You can also travel by train without an OV chip card. All you need for this is the NS app. In the NS app you can not only plan your journey, but also buy a ticket. With the QR code you open the gates of the station. We explain how it works.
Before purchasing a ticket from NS, it is useful to download the NS app. Search for 'NS' in the App Store or Google Play and download it for free. When you open the app, it automatically goes to the planner. Here you can find out what time your train leaves and whether you have to change trains. It is also possible to set favorite locations so that you do not have to look up your frequently used stations every time.
At the bottom you see even more options: departure times, my trips, malfunctions and more. At departure times you can see at once which trains are departing at a certain station. In 'my trips' you will find the most recent trips you have made and under 'malfunctions' you can see where work, switch failures and other problems are currently on the track. It becomes interesting under 'more', because there you will find the option 'ticket sales', which we need in this step-by-step plan.
Buy a ticket in the NS app
- Go to More and choose ticket sales. It really depends on the type of ticket you buy, how the steps are. For example, for a day ticket that gives you unlimited train travel all day, you do not have to specify stations, because it is valid throughout the Netherlands. So for this example let's buy a specific ticket from a to b and back.
- Select at the top To travel
- Choose Day return
- You will then be sent back to the 'Planner', but that is correct. Ticket sales are part of the planner.
- Select from which station to which end station you want to go, plus when and what time. You can indicate under 'Extra' if you only want to travel in sprinters, or if you want extra transfer time. For some people, five minutes is very short to get from one track to another, although that also depends on the station of course.
- Tap on Plan and choose the time when you want to travel. You then see how you should travel, so what time, which track, which type of train, what the final destination of the train is and of course what time you arrive at your destination.
- Below that you can see what the trip will cost and you can choose between 'All prices' and 'Buy ticket'.
- A pop-up will open in which you can choose for how many people you want to buy tickets, whether it is a one-way or return journey and which class you choose. If you travel during off-peak hours with someone who has a discount card, you can travel with a 40 percent discount and you can also indicate this at Together trip ticket Dal.
- At the bottom left you see what you have to pay and at the bottom right you can choose Buy.
- Then enter your initials and your last name, assuming you are the traveler. Tap again Buy and NS will repeat your order again before you enter your e-mail address (make sure you spell it correctly) and then you can pay.
- To pay, you can choose between an iDeal and a credit card. As soon as you choose iDeal, a menu of all kinds of banks will immediately appear. Select your bank, check again whether you have entered everything correctly and click pay.
- 13. You will be redirected to your banking app and can pay within the secure online environment of your bank.
- 14. After you have paid, you will see that NS imports the ticket into the app and you will then receive confirmation of your order in the app (but also in your e-mail).
Travel with your ticket
If you then want to call up your ticket to travel with, go to My Travels. Select right Tickets, click on your trip, then the blue button Ticket and a large QR code opens, which you can scan to travel at the NS gates with a camera scanner. If your station doesn't have one, there probably aren't any gates you have to go through, which means you don't have to scan your ticket and just take a seat on the train.
