Paying for Amsterdam Public Transit

We just returned from the area. We had our American credit cards in our Apple Wallet, and the tap system worked perfectly. Make sure each person has a separate credit card.
For additional info, join one of the several Facebook groups dealing with travel tips in Amsterdam. There's significant real- time info from folks on the ground, and frequent discussion on the tap system for using public transportation . In fact, I came home with almost all the euros I brought, as tap is very where, even paying for the public toilets . I never took out my wallet.
Have a great trip!

Thanks Pat, that’s good to hear!

Additionally, do the fares get capped after a certain number of rides? Or does one need to purchase a separate ‘ride all day’ type pass for that? I know that the worthwhile-ness of a travel pass depends on how often you need to use it:)

I downloaded the GVB app (which covers all GVB trams) and purchased the 24 hour pass for 9 Euros for the days that I would be spending actually in Amsterdam rather than on day trips. If you take more than two trams a day, then it is worth it. They also have a 48 hour pass for 15 Euros. I don't believe this pass is applicable from the airport, but would be once you are in the city.

The system that allows you to use your debit or credit card to pay for all public transport in the entire country is called OV Pay. Their website has all the details https://www.ovpay.nl/en

There is no daily cap. Whether or not a pass for Amsterdam is worth it, depends on where you stay. Amsterdam is very compact and walkable, so you might not even need public transport within the city at all.

“ I downloaded the GVB app (which covers all GVB trams) and purchased the 24 hour pass for 9 Euros for the days that I would be spending actually in Amsterdam rather than on day trips. If you take more than two trams a day, then it is worth it.”

This is only true when you compare the GVB-pass to single tickets. The math looks completely different when you compare the GVB pass to the price you pay when you use your credit card to tap in and out. Take for instance a trip by tram from Amsterdam Central Station on the far north side of the Canal Zone to the Rijksmuseum south of the Canal Zone, a 15 minute tram ride. When you buy a single GVB ticket valid for 1 hour, in the tram it will cost you €3,40. However if you use your credit card to tap in and out, you will only be charged € 1,56.

If you compare the GVB pass to the fares charged with OV Pay, you will need to make more public transport trips before the pass pays off.

We were not sure what the definition of “separate” credit cards means. Just as a clarification as our guide was not sure as well is if a couple has a Visa card (or other accepted credit card) with the same number and cvv and only the name on the card is different you should each be able to scan in and out separately. We have been doing this in Amsterdam successfully on the trams. From what I have read the chip technology creates unique transactions and how they match it all up I have no idea.

When you buy a single GVB ticket valid for 1 hour, in the tram it will cost you €3,40. However if you use your credit card to tap in and out, you will only be charged € 1,56.
If you compare the GVB pass to the fares charged with OV Pay, you will need to make more public transport trips before the pass pays off.

Thanks for this information, Dutch_traveler! It does look like the OV pay is probably the best plan for us. I didn’t realize it would be so affordable! Appreciate the feedback!

My husband is an authorized user on my Chase credit card. We each used our Chase cards to tap in and out on the trams and trains in Amsterdam & area with no issue just a couple of months ago.

The ease and convenience of doing this was so great even if the amount was capped on a daily pass it wouldn't be worth it to me to go find a ticket machine and go through the steps to buy a pass. I can't imagine we'd save more than a few bucks. My time is worth more! Tap to pay with a card or an app is the way to go.

Any experience with kids who don't have separate credit/debit card?

We have 2 kids and one of them is 12 and won't have her own card. We will be there in June.

“ Any experience with kids who don't have separate credit/debit card?
We have 2 kids and one of them is 12 and won't have her own card. We will be there in June.”

@Steve; do you have Apple or Google Pay? The way the OV Pay system works is that it sees your credit card and Apple/Google Pay as a different card. So even though your Apple/Google Pay is linked to a credit card, you can tap your actual card for yourself and your phone or watch for someone else. The OV Pay system sees this as 2 different cards even though both fares will be charged to the same account.

This set up is also why you must always check out with the exact same card or device that you used to check in. If you’ve checked in with Apple Pay on your watch, you must also check out with your watch.

I’m not disagreeing with all the other comments, but on one of the trams today, a number of people tried to tap in with their phone and it wasn’t working. It happened that it was the only time I saw a tram employee in a booth inside the tram. He just waved people on because they were trying to stick to a schedule.

Also, when my husband went to use the public toilet near the Anne Frank museum, (not affiliated with the museum) it was 1€ and my husband didn’t have a euro at that moment. And the guy didn’t take a credit card. So the man said, ok I’ll take a US dollar. Now that’s a first!

And at a restaurant nearby, even customers had to pay to use the toilet and it would only accept credit cards. (I’ve been here long enough to use the term toilet instead of restroom otherwise nobody here knows what you are talking about!)

We’ve had every kind of experience on this trip with things like that! Plan for everything and it still throws curve balls. We’ve had cash, credit cards, and Apple Pay and by the way because so much is cashless it’s hard to get change for bills even if a small business prefers cash because nobody keeps much cash. It’s been an adventure.

We had a 72 hour tram pass as part of a RS tour. It worked like a charm. But used tap on/off credit cards for trains and also wonderfully convenient.

We have had a couple of instances where we tapped in with our visa and got a “in” indication then an error “try again” on the screen - when we got to our destination we scanned out and again got an error after the “out” message. One was a tram in Amsterdam and another a bus at the kroller mueller museum near otterlo. Both rides showed up as charges on our visa with the expected amount. Other trips (tram and train) worked as expected. My husband also could not get his Apple wallet to scan leaving a tram and hence never scanned out given the short time to keep trying. He was charged the max 4 euros for that trip. We just decided to use our cards when time to scan would b short. It’s a new system. I’m sure they have some quirks to work out.