Kaart

There are several important cards (or as the Dutch call it, “kaart”) you need to survive in Netherlands (especially in Big Cities).

1. OV-chipkaart

Openbaar Vervoer chipkaart (Public Transportation chip card) is the ultimate card to travel in Netherlands. You use this card to pay for buses, trams, metros and trains (basically every public transportation available here). You can also pay with cash, but it’s a lot more expensive. For example, going to city center with OV-chipkaart cost like €1.4, with cash it’s €3. So you better get one of this if you plan to travel a lot inside NL. The card itself cost €7.5 (with €0 balance).

2. Betaalpas

A Debit card. This one is from ING Bank, one of three biggest bank in NL, others being ABN Amro and Rabobank. The difference with Indonesia is, even though cash is still widely used here, the most common use of payment is with this card. In Supermarket, shop, etc, when you are about to pay for things, the cashier will tell you the amount you need to pay and then you put your card in the machine (you do it yourself) and press your PIN number. This is why it’s also called PINcard.

Talking about bank, you are free to draw money from other banks ATM, with a restriction only once a day and maximum amount of €250.

3. Insurance Card

You HAVE to have an insurance if you plan to live in NL (for traveling it’s not necessary). This one is from IPS. In NL you don’t go to hospital every time you got sick (unless for emergency), you have to go to one of doctor clinic first and then they will decide whether just to give you medicine or refer you to a hospital.

4. Student Card

Or as I’d like to call it, a Discount Card. With this card you can get discounts in many places. Gym membership cost around €50/month, with this card you can get it for €35. Movies cost about €10, with this card it’s only €8. And so on..

Btw, bringing your ID is mandatory is NL. You need to bring this and your passport with you all the times. It’s very rare that an officer checking your ID but you’ll never know. You can get fined. In fact, Dutch police fine you for every little thing. Didn’t bring an ID, PAY. Crossing the street when the light is still red, PAY. Taking out your trash in the wrong day, PAY (They have calendars for when you can throw out your big trash like electronic or furniture)

5. Laundry Card

I’m so excited about this cos I’ve only seen it the movie, LOL. Apartment building usually have laundry machine that you pay with this card. You can top up the amount with Paypal or Credit Card. The cost is €2.5 for washing machine and €2 for dryer machine for one time use. You have to provide your own detergent and softener. You can check the status of the machine online and you can even reserve a spot there.

Other cards you might get interested in :

6. Museumkaart

Dutch people love museums! There are more than 400 museums in this country (or so I’ve been told) and you can get free entry to almost all of them with this card. The card cost €50 which sounds expensive but the entry fee to Dutch museum is quite hefty (usually €10 or more) so if you love arts this is totally worth it.

7. Pathé Unlimited Card

Pathé is the name of biggest movie theater chain in NL. It’s a French company. A movie ticket cost €10 per person and €8 for student. With this card, cost €19/month, you can watch as many movies as you want between 10:00-18:00 everyday. They also have Pathé Unlimited Gold, €26/month that will also give you access to unlimited 3D and IMAX movies.

But I don’t know, there’s a lot of more interesting to do here in NL other than movies so I haven’t been inclined to buy the cards.