Discounted Train Tickets

Many people rely on the train station for buying train tickets but with a little advance planning you can get excellent deals on train travel in Holland. You can avail of these deals online or at certain shops in Holland.

Some shops sell 'day cards' and some sell special train tickets or ‘day out’ offers that are a huge saving on the full price tickets at the station. These tickets often include an activity (such as museum or restaurant voucher). Stores like the major supermarket chain Albert Heijn (similar to Tesco or Safeway in the US) as well as Blokker (a homeware store) and Kruidvatt (a low cost pharmacy) sell these from time to time. They have a limited amount of these and they are very popular so they do tend to sell out. Don’t be put off if these pages are in Dutch use Google translate or Google chrome and be sure to get these offers- they are great value.

An excellent page to check out if you are planning a mini adventure. They sell packages for days out such as Hotel+Train; Museum+Train; Restaurant+Train. Typically these will include an activity PLUS your train travel. Please check this page FIRST before buying tickets at the stations!   

Example: If you want a day out at the sea side you can get a train ticket from Eindhoven to the nice seaside town of Zandfoort an Zee for about €40 return at the station. But at the spoordeelwinkel they sell a ‘beach day out ticket’ where you can get a return train ticket PLUS lunch for €26! Another example currently on sale from this website is the ‘Kunst and Culture (Art and Culture) train tickets. If you wanted to travel to Amsterdam to see a movie in the EYE or see the Body Works show you can get entrance ticket PLUS train for €20-30. Excellent deals! These offers change from time to time so look out for the terms and conditions as these tickets are limited to specific days. 


2. Albert Heijn
The supermarket chain Albert Heijn from time to time sells NS day passes for a reduced price. Typically they are for sale for under €20 and generally day cards cost about €50 so it is a great offer. Not always available so keep an eye on this website if you plan to travel to NL soon. 
If there are no offers at present then you can enter your email address and Blokker will send you information when a train ticket offer becomes available. Typically they sell day cards for under €20. These tickets allow free travel for one full day anywhere in the Netherlands 
 
5. Kruidvat
This drugstore has excellent day card offers from time to where you can buy a train card for under €15. These deals are the cheapest I have ever seen. They sometimes have a OV-day ticket that is valid for travel on all public trains, buses, trams and metros in the Netherlands. 
 
6. Other websites 
Be sure to check the websites of stores such as the c1000 supermarket (ww.c1000.nl) and Jumbo (www.jumbo.nl) the department store Hema (www.hema.nl) who offer discount cards from time to time. Or check the Treinreizeger website for info on active deals. 

I have found the best deals on discount websites such as vakantieveilingen and actievandedag 

More recently I have become aware saveatrain.com website that offer international tickets with various payment options. If you come across other let me know and I will add them to the list