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When I pick up my I Amsterdam cards in Amsterdam, I can then reserve time slots for the Van Gogh museum. I will pick up the cards on March 26 and activate it for March 27-29. How likely am I to find four available time slots 1 to 3 days before the visit?

The I Amsterdam card web site does not mention this important fact until after you buy the I Amsterdam card which includes admission to the Van Gogh Museum. However, when I tried to reserve a time, it told me I have to pick up my card first.

At the moment it is not possible for us to connect a physical City Card and its unique Card ID to a specific person due to data privacy laws.

This makes no sense since they could tie the Card ID to the Voucher Number without exposing any personally identifiable information. They just did not plan for this when they set up the site.

The I Amsterdam card website recommends paying for separate tickets in order to reserve your time in advance. Argh!

Bruce Dimon
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    If you go to the website and proceed as if you want to buy a ticket online, you can see the availability, without entering any personal information. – Weather Vane Mar 05 '19 at 18:04
  • I booked a ticket same day last October. About a couple of hours ahead. Not sure if anecdotes are helpful. Don't recall having any difficulty. – Calchas Mar 05 '19 at 22:33

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You are visiting mid-week, outside of a holiday time, and in early spring. Based on my experience(*), I imagine you would have no problem booking a slot a 1-3 days out, unless you have a large party. Looking on the museum's website right now (as if I was just going to buy a ticket - not using the I Amsterdam card), there seems to be plenty of slots available for tomorrow afternoon. Randomly clicking various other days, there generally seems to be more availability before 10am and after 4pm, so you might want to organise your plans around that.

(*) I used to live in Amsterdam a few years ago, back when the Van Gogh museum was in its temporary home, while the museum building was being refurbished. When I had visitors, we had no problems visiting the museum, just buying tickets on the day. However, things might have changed now the museum is in its new home.

Nick
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  • Thanks. I did check the Van Gogh Museum's web site but wondered if tickets were harder to get closer to the end of March because it is closer to the Tourist Season. Your experience is encouraging. I'll post an update after the trip and let you know how it went. – Bruce Dimon Mar 05 '19 at 20:27
  • I am back from my trip. The bottom line is there were time slots available but not for the City Card. The guy at the City Card office said that the museum reserves only a few time slots for City Card holders. They go quickly and the web site says there are no times available. If you want to use your City Card for the Van Gogh Museum, you must have it mailed to your home two months before your visit. If you decide to pick up your City Card in Amsterdam, you will not be able to get a time for Van Gogh. You will have to buy the Van Gogh ticket separately so that you can reserve a time. – Bruce Dimon Apr 16 '19 at 04:29
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I live in Amsterdam an work in a hotel. Van Gogh is pretty busy but i think you will have no problem to find a spot. You are right saying tourist season opens and it gets more busy. Specially Keukenhof also opens soon. The i am Amsterdam card is nice but also has this problems. In my opinion its a little overrated. I never advise my guest to buy this card. Just reserve online. You have more options then and avoid this problem. But like i sayed no worries, there is always a time slot left. And if you have really bad luck. Try Rijksmuseum. Its 50 times bigger and why more paintings and art to see. Specially now they are busy with renovating the Nachtwacht and you can watch that live in action ;). A must go if i was you. Have fun in Amsterdam :)

Raoul
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