywhere in Belgium (depart after 9 am week days, anytime weekends) for 8.30 EUR.
https://www.belgiantrain.be/en/tickets-and-railcards/overview-products/adult-senior

As Sam said— Belgium has great train ticket deals for seniors on weekdays when those at least 65 years old can travel anywhere in Belgium after 9am for about €8 in standard class. First class is about €17. You can travel one-way OR ROUNDTRIP on this discount ticket if completing the roundtrip on the same day. All passengers ( even non-seniors) can buy a “Weekend Return” ticket which lets you travel roundtrip anytime on any Belgian train between 19:01 (7:01pm) on Friday evening and the last train on Sunday night for about the same price as a one-way ticket. You can also buy a roundtrip ticket from Antwerp to Bruges and stopover in any intermediate city ( i.e. Ghent) on the same route at no extra charge. Fares in the Netherlands are somewhat higher than Belgium but the off-peak One Day travel ticket or. “Dagkaarten” is a bargain allowing roundtrip travel during a single day after 9am at a discount price. Buying train tickets at the stations as you need them is the best way to travel in both countries. Don’t bother buying train tickets online in advance as is done in other countries to save money. And don’t bother with a train pass. The staff at the Amsterdam Centraal train station ticket counter can explain the best ticket to purchase for any trip you’re planning.
You’re going to love Antwerp and its central location relative to Bruges, Ghent and Brussels.

www.Seat61.com has more details on train tickets in the Netherlands and Belgium.

I am 56 so can’t benefit from the senior discounts yet. I had looked at round tickets and then given the cost of the train from Amsterdam, I wondered if I should just do the rail pass. I will only be in Amsterdam for two days before flying out so most likely won’t leave the city.

With the current Promo offer, 5 days out of a month for $158 2nd class, that is probably a good deal. I think you have to buy by Dec 15 to get this price.

Train travel in Belgium is so cheap that a Rail pass usually doesn’t provide much value. If you plan your day trip from Antwerp to Bruges in the weekend, a return ticket will only cost you €19,20.
If you plan to travel outside the weekend you can buy a 10 journeys pass for just €99,00. This allows you to travel from anywhere in Belgium to everywhere for only €9,90 per journey. A train trip from Antwerp to Bruges and back means 2 journeys and will therefore cost you 2x €9,90 is €19,80.
See here for details https://www.belgiantrain.be/en/tickets-and-railcards/overview-products/adult-senior

Train tickets from Amsterdam to Antwerp can be as low as €15,30 if bought well in advance.

Sam, I am not sure what promotion you are talking about, is that specific to Belgium? I will be in Belgium for 6 days counting day of arrival so will onl be in Antwerp from Amsterdam that day.

Eurail has a current promotion with discounted prices on many Eurail products. You said 3 day trips from Antwerp and Amsterdam Schipol to Antwerp and Antwerp to Amsterdam Centraal. That is a total of 5 travel days in under 30 days. Price now is $157.50. After Dec 17, the cost reverts to $207.50, so buying now even if you will be using it later next year will save $50. At the non-sale price, you are probably better buying tickets as you go. Since the train from Amsterdam Centraal to Schipol airport is only 4.90 EUR, no reason to go for a 6-day pass for an extra $20 (at the promo price). You just scan your credit card at the start and scan it again at the airport and you will be charged 4.90 EUR (about $5.20).

Sorry Sam, I don’t think my post was clear. I fly into Amsterdam, train to Antwerp. I will day trip via train around Belgium, then train from Antwerp back to Amsterdam. Do you think that Eurrail special is still the best option and then it looks like doing the multi pass that gives you 10 trips for a set price anywhere in Belgium is the good option.
I wondered if it was simpler to do the eurorail pass that covers Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg

How many days is this trip? From your original post, you had Schipol to Antwerp, 3 day trips from Antwerp, then return trip to Amsterdam. I count 5 railpass days. Why do you need 10?

I don’t see how a Benelux Railpass pencils out.
Here’s why——- The cost of an Amsterdam to Antwerp standard class ticket is about $33. The same for the return ticket. From Antwerp to Ghent, a ticket is about $12.($24 Return) Bruges is about $18 ($36 Return) Antwerp to Brussels is about $10 ($20 Return). That comes to roughly to $80.
In Belgium, any trip taken on Saturday or Sunday will give you a roundtrip ticket for the cost of a one-way ticket. These are called “Weekend Return tickets.” So, you can subtract that amount from $80 for each daytrip taken on the weekend which will cut at least $20 off bringing the total to $60 for train tickets within Belgium if you take two weekend daytrips.
The train tix to and from Amsterdam add $66 to the total. That makes the ballpark cost of all your train tickets ( including Amsterdam-Antwerp Roundtrip) $126-$146 if you visit each Belgian city one time.

www.BelgianTrain.be

There seems to be some confusion about different types of passes. The Eurail pass is valid for a certain number of days. In my post upthread I mentioned the Belgian Standard multi pass. This pass costs €99 and gives you 10 journeys. The way the pass works, is that a day trip from Antwerp to Bruges costs 2 journeys; 1 journey for the way out and 1 journey for the way back.
These journeys can only be taken within Belgium.
Details here; https://www.belgiantrain.be/en/tickets-and-railcards/railpass

That’s a good deal if the OP wanted to daytrip a couple times on weekdays into Bruges.

Thank you for your advises