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Upgrade to 1st class

Would you like to travel with a little extra space today? Upgrade your ticket to 1st class. Find out how it works for your ticket.

NS Flex season ticket

With NS Flex season tickets, you can switch to 1st class any day up to 15 minutes after you check in. See what applies to your season ticket.

How to change class with NS Flex: Basis, Dal Voordeel, Weekend Voordeel, Altijd Voordeel?

You can change your class in the NS app or Mijn NS:

  1. Log in to Mijn NS
  2. Select switch to 1st class
  3. Specify how long you want to switch for: just today, indefinitely, or until a set date
  4. Choose ‘Confirm’

If you prefer to travel in 2nd class again, you can reverse the class change in the same place in the NS app or Mijn NS.

How to change class with NS Flex: Dal Vrij, Weekend Vrij, Altijd Vrij, Traject Vrij?

If you expect to travel frequently in 1st class in the coming period, you can switch class for at least one month. Then order one of our NS Flex free season tickets for 1st class in Mijn NS. After a month, you can switch back to a 2nd class season ticket.

  1. Log in to Mijn NS
  2. Go to ‘Products’
  3. Click ‘Change season ticket’
  4. Select your current season ticket with the extra option ‘Standard 1st class travel’

If you prefer to switch for one day or a few days, you can also upgrade to 1st class up to 15 minutes after checking in via the NS app or Mijn NS.

  1. Log in to Mijn NS
  2. Select switch to 1st class
  3. Indicate the period you want to switch class for
  4. Choose ‘Confirm’

Please note: outside your free season ticket, you travel standard in 2nd class, without a discount. With NS Flex Traject Vrij, you travel outside your fixed route standard in off-peak hours with a 40% discount in the class of your season ticket. For example, if you have NS Flex Traject Vrij 1st class, you also travel 1st class outside the route. If you have chosen off-peak discount as an extra with your NS Flex Weekend Vrij season ticket, you travel standard in 2nd class, with 40% discount in off-peak hours. You can choose to travel 1st class yourself.

Changing class during a transfer

If you are travelling with a transfer and want to travel only the first or second part of your journey in 1st class, check out at the transfer station and check in again. Set your class change in the NS app or Mijn NS before you start the 1st class part of your journey.

Costs of changing class with an NS Flex season ticket
  • Weekday and weekend surcharge with a discount season ticket:
    • Weekdays: when upgrading to 1st class, you pay the 2nd class fare that matches your season ticket, plus a surcharge of 80% of that 2nd class fare for travelling in 1st class.
    • Weekends and public holidays: when upgrading to 1st class, you pay the 2nd class fare that matches your season ticket, plus a surcharge of 40% of that 2nd class fare for travelling in 1st class.
  • Monthly 1st class travel with a free season ticket: surcharge depends on the season ticket
  • Daily 1st class travel with a free season ticket: the extra cost varies by season ticket. See page sixteen in the NS Tarieven PDF.

Credit balance season ticket

Do you have a credit balance subscription? You buy a class change on the day you want to use it. Check which situation applies to your season ticket.

Do you have a student travel card? If so, you cannot change your class at the moment.

Dal Voordeel credit balance

This is how you change class when you travel on balance:

  1. Go to an NS Ticket Machine
  2. Hold your OV-chipkaart against the card reader
  3. Select ‘Change class’ on the screen
  4. Choose ‘Today 1st class’
  5. Follow the instructions to pay
  6. Hold your OV-chipkaart again against the card reader

Your upgrade to 1st class is valid immediately, until 4.00 AM.

What are the costs?

The fare for your journey depends on your route. Use the Journey Planner to check the prices for both 1st and 2nd class. Make sure your OV-chipkaart or OV-pas has enough balance to travel 1st class.

How to exchange on Choice Days?

Travelling in 1st class on a Choice Day costs € 6. Add your Choice Day to your OV-chipkaart before changing class.

The following applies to Choice Days:

  1. Go to an NS Ticket Machine
  2. Hold your OV-chipkaart against the card reader
  3. Select ‘Change class Current: 2nd’ on the screen
  4. Choose the option ‘Supplement 2-1’
  5. Then click on ‘Supplement 2-1 Choice Day’
  6. Follow the instructions to pay
  7. Hold your OV-chipkaart again against the card reader

Your upgrade to 1st class is valid immediately, until 4.00 AM.

Without a season ticket

If you do not have an NS season ticket but have a valid OV-chipkaart or OV-pas, you can also upgrade to 1st class.

You cannot change class with your debit card and will always travel in 2nd class.

How do you switch class without a season ticket?

In Mijn NS

You can switch classes in Mijn NS (on the website or through our app) as follows:

  1. Log in to Mijn NS.
  2. Add your OV-chipkaart or OV-pas.
  3. Switch to 1st class from the Mijn NS home screen.

If you prefer to travel in 2nd class again, you can reverse the class change in the same place.

At the NS Ticket Machine

  1. Go to the NS Ticket Machine
  2. Hold your OV-chipkaart or OV-pas against the card reader
  3. Select ‘Change class’ on the screen
  4. Choose ‘1st class for today’ or ‘Always travel 1st class’

Instantly valid

Your upgrade to 1st class is effective immediately, valid until 4.00 am. We automatically charge the fare for your journey when you check out.

Costs if you do not have an NS season ticket

If you do not have an NS season ticket but do have a valid OV-chipkaart or OV-pas, you can upgrade to 1st class travel via the NS Ticket Machine or Mijn NS.

The fare for your journey depends on your route. Use the Journey Planner to check the prices for both 1st and 2nd class. Make sure your OV-chipkaart or OV-pas has enough balance to travel 1st class.

NS-Business Card

You can also change class with an NS-Business Card. You can do this for one day in the NS app or at an NS Ticket Machine. The class change is only valid on NS trains.

Bear in mind that class changes do not appear on check-in poles, gates or the ticket machine. The class change is visible to the train conductor.

How do you change class with an NS-Business Card?

Using the NS app

You can arrange a class change for one day before you check in, or after you have checked in. You can do this up to 15 minutes after you check in.

Follow these steps to change your class:

  1. Open the NS app.
  2. Log in to Mijn NS.
  3. Link your NS Business Card. Find out how to link your card.
  4. Tap your card (number)
  5. Scroll down to ‘Change class’. Here you can change your class to 1st class.

Your class change is valid until 04:00 the next day. Want to return to your previous class sooner? Turn off your class change in the NS app. You can turn your class change on and off several times a day.

Using the Ticket Machine

Follow the instructions at the NS Ticket Machine to arrange a class change for one day. A class change arranged at the NS Ticket Machine is always automatically valid until 04:00 the next day, and you can also switch back at the machine.