A rainy afternoon at the indoor pool: the 12-swim card saves 1,07 per visit, but the 10 euro wristband is not refundable

On a wet Saturday afternoon an indoor pool is one of the few places that needs no booking and holds a family for two hours. Het Marnix sits in central Amsterdam and its own page states that it follows the tariffs of the city of Amsterdam: from 2026 a single visit for anyone aged three or over is 6,40 euro, while up to two children aged two or under swim free, provided the adult with them is at least eighteen and can swim. At the desk you will be asked whether you want a multi-visit card, and most people nod on the assumption that a card is always cheaper.

Flatten the three tiers. The 12-swim card at 64 euro works out at 5,33 per visit and the 25-swim card at 128 euro at 5,12, both below the single price of 6,40. One more line underneath the table decides the answer: a first card carries a separate 10 euro charge for the wristband, and the page states plainly that this is not a deposit, so it does not come back. Add it in and the 12-card really costs 74 euro, or 6,17 a visit, which is 23 cents under the single price and 2,80 euro saved across the whole card. The 25-card really costs 138 euro, or 5,52 a visit, saving 22 euro in total. The two cards are different products, and the tariff table simply lists them side by side.

• Work out frequency before money. A card runs one year from the day you buy it and cannot be refunded, so 12 swims means monthly and 25 means fortnightly. Miss that rhythm and paying per visit is not the worse deal
• Add the 10 euro wristband to your first card before dividing by the number of swims. Renewing does not need a new wristband, so only the second card actually costs what the table says per visit
• With a small child there is a separate tier: parent and child is 12,80 for one visit and 128 euro for twelve, which is not the same product as the 64 euro adult 12-card and is easy to confuse
• Holding a Stadspas with a green dot brings entry down to 1,00 euro, which beats every multi-visit card, so check whether you qualify before buying one

Hokimi field note: the real fork in this table is not the price but how many times you will actually turn up in a year. Write down how many pool visits you made in the past twelve months and set that against the numbers 12 and 25, and the answer appears on its own. If you cannot produce that number, pay per visit and look again in a year. The tariffs are at source 1 and the other common questions at source 2.