Bus from Schipol airport to Haarlem

https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=2y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=Haarlem+bus+tickets&utf8=%E2%9C%93

Hopefully the above is helpful.

Safe travels!

“My friend from Holland says you pay for public transport by credit card or wallet app on your cell phone, it’s cashless now.”

Your friend is right. You can pay for all public transport by tapping in and out with your credit card. This website has all the information you need to know, I suggest you read it carefully; https://www.ovpay.nl/en

Dutch_traveler,
Thanks for the help. It seems my husband is eligible for the 34% discount on public transport in NL because he is over the age of 64. Is it possible to purchase bus tickets inside the airport terminal, do you know? If not, I’m sure we can ask once we get through security checkpoints at Schipol.

We may end up getting a metro pass of some kind since we will be taking the train from Haarlem to Amsterdam on two successive days.

But the bus 300 seems like the best plan for us going from Schipol to Haarlem.

I looked at the link for OV Pay. Do you find it helpful to use that app, versus just using your credit card to tap in and out of the public transport? My husband asked me why we would need to use the app.

Following. We are doing the same in April this year. Glad to hear we get a discount for being "old".

I took the bus and paid as I got on the bus with my credit card. Just tap the card or your phone.

Not to burst bubbles, and my information may not be up to date...

My understanding is that in order to receive a senior discount, you need to have a personal OV Chipkaart which requires a Dutch address and bank account. Just tapping with a credit card, you do not get the discount. There may be a way to get a discount buying at a counter, but then you also pay more compared to contactless or OV Chipkaart.

Most European countries give senior discounts only to their own residents.

I’m not sure what you mean by “use that app” in relation to OV Pay. OV Pay is the name of the nationwide system that allows you to pay for public transport by tapping your credit or debit card against a reader in order to pay for public transport. Instead of a physical credit card, you can also tap your smartphone, Apple Watch, Google Watch or other device at the reader, as long as the wallet on that device is linked to a debit or credit card. OV Pay doesn’t require an app.
I will link to the website again, where you can read how it works https://www.ovpay.nl/en/how-it-works

As mentioned by another poster, in order to get the senior discount on the buses, trams and metros, you’ll need to get a personal OV chipcard linked to a European bank account. Technically, tourists with a European bank account can apply for a personalized OV-chipcard, but it’s a lot of hassle and it costs €7,50. So it’s only worth it if you make several trips or if you use buses and trams a lot. This discount does not apply to trains.
If you use your credit card to tap in at Schiphol and tap out at Haarlem train station, the full fare for the bus ride is €5,49.

Metros don’t run between Haarlem and Amsterdam, so getting a metro pass to travel between these two cities won’t work.
If you use OV Pay, the fare for the train is €4,90. If you buy a ticket at the train station, you need to pay €1 extra to cover the cost of the single use disposable chipcard the train ticket will be supplied on.

So to wrap up; I think that the easiest thing for both your bus ride from Schiphol to Haarlem and the train from Haarlem to Amsterdam is simply use your credit card to tap in and out.
If you’re still unsure about how this works, perhaps you can ask your friend who lives here to show you?

Thanks to all! We will just not bother with setting up OV Pay. It’s nice that the Netherlands can offer their citizens senior discounts.

My friend from Holland lives here in the U.S. I asked her how her recent experience was, since she and her family went to NL and Denmark in December 2023. She still has family living there, so she goes every year. She said she had an international SIM card in her phone, to enable overseas calls, but it had a different phone number not associated with her bank, so she could not use her phone to tap in and out of public transit. I think she was able to use her phone, and definitely could use her credit card to pay inside a store or restaurant. Person to person payment worked fine, I mean.

It may be better just to tap in and out with the credit card. I can see how sensible it would be to have an OV kaart instead, were I a Nederlander.

“We will just not bother with setting up OV Pay.”

I’m sorry, but I guess I’m explaining things wrong or not clear enough. OV Pay is the system I would advise you to use, but you don’t need to set up anything in order to use it.

There are 2 different systems to pay for public transportation in the Netherlands; OV Pay and OV Chipcard. The term OV is the abbreviation of Openbaar Vervoer, which means public transport.
I’ll explain each system;
1) OVPay; this is the name of the system that allows you to use your debit or credit card to tap in and out at public transport. The only thing you need is a Visa or Mastercard credit card for each person who wishes to travel. Please see the links I posted earlier for more details.
2)OV chipkaart/OV chipcard; An OV chipcard is a card that costs €7,50 to buy and where you can load money or tickets on. A personalized OV chipcard has your personal information on it and a photo. You can also load money on the card, by linking it to a European bank account.

The system that’s easiest to use for tourists is OV Pay. Again, you don’t need to set up anything. Just by tapping your credit card at the reader, you’re already using OV Pay.

Dutch_traveler, thank you, en dank u wel! I do understand what you wrote, very helpful.

It is possible to download the OVPay app, which, according to its description in the FAQ, allows the user to view and edit transactions. Users may add their credit/debit cards right into the app. This info supposedly can’t be seen by OVPay staff or public transport staff. But it enables the user to access transactions and edit them.

Say you forgot to tap out of the bus. Or you tapped in with one card and tapped out using your phone or a different card from the one you tapped in with. You can go to the transaction and edit it. I’m not sure if you could edit it without having the app.

From the OV Pay FAQ section:

Do I need the OVpay app to travel using my debit or credit card?
No, you don’t! But the app does have useful features, like notifications when you check in, letting you create expense claims, and more.

It also says you can’t add an OVchipkaart to OVpay app. But you can add your credit/debit card number. If I lived there, I probably would download the app as it seems handy. ovpay.nl

I did the reverse this past Oct.—took the bus from Haarlem to the airport. Super easy. As already mentioned, traveling in the Netherlands could not be easier. Just tap in and out with your credit card. No need for tickets.

You may find my trip report helpful, especially the public transportation section:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/solo-in-the-netherlands-and-belgium-my-trip-report

While I have not used it, Yes, you can download the OV Pay app, load it with your personal and credit card info, but it is not required for using public transport. All that is needed is your credit card or phone with pay app. The OV Pay app does not allow you to purchase and pay for tickets (as a visitor), just monitor your activity, and as you noted, do some editing. With your credit card, you are still using OV Pay, just not using the app/

There apparently is a third party app, "9292" where you can plan and purchase journeys, then use the app to enter and exit buses and stations. Really know nothing more about it, but given the ease of just tapping in and out with a card or phone, it just seems like another layer of effort.

Carrie
That is an award winning report. Are you a travel writer? You certainly could be! Or a tour guide. Many thanks!

I realized, with Pat’s help, that I can’t search the travel forum effectively with my phone. I need to use my tablet or desktop.

Dutch Travelerand others, I apologize for not trying hard enough to search the forum for answers that may already be there. Lesson learned!

Paul, I agree, I won’t be using the app and I do understand, as Dutch_traveler already said, we are all using OV Pay when tapping in, even if we aren’t downloading the app. It seems like a very good system. I wonder how people feel who don’t have credit cards and wish to use the train. But as a visitor, it will be convenient and simple.

Thanks all!

“I wonder how people feel who don’t have credit cards and wish to use the train.”

People who don’t have a credit card probably do have a debit card, so they can just use their debit card to tap in and out.

"9292" is an app and a website. But it started as a phone number. When I lived in the Netherlands in the 90ies you could call 0900-9292, tell them where you were, and where you wanted to go to, and they gave you instructions. That was very handy in the days before everyone had a smartphone.

Later they added a website, and even later an app, and kept the 9292 brand. The telephone service however still exits. Dial 0900-9292 and you can talk to a human to help you navigate public transit...