Subsidised School Trip Ticket

The Subsidised School Trip Ticket product is intended for upper secondary level students eligible for a school transport subsidy granted by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kela). With a subsidised school trip ticket, you can travel between your home and school or on-the-job learning site.

Subsidised School Trip Tickets are purchased through Matkahuolto’s Trips and Tickets app.

Ticket options

If you are eligible for the full school transport subsidy, i.e. you have at least 15 travel days per calendar month, you can get a 44-trip student ticket valid for 30 days. If you are eligible for half of the full school transport subsidy, i.e. you have 10-14 travel days per calendar month, you can get a 28-trip student ticket valid for 30 days.

Ticket features

You can buy a Subsidised School Trip Ticket no earlier than two weeks before the start of the semester. The ticket will appear in the app once the purchase authorisation has been granted and strong authentication has been completed.

A purchased ticket is valid for 30 days. The ticket is valid from the moment of purchase, unless a specific start date is selected. When buying your ticket for the first time, you should select the start date of the school year as the start date of the ticket.

Please note that you can only have one valid Subsidised School Trip Ticket at a time. As a student, you are responsible for ensuring that you have enough purchase authorisations, so please only buy one ticket for each trip.

You can also use the same ticket for journeys with transfers if you need to change buses on your school trip. The ticket is read every time you get on a bus on journeys with transfers.

Buying subsidised school trip tickets in the Trips and Tickets app

You can buy a Subsidised School Trip Ticket in the Trips and Tickets app, as long as you have first applied for school transport subsidy online in the OmaKela service and obtained a purchase authorisation. Buying a ticket in the app requires strong authentication with personal banking credentials or a mobile ID to verify your purchase authorisation. For this reason, you should obtain your online banking credentials or mobile ID well in advance. Your purchase authorisation is checked each time you buy a ticket.

If you have already applied for school transport subsidy and did not get the purchase authorisation immediately after submitting your application, you can buy the ticket at the normal price and get the subsidy credited to your account afterwards. In that case, buy a half-month or one-month ticket. If you have bought single tickets, you must have them for at least 10 days to qualify for retroactive subsidy.

If you don’t have online banking credentials or a mobile ID and are unable to obtain them, you should contact Matkahuolto customer service.

Before calling customer service, please check the following: 

• In OmaKela, make sure that your school trip subsidy has been granted specifically for a Matkahuolto ticket. If your school trip subsidy has been granted for Waltti or HSL transport, for example, you can buy your ticket from the online stores of those operators and get more information from their customer services. 

• Be prepared to provide the email address you used to sign up for the Trips and Tickets app. 

• Be prepared to provide the information needed for identification. 

Customer service, tel. 020 331 222. The customer service number is available Mon-Fri 8-16 and calls are charged at €0.084 per minute. 

Instructions on how to buy a ticket in the app

1. Open the Trips and Tickets app. If you don’t already have the app on your phone, download it from the app store.
2. Register for the app with your email address and activate the app according to the instructions sent to your email.
3. Go to the ‘Omat tiedot’ page (Lisää → Asetukset) and click Tunnistaudu koulumatkatukilippuun.
4. Authenticate yourself by following the instructions in the app. After authentication, you will be able to view your purchase authorisations and buy subsidised school trip tickets.

After the first authentication, you will be able to buy school trip tickets directly from the app’s homepage.

Further information from the Kela website

School trip subsidies available from Kela will have to be applied for online in OmaKela. To apply for a subsidy independently, a student must have online banking credentials or a mobile ID.

New students can apply for a subsidy for the first school year as soon as they have been registered as a student. Subsidised School Trip Tickets can be purchased two weeks before the start of the semester.

For more information and instructions on how to apply for a school transport subsidy, visit the Kela website.

FAQ