Museumkaart at EUR 75, EUR 69 to renew: at the Rijksmuseum's EUR 25 it pays at three visits

The Museumkaart site prints the annual price in large type and leaves the second price in the FAQ: EUR 75 a year for adults, EUR 39 for anyone up to and including 18, and EUR 69 to renew. After the first year, renewing manually or automatically costs six euro less than starting. The card gives unlimited entry to more than 500 museums across the Netherlands. The first sum is the plain one: 75 divided by the adult ticket at the museum you actually go to is how many visits the first year needs. Put a real number in it. The Rijksmuseum charges EUR 25 for adults, and 75 divided by 25 is 3, so three visits to that one museum in a year already draws level and the fourth is profit.

• The Museumkaart costs EUR 75 a year for adults and EUR 39 for anyone up to and including 18, with renewal at EUR 69, and covers unlimited entry to more than 500 Dutch museums. (source 1)
• The Rijksmuseum charges EUR 25 for adults and nothing for under-19s; Museumkaart, I amsterdam City Card, ICOM, the Amsterdamse Stadspas and the VriendenLoterij VIP card all enter free, while CJP and EYCA pay half at EUR 12.50. (source 2)
• A card does not remove the booking step: the Rijksmuseum states that you book a start time even if you hold a Museumkaart or another discount card, is open daily from 9 to 17, and rebooks free of charge. (source 2)
• The card is sold as a year of art and culture, and the operator states that nearly all of the revenue goes back to the participating museums. (source 3)

The second sum puts two years side by side, because 69 pulls the break-even down. Two years cost 75 plus 69, or EUR 144. 144 divided by 25 is 5.76, so six visits at Rijksmuseum prices over two years already pays, which averages three a year. If the museums you actually visit charge 12 to 15 euro, swap 25 for your own number and divide again. The threshold jumps noticeably, and at that point the question is no longer whether the card is worth it but whether you will really go that often.

The third sum is the one families get wrong. The EUR 39 youth card looks cheap, but at big museums like the Rijksmuseum under-19s already enter free, so buying a child that card saves nothing at all in those buildings. It only starts to matter at museums that do charge children, so count how many of the places you actually visit charge for a child, multiply by those child prices, and compare with 39. Two adults and two children is 75 times two plus 39 times two, or EUR 228, and whether that is worth paying depends entirely on how often those two youth cards get used on your own list.

Where

More than 500 participating museums across the Netherlands

When

Valid for one year from purchase, renewable

Price

EUR 75 for a first adult year, EUR 39 up to and including 18, and six euro less on renewal

Ages

All ages; the youth price applies up to and including 18

Booking

Most large museums still need a time slot; the Rijksmuseum states this applies with a card too

Note

Some venues only waive part of the building, so read that museum's own terms before going in

Hokimi field note: list the museums you actually went to this year, not the ones you mean to visit. Counting real visits usually halves the answer that counting intentions gives you.