Instructions for using the HSL card

You can buy a HSL card from a service point. Please bring with you a driver’s license, passport or an ID card. A card charge of 5 euros is charged for a new card.

A child's next of kin can purchase a HSL card for a child. The child does not need to be present at the service point, but the next of kin must be able to provide the child's personal identity code and some specific information (e.g. a local address). The parent's/next of kin's identity will be verified.

You can top up your HSL card with a season ticket valid for 14, 30 or 360 days. You can load between 5 euros and 400 euros on your HSL card and use the balance to pay for single fares at card readers.

You can top up your HSL card with a season ticket or value online at the HSL Ticket Store as well as at all HSL sales and service points.

Show your HSL card or debit/credit card to the card reader when you board a bus. If you have a valid ticket, you do not need to press any buttons.

On commuter trains, the metro, trams and orange trunk route buses, you do not need to show your card unless a ticket inspector or conductor asks you to do so.

 

Buy a single ticket with contactless payment or with value on your HSL card at the start of your journey, when you board a vehicle or before you take the escalator down to the metro platform.

1 Select the zones

Use the arrow button to move between the views, if need be.

Use the arrow button to go to the second view if the appropriate ticket is not on the first one.

2 Pay with your HSL card or debit/credit card

 

You can buy single tickets for one or several people traveling with you. You can use your adult HSL card or debit/credit card to buy single tickets for other adults, a child HSL card to buy tickets for children.

You cannot buy several tickets one after another, e.g. first for yourself and then for others. You must buy all the tickets in one go.

1 Select the zones

Use the arrow button to move between the views, if need be.

Use the arrow button to go to the second view, if the appropriate ticket is not on the first one.

2 Press the “Add passengers” button

3 Select the number of tickets and press OK.

If you have a valid season or day ticket, buy tickets only for those who do not have one. Do not include yourself in the count.

4 Pay with your HSL card or debit/credit card

 

If you have a valid season ticket, you can expand your travel area by buying a zone extension ticket. If you have a season ticket on your HSL card, you can only buy zone extension tickets using the card. 

1 Select the zones

Include all the zones you will travel through, also the zones of your season ticket. Use the arrow button to go to the second view, if the ticket you want to purchase is not on the first one. See the instructions for buying single tickets with value on the HSL card.

2 Pay with your HSL card

The price of the zone extension ticket will be charged to your card.

3 A screen with green borders indicates that your purchase was successful.

To check the tickets and value balance on your HSL card, log in to your HSL account and go to My information. 

You can also check the tickets and value balance on your HSL card by holding your card on a card reader. The following information will show up on the display after about five seconds:

• value balance on the card;
• season ticket, if you have one, and its expiry date;
• valid single ticket(s); and
• the expiry time of the single ticket transfer time.

You can check the tickets on your child's HSL card at a card reader, but you can't yet see them in your HSL account. You can also check the balance via our phone service or at the HSL or a municipal service point. In these cases, proof of identity is required.

The My Travel Card app no longer reads HSL cards because the HSL card's backend system has been replaced.

If you previously used a multi-user HSL card or if your personal HSL card had been inactive for a long time and was disabled during our transition to a new backend system, you can apply for a refund for any remaining value on the card until 31 December 2025. See the instructions for how to claim a refund.

If your place of residence, work or study has moved outside the HSL area, you can apply for a refund online. You can also apply online for a retroactive refund for any time you spent in hospital.  Go to the online refund application forms.

Other enquiries, refunds and claims related to the HSL card are handled at the HSL service point and municipal service points. When visiting a service point, you need to present proof of identity. Refunds must be claimed within two months from the date the grounds for the claim first arose, or in the case of refunds due to an unexpected change in life circumstances, within one year. 

If your card is not working as it should, please contact a service point.

For detailed instructions on refunds for season tickets and value on HSL cards, see our Conditions of Carriage and Ticket Terms and Conditions. 

Sales points (such as R-kiosks and other retailers) aim to correct their own mistakes. Tickets and value purchases can be cancelled at the point of sale within 12 hours of purchase, but only on the same day.

You can get a new personal card from a service point. Please bring with you a driver’s license, a passport, or an ID card. A fee of EUR 5 is charged for the new card. If you have a season ticket or any remaining balance on your lost card, it can be transferred to the new card for an additional service fee of EUR 1.

Value loaded on a multi-user card can be refunded at a service point if the card is linked to a personal identity code or a business ID. A service fee of EUR 8 will be charged for the refund.

The sale of multi-user HSL cards ended on 31 December 2023, and these cards were discontinued on 21 September. Read more here. You can switch to the HSL app, which offers an easy way to buy single tickets. Read more about the app. If you prefer to continue using an HSL card, you can buy a personal HSL card at a service point.