Travel on balance

You can travel on balance throughout the Netherlands with your OV-pas or OV-chipkaart. You can also use your contactless debit or credit card, including on your mobile phone, to travel on public transport throughout the Netherlands. 

1. Contactless debit or credit card, including on your mobile phone 
Traveling by public transport is easier than ever. Simply hold your debit card against the card reader and you are checked in. That's all. You don't need to register for anything. Check out again with the same card. At the end of the day, all your journeys for that day will be debited from your bank account in one go.

2. OV-pas
With the OV-pas, you can travel throughout the country with a single card. You can easily top up your balance online, so you never have to visit a ticket machine again.

3. OV-chipkaart
The new OV-pas, together with the debit card, will replace the OV-chipkaart. The OV-chipkaart will be discontinued. For the time being, you can still travel in Almere using your OV-chipkaart.

The OV-chipkaart is being phased out. After all these years, the technology has become outdated and needs to be replaced. That is why we are switching to OVpay. This involves checking in and out with the new OV-pas or your payment card. This allows you to travel anywhere in the Netherlands by train, bus, tram, and metro. It works the same way you are used to: just tap your card against the card reader and you're done! The OV-pas and payment card are replacing the OV-chipkaart.

For the time being, you can still travel on balance with your OV-chipkaart in Almere. You check in and out with your OV-chipkaart. Make sure you have enough balance for your journey.  A minimum of €4 for the bus, a minimum of €10 on regional trains, and a minimum of €20 on NS trains if you are traveling on balance. 

From March 2026, we will no longer offer OV-chipkaart subscriptions.

A personal OV-chipkaart is linked to a specific cardholder. When you use a personal OV-chipkaart, your identity must match the identity stated on the personal OV-chipkaart and, if it requires a passport photo, this must be a similar passport photo. You are therefore not allowed to use someone else's personal OV-chipkaart.

OVpay is the new way to check in and out on public transport. You can check in and out with the new OV-pas or your payment card. This allows you to travel anywhere in the Netherlands by train, bus, tram, and metro. Just like you're used to: tap your card against the card reader and you're done!

Payment card
You travel on balance with your contactless debit card or credit card. You simply check in and out with your card. You don't have to register first. And you can also use the debit card on your mobile phone. At the end of the day, your travel expenses are debited in one go. Want to know more? Go to ovpay.nl. 

OV-pas
With the OV-pas, you can travel anywhere in the Netherlands by train, bus, tram, and metro. You choose how much credit to load onto your card. And you can easily check your costs in your OVpay account. This allows you to keep track of your travel expenses. The new OV-pas costs €6 and is valid for 5 years. You can order it at ovpay.nl. 

Personalize your card
If you add your personal details to your payment card or OV-pas, the card will be registered in your name. This means you can receive age discounts if you are eligible and add a subscription. Only you will be able to travel with your card.

The rates for traveling with an OV-pas, debit card, or OV-chipkaart can be found at www.9292.nl:

• Plan a trip using the OV-planner.
• The price for the trip is listed under OV-advice (public transport advice).

* When traveling on balance, you pay a basic rate plus an amount for each kilometer traveled. When you check in, a boarding fee is first deducted from your balance. When you check out, the boarding fee is refunded and the kilometers traveled and the base rate are charged. For allGo buses, the boarding fee is €4, for R-net €6, and for nightGo buses (N22 and N23) €8.

** Children up to 4 years of age travel for free. The age discount for balance travel applies to children aged 4 to 11 and persons aged 65 and older. Balance travel with age discount is only possible with a personal OV-pas, payment card, or OV-chipkaart.

Do you check in and out with your payment card? Handy! That means you don't have to top up your balance. Of course, you do need to make sure you have enough money in your bank account so that  the travel amount can be debited from your account at the end of the day.

There are several ways to top up your balance. 

OV-pas

• Via your OVpay account (OVpay app or website)
• Via the allGo webshop
• At the allGo service shop at Almere Centrum station

OV-chipkaart

• At the allGo service shop at Almere Centrum station.
• You top up your balance automatically.
• You order your balance online via OV-chipkaart.nl

Everyone misses a check-out sometimes. You can easily adjust this yourself in a few simple steps:

Missed checking out with your payment card or OV-pas? Go to ovpay.nl.

Missed checking out with your OV-chipkaart? Go to uitcheckgemist.nl.

You can request a refund for the following situations:

• Forgot to check out.
• Checked in with the wrong transport company.
• Check-in/check-out poles on the platform were broken. Could not check out.
• Check-in/check-out poles in the bus were broken. Could not check out.