This paper studies a Stated Preference (SP) experiment on the choice of type of (Rail) season card,
conducted among current Dutch Railways season cardholders. They were asked to choose from the
following three alternatives: (1) an unrestricted season card, (2) a cheaper season card with peak travel
and travel frequency restrictions, and (3) not buying a season card. Multinomial logit (MNL), nested logit
and mixed logit models are used to analyse their choices. It is found that MNL underestimates the price
sensitivities (as measured by the price elasticities) of the respondents and overestimates their Willingnessto-
Pay (WTP) for reductions in the restrictions. The mixed logit estimation shows that there are
(unobserved) differences in the marginal utilities of the price of the card (response heterogeneity), and the
utility of owning a season card (preference heterogeneity). In the Netherlands a large share of commuters
and business travellers receive travel cost compensation from their employer. However, empirical studies
often do not control for the effect of travel cost compensation. We find, as expected, that travel cost
compensation has a large impact on the price sensitivities and choices of the respondents.
