Bayern Ticket change?

Ignore it. It's just a glitch where rules for SparPreis tickets and BahnCard holders got mixed up with regional passes in the English version. No change. On the German language side it says,

"Gültig Mo. bis Fr. ab 9 Uhr, Sa., So. und feiertags ab 0 Uhr. Gültig für beliebig viele Fahrten am Geltungstag, unabhängig von der angegebenen Verbindung."

*Valid Monday through Friday from 9 AM, Saturday, Sunday, and holidays from midnight. Valid for unlimited trips on the validity day, independent of the specified connection [shown on the ticket. my comment].

However, do pay attention to the part that says, "Please enter the first name and surname of every passenger before departure."

I certainly hope you are right. Gary

"Hope" has nothing to do with it. The German language conditions of carriage are the governing rules. Try copying the German text into Google Translate and you should see it for yourself.

He's absolutely right.

"Bayern-Ticket
Outward and return journey
Specific-train booking, i.e. your ticket is only valid on the trains printed on the ticket. Valid only for passengers accompanying a BahnCard holder who has a valid ticket with BahnCard discount. Please enter the first name and surname of every passenger before departure."

Just being curious: where did you read that? It's certainly nonsens. But if it is on an official page they should be notified.

The erroneous quote showed up under the listing of available tickets after I had made my selection of connections. SLA If you can pass this on, thank you.

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en?ld=15043&seqnr=2&ident=om.01807743.1483207146&rt=1&rememberSortType=minDeparture&sTID=C0-0:C1-0.0@1&oCID=C0-0&rCID=C1-0&orderSOP=yes&showAvail=yes&completeFulfillment=1&hafasSessionExpires=3112161914&zielorth=Forchheim&zielorta=DEU&xcoorda=11069856&ycoorda=49717072&distancea=82&services=ha&bcrvglpreis=10600&HWAI=SELCON!lastsel=C1-0!&

BTW, for all who speak with such certainty about things, you are certainly in tune with our times, sadly.

And my quote was the same place on the German language side of the website, which would be, I think, a little more official.

I don't see anything on this German Rail webpage to indicate a change.

As far as the AGB (Conditions of Carriage), this is the page for the Bayern-Ticket.

It says,

3.3.1 Ein Bayern-Ticket gilt an dem auf der Fahrkarte angegebenen Geltungstag für beliebig viele Fahrten im gesamten Geltungsbereich ...

Translation, A Bayern-Ticket is valid on the validity day shown on the ticket for any number of trips in the entire validity area ...

There has in the past been some discussion on the Bahn site about buying Länder-Tickets online. The ticket can only be purchase online by picking a specific route and time for which the ticket is valid, but it is not valid just for that connection.

By the way, Gary, the page you linked us to is for a SparPreis ticket, not for a Bayern-Ticket. Not your fault, the "To offer selection" button for the Meridian (regional) train took you there. That's where the error is. But the erroneous text also appears for a Bayern-Ticket (such as for Munich to Füssen).

I've notified the Bahn by email, but I don't expect an answer until next week.

The page link must have expired. Do a search Nürnberg to München, "only local transport" during the effective times for a Bayern Ticket. Click "To Offer Selection". The quote is there. Perhaps it is because I am looking on-line. Maybe it is an error as SLA suggests.

Lee. I think you are right. Sorry that I ever brought the subject up.

No, I think it is a good thing you brought it to our attention. Others will undoubtedly see the same thing and wonder. It looks to me like the translation people kludged together restrictions for the SparPreis (specific trains), the Bahn Card (holder present), and the Bayern-Ticket (signed by all). All the restrictions don't apply to all the tickets.

BTW, the same text seems to appear for any Länder-Ticket and for QdL-Tickets, but not for Schönes-Wochenende-Tickets. (?)

BTW, for all who speak with such certainty about things, you are certainly in tune with our times, sadly.

