such a sad day for The Netherlands - the whole system is anti-tourist and anti-choice. The card costs a minimum of EUR7.50 and it is ony valid for 5 years. I have family visiting this week, we live in a small village and rely on the bus service. However, as there are no bus stations or train stations, we cannot buy or make use of any "day cards" etc. intended for tourists - so I have to fork out EUR15 to buy 2 cards for my family to use so we can all travel by public transport - it is a joke, a very expensive joke.

By Mazza Scottish ex Pat | November 3, 2011 8:04 AM

I like this measure. It is fairer to pay the distance you travel rather than some zone borders you cross. Moreover, the OV Chipkaart is cool, modern, not some 1970s thing like the strippenkaart.

I can't wait to see paper tickets vanishing from NS as well :) Love modern things...

By Andre L. | November 3, 2011 1:10 PM

This was the only thing that was 100% connecting "heel Amsterdam met heel Amsterdam" :(

By George | November 3, 2011 1:32 PM

The cost of an anoniem OV card should be refundable when no longer required or if faulty

By joe | November 3, 2011 3:06 PM

Apparently, Andre, you haven't had to put up with check out machines that breakdown in mid-trip so that you have to fill out one of the little pink cards and mail them in (you pay the postage) so you can get a refund for the money you lose. I've filled out 5 of those stupid cards in less than 3 months. Great system, not.

I love modern things when they work...but this doesn't.

By CW | November 3, 2011 4:11 PM

What happens if you get on the bus with a pre-paid OV Chipkaart and find the balance is low? Can you still ride to a destination where you can top up, or do you have to walk?

By Jane Tait | November 3, 2011 5:21 PM

The OV chipkaart is a good system in principle - until things go wrong (as electronic systems often do).

Tonight we've had 3 calls to their 'customer services' (oxymoron if I ever heard it) and twice THEY ended the call with no resolution or suggestions, or even taking the card number to check on their system why the card decided to be 'blocked' in the afternoon after working fine in the morning:
'You probably have no credit.'
'Yes, I have credit, I'm looking at my account online now. Credit and abonnement both active'
'Oh, card must be broke. Goodbye.'
?!?!?!

Dutch customer service is the bane of all expats - it's a complete joke.

By osita | November 3, 2011 5:40 PM

@Mazza Scottish ex Pat: surely you can buy the ticket on the bus, or a day card at Schiphol ? I don't expect your family flies directly in your village...?

By Leon | November 3, 2011 5:51 PM

RIP the strippenkaart, Amsterdam was much better when both the guilder and the strippenkaart were around.

By Roger Murray | November 3, 2011 7:11 PM

@Andre L.
The 'strippenkaart' was introduced in 1980.

The electronic payment system was not designed just for being modern or practical: just think about the other side of business that the public never seem to realize. Wanna clue? You carry with you a cellphone, but travel with an anonymous card, gotcha!

By The visitor | November 3, 2011 7:32 PM

hacking OV cards will become more popular

By expat | November 4, 2011 7:52 AM

@andre:

It is so modern it reminds me of "modern talking".

By david | November 4, 2011 8:25 AM

It is very ease not to be left without money: sign up for auto reload. I have done that, whenever my balance goes below € 10, the card is reloaded with other €20.

By Andre L. | November 4, 2011 9:33 AM

@ Leon, my parents indeed fly to Schiphol but if they buy the day cards there we must decide our exact plans and buy the exact tickets we need in advance ... not pratical or economical... not friendly or achievable

By Mazza Scottish ex Pat | November 4, 2011 10:47 AM

Whenever NS gets done with paper tickets, can someone maybe explain how am I going to declare my travel expenses to my employer (bus and train) if I don't travel enough to have an "abonnement" and my only ticket-buying possibility is the bloody OV kaart? Am I missing something? Because you probably don't get a monthly statement of your OV Kaart expenses, right?

By Alice | November 4, 2011 12:59 PM

@Jane, if the balance is in the positive you can still ride, but if it's below zero you'll have to get a ticket from the driver. That's how it works out in the burbs, anyway. I'm not sure about in Amsterdam. I don't know if you can buy single trips from the driver any more.

Paying 7.50 for an anonymous card gets right up my nostrils, but I really like using the system, it's far more user friendly than the strippenkart and I enjoy the odd day when the system has frozen and I get a free ride. Not so much when it freezes mid-trip and I have to get one of those stupid cards from the driver though.

By MissNeriss | November 4, 2011 1:37 PM

OV Chipcard: made to rip you off!! With OV chip card the route costs 2.07 if you get a ticket on the bus the same route costs 4 euros! Figure that one out! And when checking out fails and steals credit from you, you cannot get it back because you need to fill out a form and wait for approval! I have been using it 1 month now and have already been ripped off by 10 euros becuase I 'didn't check out righ'!"

Just a RIP OFF, nothing more....

By any | November 4, 2011 3:02 PM

There is NO TIME LIMIT on Oyster Cards in London! True, if you don't use it for 2 years you have to ring the help desk to restart it but these Dutch have a nerve bleeding tourists 7.50 then cancelling after 5 years. I for one will be selecting a random non-dutch the next time I leave Schipol and give them my card for free just to cheat the bludgers out of "another" 7.50. Hmmph!

By Harlow | November 4, 2011 7:40 PM

We moved to The Hague this summer, and think that the OV cards are great: one can travel anywhere in the NL with these cards! We kept our pre-paid ones for visitors (when we got our personal ones)... but I do wonder about tourists-- what is the plan for them, since so many come to NL?

By cecily | November 5, 2011 9:50 AM

Just ask yourself...What has this cost so far? Who is the real beneficiary? Why were we told & not asked, & how much have we been screwed so far? TV advertising can do wonders, don't be fooled!

By The visitor | November 5, 2011 7:53 PM

Big brother advances ever forwards.

I like paper tickets - I'm not a criminal so why should be travels be tracked?

How will NS passengers pay fares using multiple tickets for different parts of the same journey (eg: peak fare for travel in the rush hours and off-peak ticket for the portion of the journey which is afer the rush hour) if they must get off the train and use a card reader at stations where they stop using one ticket and start using the next ticket?

In Britain things such as mobile phone tickets (with barcode) and print-at-home tickets are becoming more popular.

By Simon | November 6, 2011 12:32 AM

The problem is not OV card. The problem is killing other ways of paying in favor of it.

My Dutch colleagues were comforting me last week than day card still remains and no way they are gonna scrap it.

This weekend, I had to pay 3 euro for each right to the city center in my town (roughly 1.5 mile distance).

Pity, they just lost once regular customer on weekends. Shops at the city center lost one too.

OV card is made for ripping people off.

By the way, the auto-reload does not work if you want to maintain your anonymity.

By david | November 6, 2011 8:41 AM

The problem is not OV card. The problem is killing other ways of paying in favor of it.

My Dutch colleagues were comforting me last week that day card still remains and no way they are gonna scrap it.

This weekend, I had to pay 3 euro for each ride to the city center in my town (roughly 1.5 mile distance).

Pity, they just lost once regular commuter on weekends. Shops at the city center lost one customer too.

OV card is made for ripping people off.

By the way, the auto-reload does not work if you want to maintain your anonymity.

By david | November 6, 2011 8:42 AM

A sad day indeed. I still have an unused strippenkart from when I lived in The Netherlands in the 80s and will always keep it as a souvenir.

By Andy McClelland | November 9, 2011 10:15 AM