What happens to your NS season ticket when you move to the OV-pas?
July 13, 2026 · 3 min read
If you hold an NS season ticket, you still travel on your OV-chipkaart for now. Season tickets do not work on the OV-pas yet. NS and Translink are moving them over step by step, but there is no fixed date per season ticket yet. In this article you can read why that is, when your season ticket's turn comes, and what you can already do now.
Why does your season ticket not work on the OV-pas yet?
The OV-pas works differently from the OV-chipkaart technically. On the OV-chipkaart your season ticket sits on the card itself. With the OV-pas everything sits in an online account. That makes more possible later, several season tickets at once on one pass for example, but it also means NS first has to move every season ticket across to the new system separately. Passengers without a season ticket, who travel on balance, could therefore switch first.
When will your season ticket be moved?
There is no fixed date per season ticket. Translink and NS say the switch campaigns for NS season tickets start during 2026. Do you travel with Dal Vrij, Altijd Vrij, Weekend Vrij, Trajectvrij or another continuous season ticket? Then you are still waiting for word. As soon as it is your season ticket's turn, you will hear from NS automatically.
Want to know exactly how compensation per season ticket works once you switch? That does not change along with the card. Check it in our overview of money back per NS season ticket.
What do you have to do yourself? Nothing.
This is the best news in the whole article. You do not have to order a new pass or activate anything yourself. As soon as your season ticket is moved, NS automatically sends you a new OV-pas with your season ticket already on it. You pay nothing for it.
So just wait it out.
In the meantime: your OV-chipkaart keeps working
Until you get word, you carry on travelling as you are used to. Your current OV-chipkaart stays valid, even if the card itself is close to expiring. Does your card expire before your season ticket has been moved? Then you simply get a new OV-chipkaart, as before. Only when NS approaches you actively about the switch does anything change.
One benefit you will appreciate: several season tickets on one pass
On the OV-chipkaart you could only hold one season ticket at a time. If you travelled with an NS season ticket and a separate regional season ticket, for example, you needed two cards. Because the OV-pas works with an online account, that will fit on one pass. For many passengers that saves a card in the wallet.
And your right to money back on a delay?
That does not change. Whether you travel with your OV-chipkaart or with your OV-pas later on: with a delay of 30 minutes or more (or 15 minutes on the high-speed line) you are still entitled to compensation. Only the card you check in with changes, not your rights as a passenger. You can read more about how those rights work in our article on the full switch to OVpay and at Translink, the company behind both the OV-chipkaart and OVpay.
Do you already travel without a season ticket and want to switch now? Then read our article on requesting the OV-pas.
We follow the move to the OV-pas closely, so that you keep getting your money back automatically on a delay with your new pass too. Link your card at trein-vertraging.nl and we arrange the rest.