Purchasing tickets online
The ease of buying tickets online
Find and book
You can purchase tickets online to thousands of destinations. By filling in your destination and preferred date of travel into the search field, you can buy tickets online quickly and easily. Tickets can be booked for groups of up to 9 people to destinations in The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, France and England (London). The remaining destinations maintain a maximum of 5 people. There is a maximum of 5 people on an online reservation.
Prices
Prices depend on the time of booking, degree of flexibility and the time of travel.
We offer different rates, with the lowest rates often limited. If the cheapest tickets are sold out, the "stock" will automatically sell slightly more expensive tickets.
The price can also depend on the degree of flexibility, just like in aviation: if you want to be able to change or cancel your ticket later, you pay a little more. And: the busier the train, the more expensive the tickets will be. So be quick and book your train ticket as early as possible. You will then have the best chance of getting the lowest prices.
No booking fee
The costs of booking an international train ticket online is also lower because you don't have to pay a booking fee.
Safe payment online
To ensure secure payment, all our Internet payments run via a secure connection with our payment provider. We don't have access to your credit card details.
Online tickets can be purchased in two ways:
- Via iDeal (no additional fee will be charged)
- By credit card (American Express, Eurocard/MasterCard or Visa, no additional fee will be charged)
- Via Bancontact
Tips booking cheap tickets online
With these tips you can always book the lowest rate:
- Tickets in the lowest price category are limited. So be quick. Tickets can already be purchased online four months before departure.
- Boek vanaf een station bij u in de buurt. U ben dan vaak goedkoper uit dan wanneer u boekt vanaf het internationale vertrekstation en reist met uw OV-chipkaart. En het is makkelijker: het scheelt een keer in-en uitchecken!
- Set up a booking alert. If you can’t book your ticket yet, but you want to be quite sure that you can book the lowest price, then ask for a free booking alert and we will send you an email when it’s possible to book your ticket.
- Travel on cheaper days. Travelling in the evenings is often cheaper. And if you are going for a weekend getaway it’s often a lot cheaper if you travel on Sat-Sun-Mon instead of Fri-Sat-Sun.More tips to find the best rates.
Good to know
Sitting together
If your booking is for more than one person, you'll be sitting next to each other most of the time. Only when the train is very full, this may not be possible. If you would like to check your assigned seats, you can take a look at the seating plan for the train you booked.
Changing tickets
Tickets purchased online or by telephone can be cancelled online. Other bookings can be cancelled by telephone, or, if purchased at a travel agency, via the original outlet. And only if the ticket rate conditions allow for this.
Read more about changing tickets
Travelling with a mobile ticket
When making an international trip, you can use a mobile ticket and won't need to bring a hard-copy ticket with you. With a mobile ticket, you also won't need to check in or out when you've booked a ticket from the station that you board the train.
How does it work?
- Download the NS International App
- Open the confirmation email and click on the link leading to your mobile ticket
- Your ticket will automatically be saved in the NS International App, under the header 'My tickets'
Print your tickets at home
For practically all train tickets that you can purchase online, you are given the option of printing your ticket at home yourself. That's great if you're travelling today or tomorrow. With your printed ticket, you can open the gates at the station. Homeprint tickets can be purchased with any station in the Netherlands as the departure station.
Please note: You must be able to show identification when your ticket is checked on board the train.
More information about homeprint tickets
Print tickets at NS International desk
Would you like to have your tickets printed? You can print your tickets at an NS International desk for € 5. Check the Service offices opening hours.