You can load travel credit or products onto the OV-chipkaart; without these, you cannot travel using the OV-chipkaart.

Travel products are, for example, single but also season tickets. You can load these onto your card at the station vending machine, or at your public transport company’s ticket office.

You can load travel credit onto your card using your bank card and PIN code at a vending machine or ticket office. If you have a personal OV-chipkaart, you can also select the autoreload option, to ensure you always have enough OV-chipkaart credit with which to travel. Orders from the webshop have to be loaded on the OV-chipkaart at a pick-up device. Find a pick-up device nearby.

Checking in and checking out
At the start of your journey, you check in at the gate by holding your OV-chipkaart up to the screen. The sound and light signal indicates your card has been read. If you do not have a specific product on your card and, therefore, pay for your journey using the OV-chipkaart e-purse, a boarding rate will be deducted when you check in. The credit on your OV-chipkaart should be at least the boarding rate or you will not be allowed to go through the gate. In 2008, the boarding rate is € 4.

At that end of your journey, you check out by holding your card up to the gate screen. The sound and light signal once again indicates that your card has been read. If you are traveling using the OV-chipkaart e-purse, the actual travel costs, based on the distance travelled, minus the boarding rate is deducted from or added to the e-purse.

Transfer
Checking in and out is required when you transfer from any one form of transport to another, except when you transfer from one train to another.

More information
Download the information brochure 'Travelling with the OV-chipkaart' (pdf)

Instruction movies
Watch the OV-chipkaart instruction movies on traveling with the OV-chipkaart, checking in and checking out, loading and the webshop!