Exchange students

If you are a full-time exchange student, you can buy season tickets at a 40% discount on your HSL card.

You can get an HSL card:

at HSL's pop-up events at schools (recommended, see below)
at a municipal service point or the HSL service point

Pop-up events

You are welcome to visit any of these pop-up events, regardless of which school you attend.

In 2026, events will be held at these schools:

Haaga-Helia
Wed 12 August
2pm–4pm
Ratapihantie 13, Helsinki
Room 1219
Aalto University

Tue–Thu 25–27 August
10am–4pm
Otakaari 1, Espoo
Kandidaattikeskus
University of Helsinki
Wed and Thu 26–27 August
9am–5pm
Fabianinkatu 26, Helsinki
Kielikeskus

See you there!

Activating your student discount

Adding a student discount to the HSL app requires Finnish strong electronic identification. If you do not have Finnish online banking credentials, the student discount entitlement can instead be added to an HSL card.

The price of a new HSL card is €5. The fee is not a deposit, and the card does not need to be returned later. Once the card is no longer needed, it can be disposed of.

Discount tickets for exchange students

If you are aged 18 years or over, you are entitled to a student discount (40% on season tickets).

If you are under 18 years of age, you can buy child tickets (discount 50%).

Exchange students can only get student discount on the HSL card.

You are entitled to the student discount if you meet the following criteria:

You are studying in a comprehensive school, upper secondary school, folk high school, vocational school, university of applied sciences or university in the HSL area.
You are studying on a full-time basis and the studies lead to a qualification or degree in your home country.

You are not entitled to the student discount if you meet one of the following conditions:

You are a postgraduate exchange student studying for a licentiate or a doctoral degree.
NB! The degree of Licentiate in Medicine is a basic university degree, and medical students are thus entitled to the discount.
You are in apprenticeship training or on an internship.

You can get an exchange student HSL card at a pop-up event or a service point. Please bring with you:

An official ID document with a photograph (an official ID card, passport, European driver’s license)
Exchange student discount ticket application form.

Print out the form, fill it in and ask your educational institution to sign and stamp the form.

Forms

How long is your HSL card valid for?

The student discount is added to the HSL card according to the validity period granted by the educational institution. In practice, the entitlement is usually valid until 31 December for the autumn semester and until 31 May for the spring semester.

If you purchase a season ticket while the entitlement is valid, you will receive the student discount for the entire validity period of the ticket.

An HSL card can hold both a currently valid season ticket and a future season ticket at the same time. For example, a 30-day ticket and a 90-day ticket can be loaded at the same time, providing a total of four months of travel entitlement. The next season ticket may start no later than 60 days from the date of purchase.

NB! Card readers always display information about the season ticket that is currently valid. If, for example, a 30-day ticket and a subsequent 90-day ticket have been loaded onto the card, the card reader will first display the validity period of the 30-day ticket. After it expires, the next ticket will be activated automatically.

How to use your HSL card?

When a valid season ticket is loaded onto an HSL card, the card does not need to be validated with any zone selection. It is sufficient to present the card to the reader when required. On the metro, commuter trains, trams and the orange-coloured trunk route buses, you do not need to show the card to the driver or the card reader if you have a season ticket.

On the blue coloured buses, the card must be shown to the card reader when boarding through the front door.

In Helsinki, travel takes place within zones A and B. Vantaa and Espoo are part of zone C. See all travel zones on the HSL area and zones page.

If you need to travel outside the zones covered by your season ticket, you can use the stored value on your HSL card to purchase single tickets for the required zones from a card reader, the HSL app or a ticket machine. Tickets purchased from different sales channels (for example contactless payment, HSL app) can be combined for the same journey.

We recommend downloading the HSL app to your phone for checking routes and timetables. The app also shows which zones are required for your journey.

How to top up your HSL card?

Need assistance?

Please note

The discount does not apply to single tickets.

You can only buy student tickets in the HSL app
or top up your HSL card online if you:

- are a student in higher education or in an upper secondary institution

- have a Finnish personal identity code

- have a permanent address in the HSL area

- have Finnish online banking credentials, which you need for strong authentication.