@Gary Mc: Please accept my apologies, it was certainly not my intention to criticize you. As a frequent train taveller, I'm simply feed up with all that negligence of the DB, esp. of spreading misleading or incomplete information on the info system (the case brought up by you, or: are busses covered by the Bayern Ticket?), of luring people into expensive ICE trains even if they do the same leg only 2 min. faster than a RE connection, of hiding trains of competing companies in favour of DB busses (e.g., on the Nürnberg - Praha leg), of not allowing for delays in the time tables of routes under long term construction, e.g. Stuttgart - Munich (four out of five of my late evening rides on the Stuttgart- Augsburg leg in Nov and Dec were delayed more than 20 minutes, so that I missed the last S-Bahn home; well, they refund the 25E taxi bill after six weeks, but wouldn't it be more fair to adapt time tables and to make wait the last (DB- operated) local trains?) and so on.

Happy New Year from the boondocks of Bavaria!

SLA019, I did not feel that anyone owed me an apology. I appreciated your offer to help set things right. Gary

I just got an email back from the Bahn (UK office). They say,

You are right, the quoted text does not apply to the Bayern-Ticket and
can thus be disregarded. We apologise for any confusion caused by
this.

So now it is official.

Thanks Lee

I came across this just today while trying to book a ticket for next June from Konstanz to Wurzburg. Had me puzzled until I came across this thread. DB may have acknowledged the bug but they haven't yet fixed it.

https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query2.exe/en?ld=15055&protocol=https:&seqnr=9&ident=o1.01964655.1487228260&rt=1&rememberSortType=minDeparture&sTID=C0-1.0@1&oCID=C0-1&orderSOP=yes&showAvail=yes&completeFulfillment=1&hafasSessionExpires=1602170812&zielorth=Wuerzburg&zielorta=DEU&xcoorda=9935777&ycoorda=49801795&distancea=244&services=ha&bcrvglpreis=19460&HWAI=SELCON!lastsel=C0-1!&

@ rockoyster,
The link you provided has expired. Konstanz is not in Bavaria, so a Bayern Ticket does not apply. It does show a train-specific option on Regional Express trains as a Baden-Wuerttemberg Ticket for persons accompanying a Bahncard holder. The text is the same in the English translation as it is in the German.

Hi Sam,

My bad. I should have said Baden-Württemberg Ticket. I am wanting to travel Konstanz - SIngen - Stuttgart - Wurzberg. The saver price for 2 x 2nd class is shown as €28 which is the same as the Baden-Württemberg Ticket for 2 people.

When I go to the "choose your offer" page I see this https://rockoyster.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/screen-shot-2017-02-19-at-1-15-26-pm.png

Am I seeing the condition because my endpoint is outside Baden-Württemberg whereas the original poster was seeing the condition due to an error in the DB system?

The other offer for the journey is the for the Quer-Durchs-Land Ticket at €52 but this also has the same "specific train booking" condition.

I would have thought the Quer-Durchs-Land Ticket would let me go anywhere in Germany on any train for a given day?

It would appear that the only way I can travel is with someone who already has a Bahncard unless I am prepared to purchase a Flex price ticket for €121!

What am I missing.

I would have thought the Quer-Durchs-Land Ticket would let me go
anywhere in Germany on any train for a given day?

The QdL-Ticket is not valid on "any train", only for regional trains.

The other offer for the journey is the for the Quer-Durchs-Land Ticket
at €52 but this also has the same "specific train booking" condition.

No, it doesn't. The Bahn is having trouble with some of it's conditions. Read this (Go to "Terms and Conditions" and read under "Train specific bookings"),

you can travel on all permitted means of transport within the period
of validity.

.

Hi Sam,

I just checked the German version for the same booking and both Baden-Württemberg Ticket and Quer-Durchs-Land Ticket conditions translate as "Valid from Mon. to Fri from 9 am, Sat, Sun and holidays from 0 am. Valid for any number of journeys on the validity date, regardless of the connection specified. Please enter the name and surname of all travelers before traveling." so it appears the Baden-Württemberg Ticket is suffering the same error the Bayern Ticket is. See https://rockoyster.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/screen-shot-2017-02-19-at-1-37-31-pm.png

Looks like the 2 of us can travel for €28. W00t!

Provided of course it is valid to start journey in Baden-Württemberg and end in Bavaria. Otherwise it will cost me €52 I guess.

