Credit cards instead of OV chipkaart

https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/information/public-transport/ov-chip-card-5.htm

Does this answer your question(s) ?

The link in the previous post links to information about the OV-chipcard. In large areas of the Netherlands, you don’t need an OV chipcard as you can now indeed check in and out with your credit card (Visa or MasterCard). See here for details https://ovpay.nl/en/how-it-works

Some additional information about Leiden to Keukenhof; you can get the special bus/entry combo ticket. This ticket includes both the bus Leiden - Keukenhof and back and entry into the Keukenhof. These tickets will become available soon (mid February) via the website of the Keukenhof https://keukenhof.nl/en/

that will make life a lot easier.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the OV-Chipkaarts in the drawer!

You can still use the OV-chipcard. The payment with debit/credit cards is aimed at those who don’t use public transport a lot. It will always charge a full fare. If you want to use available discounts, you need to use a OV-chipcard or buy a ticket online.

Do American Chip/sign cards e.g. Captitol One credit card work like this or do I need to be sure to have apple pay or something like that on my phone

Have Americans been able to make this work with US credit cards.

The official site indicates that you don't need the chip card to get the discount, that it happens with touch pay. It is not clear if US credit cards on Applepay will work -- so wondering if Americans have done this successfully.

“ The official site indicates that you don't need the chip card to get the discount, that it happens with touch pay”

I think you misunderstood my post. The OV chipcard I referred to in my post is a special public transport chipcard. It’s not a credit card or a debit card issued by a bank. The OV chipcard is a special card that you can only use to pay for public transport. You load money onto the card and tap the card against a reader every time you enter and leave public transport. The fare will then be deducted from the balance on the card. Or you buy a multi day public transport pass that will be loaded onto a disposable OV-chipcard.
You can’t load a multi day public transport card onto a credit or debit card. So if you want to use a multi day public transport card or take advantage of a discounted fare, you need an OV chipcard.
See here for what an OV chipcard is; https://www.ns.nl/en/travel-information/traveling-with-the-ov-chipkaart/different-ov-chipkaart-variants-ns-business-card.html

The OV chipcard is a completely different way of paying for public transport. The OV chipcard remains in use and is the perfect product for those who take frequent public transport trips.

The new way of paying directly with your credit or debit card is ideal for those who seldom travel on public transport. The downside is that it will always charge you the full fare. There is no daily cap or discounted fare available if you pay by credit or debit card.

Thanks. I think I misread some of the literature and thought it DID include the chip card discounts. We won't be doing a lot of travel, so it probably works for us. Thanks for clarifying.

There is no way to load a multi day pass or a discounted fare onto your credit card, so I’m sorry but you really will only pay full fare when you use your credit or debit card to check in and out in public transport.

“This will become increasingly more available throughout the Netherlands.”

I have been eagerly awaiting tap in and tap out in The Netherlands much like when I am in London. Just a tap of my watch is so convenient. Has anyone experienced this recently? How available is this now? My concern is if I tap in through a gate at, say, AMS, head to Delft, but the gate at Delft Station doesn’t yet have this technology. I am curious about the actual availability throughout the country overall.

have you looked at the map (through the link above)? It is a fair part of the country already highlighted. No gaps that I saw around the main tourist areas.

Nigel,

I did take a closer look at the link just now. You can enter a town to see what “line numbers” are available and it seems like a substantial list of trams and bus routes are listed, however, for the train section, it was blank for the few of the towns I tried (Delft, Haarlem). Nothing was listed. Now, is that because numbers are not listed in train routes? I am not sure. You are a train guy, I nominate you to head down to Amsterdam, Haarlem, Delft et al and give it a test spin 😀. You will have fun. BTW-your posts on England train strikes and disruptions are much appreciated.

perhaps in April .. (thanks)

You can use your debit or credit card to tap in and out on all train stations. They wouldn’t have implemented this if it wasn’t available on all train stations.

This is great info. I think. :) Is there a way to determine a crossover point or threshold in order to determine what is "frequent" train travel when trying to decide between OV chipkaart and credit card? We will be in The Netherlands for 3 weeks. Staying in Leiden with day trips by train most days, then to Leeuwarden with day trips by train, then to Arnhem with day trips by train, then to Utrecht with (you guessed it!) day trips by train. Does that sound like frequent travel? The credit card would easier, but it's always nice to save a few euros as well. Thanks!

When you pay by tapping in and out with your credit/debit card, you will always be charged a full fare.
That means you won’t be able to get the 10% off-peak hours discount nor the group travel discount which is also only valid in off-peak hours. So if you plan to take a lot of trains during the off-peak hours it’s definitely worth it to buy your etickets online at the NS website or via their app.

https://www.ns.nl/producten/en/reizen-in-de-daluren/p/vroegboek-retour-dal

The group ticket is only cheaper when you travel longer distances, so you need to do the math first.
https://www.ns.nl/producten/en/meest-gekocht/p/groepsticket-daluren

Paying by credit/debit card, do they do the same as the OV Chipcard where it deducts 20 Euro at the start of your NS journey, then refunds the difference in fare at the end of your journey when you successfully check out of the station? So you have to keep that amount as a minimum balance.
I always found that annoying, as I treated OV like an Oyster and never liked to have too much stored value in case I lose the card, but have been caught by that 20 Euro rule several times, once at an unstaffed station where the reader only gave me an explanation in Dutch of why it wouldn't accept the card, and I wound up having to ask a stranger for help.