Facts about HSL tickets for exchange students

• 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.

• The student discount is available only for season tickets. Student discounts are not available for single tickets or day tickets.

• Adding a student discount to the HSL app requires Finnish strong electronic identification. If the customer does 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.

• In Helsinki, travel takes place within zones A and B.

• A 30-day or 90-day season ticket can be loaded onto an HSL card immediately at the Popup service point. After visiting the Popup, tickets can be loaded without a service fee at the HSL service point in Tripla, Pasila, and with a small service fee at R-kioski stores as well as Alepa, Prisma and S-market stores. The ticket must be paid for in full at the time of purchase.

• 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.

• The card reader always displays 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.

• 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 trunk route buses (the orange-coloured buses), you generally do not need to show the card to the driver.

On other bus services, the card must be shown when boarding through the front door.

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 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.