NS trials discounted tickets based on available capacity

[DanielB]

As of today, NS launched a trial with discounted E-tickets (NS Voordeel) for the Intercity service between The Hague Central and Eindhoven Central to attract new customers post-COVID and to test the willingness of passengers to pre-book their ticket.
During this trial discounts varying from 0 to 60% are offered without the need for any subscription or an OV-chipkaart. How much discount you'll get is dependant on how busy (or quiet) the trains are at the moment you want to travel.

The only requirement to get the discount is to book a ticket at least one day in advance. In contrast to UK advance tickets and German Sparpreis tickets however, the validity isn't limited to one specific train: tickets are valid within a three hour time slot. Within that slot any Intercity can be used, provided that the journey starts and ends within this time slot.
In the trial period (until July 3th) NS Voordeel is only available for journeys between the stops of IC 1100 (Den Haag Centraal, Den Haag HS, Delft, Rotterdam Centraal, Breda, Tilburg and Eindhoven Centraal). For journeys using both IC 1100 and another service, one would need to split tickets and thus need to check if the discount outweighs the higher fare (a through ticket from A via B to C is cheaper than a ticket form A to B and another ticket from B to C). Stacking discounts (e.g. 40% discount with a subscription on the already discounted fare) is not possible during the trial.

More details (in Dutch) at https://www.ns.nl/uitgelicht/nsvoordeel

 

[rvdborgt]

The only requirement to get the discount is to book a ticket at least one day in advance. In contrast to UK advance tickets and German Sparpreis tickets however, the validity isn't limited to one specific train: tickets are valid within a three hour time slot. Within that slot any Intercity can be used, provided that the journey starts and ends within this time slot.

You can use any train, also on shorter stretches between stations where the ICs don't stop, as long as you stay on the route of the Eindhoven - The Hague ICs.

 

[DanielB]

You can use any train, also on shorter stretches between stations where the ICs don't stop, as long as you stay on the route of the Eindhoven - The Hague ICs.

No you can't. I do get NS Voordeel fares when planning a journey from Tilburg to Eindhoven in the NS app for example, but not when planning Tilburg Universiteit to Eindhoven which involves changing onto the exact same intercity at Tilburg station.

The conditions don't exclude it indeed, but the discount is only offered for journeys with only IC1100. Though the app is acting a bit weird at the moment: for Breda to Tilburg no NS voordeel is offered for some reason.

 

[rvdborgt]

No you can't. I do get NS Voordeel fares when planning a journey from Tilburg to Eindhoven in the NS app for example, but not when planning Tilburg Universiteit to Eindhoven which involves changing onto the exact same intercity at Tilburg station.

The conditions don't exclude it indeed, but the discount is only offered for journeys with only IC1100. Though the app is acting a bit weird at the moment: for Breda to Tilburg no NS voordeel is offered for some reason.

Well, you can because the conditions don't exclude it. This was also explained by NS here. But you'll have to buy a discounted ticket for a longer route that includes the shorter one you want to travel.
Of course it would be better if they'd also offer it for trains other than the IC1100 series but I suppose they just don't for this pilot project.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That seems more of a really cack-handed attempt at almost UK style off peak fares than proper Advances.

 

[dutchflyer]

Yes, we indeed suspect there is now someone working who has done that in the UK when Abellio ran a lot of trains and now tries to invent this for here=NL.

 

[DanielB]

That seems more of a really cack-handed attempt at almost UK style off peak fares than proper Advances.

Anyone regularly travelling off peak in the Netherlands would however have a DalVoordeel or similar subscription: that's currently available for less than a railcard in the UK (2 euro/month), but with 40% instead of 1/3th off the full fare.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Anyone regularly travelling off peak in the Netherlands would however have a DalVoordeel or similar subscription: that's currently available for less than a railcard in the UK (2 euro/month), but with 40% instead of 1/3th off the full fare.

As DaalVordeel isn't applicable on top, this is clearly aimed at those who don't have that.