If you want to start in Baden-Württemberg and end in Bavaria, you need to use the 52€ Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket. The Baden-Württemberg-Ticket will only get you to another town in Ba-Wü or to a border town like Neu-Ulm or Nördlingen. Or, you could use the Ba-Wü-Ticket to someplace in Ba-Wü close to Würzburg, like Lauda and buy a local ticket from there to Würzburg. In 2007, I bought a ticket from Bad Mergentheim, which is on the same rail line and a little farther from Würzburg than Lauda, for 7,80€.

I'm still looking for the current price of the Lauda-Würzburg ticket, but the price is only shown on a local Verkehrsverbund website, and I can't find which one. The Bahn doesn't give the price in a VV.

Update:
It looks to me like a local ticket from the Verkehrsverbund Mittelfranken (VVM) from Gaubüttelbrunn, the last station in Ba-Wü on the way from Lauda, to Würzburg Hbf should cost 5,80€ pP.

Lee, the website is

https://www.vrn.de

I believe it is 4 euros Lauda to Würzburg. Also true for Bad Mergentheim to Würzburg.

It is something that I have been researching.

Württemberg - > Franconia: The cheapest solution for the last segment would be a 5-zone-ticket of the VVM (Verkehrsverbund Mainfranken) from Gaubüttelbrunn (first Station in Bavaria) to Würzburg Hbf for 5.80 E. each:
http://www.vvm-info.de/home/fahrkarten-preise/fahrkarten-abos/fahrkarten-abos.jsp
But there seems to be no way to buy tickets online and they are definitly not availabe on the train (don't try, you will risk a hefty fine).

What you can do, however, is to download the App of the adjacent VRN (Verkehrsverbund Rhein Neckar), which you can book tickets into the VVM with:
https://www.vrn.de/tickets/ticketkauf/handy-ticket/index.html
(Online booking seems not to be available).

Just select as departing station "Wittighausen" (the last station in Württemberg).

I did not check the VRN, since Würzburg is definitely outside the VRN, but I did try the VVM. At first VVM would not give me a fare from Lauda to Würzburg, but the VVM Wabenplan does show Gaubüttelbrunn Bhf to Würzburg as being 5 Waben mit Grosswaben (Würzburg itself), the single trip fare (Einzelfahrschein) for which is 5,80€.

By the way, SLA, although the town of Gaubüttelbrunn is in Bavaria, the Bahnhof is actually 170 m over the border in Baden-Württemberg, so the Baden-Württemberg-Ticket should get you to there. I queried Konstanz to Gaubüttelbrunn, and the Bahn said it could be done with a Baden-Württemburg-Ticket.

I don't think you can buy this ticket anywhere online, but, although the Bahn website doesn't sell it online, ticket counters all over Germany, as well as the touch-screen Bahn automats, should sell it. Just buy it at the ticket in Konstanz, before you board your first train.

ticket counters all over Germany, as well as the touch-screen Bahn automats, should sell it.

@Lee:
The DB Reisezentrum in Konstanz will not sell a ticket of a different Verkehrsverbund. Nor do ticket machines - they sell tickets of the local Verkehrsverbund only and tickets for rides into adjacent Verkehrsverbünde at most. That's a much criticized problem. I tried this morning to buy a ticket Lauda - Würzburg at the Hbf in Augsburg: mal chance.

So, if the OP doesn't want want to skip a train somewhere, the only way seems to book via the VRN or the DB App (via the Menu item "Verkehrsverbünde"), which links to the VRN system. The latter, however, is poorly implemented: unlike the bavarian MVV or VGN, you have to know the number of zones (or rather "waben") you will pass through prior to booking. So user-friendly.

Update:

I have found a well hidden and absurdely complicated possibility to buy VRN tickets online, viz. via the VRN timetable:

1. goto https://www.vrn.de/mng/#/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2

2. in the field "Von:" type in: Lauda , in the field "Nach:" type in: Würzburg Hbf

3. in the next row, type in date and time

4. select the "zur Auskunft" button

5. A selection of available trains and busses comes up. Select the desired one and klick
   the "Kaufen" button

6. in the overview of available tickets select "Einzelfahrschein / kaufen"

Here the funny part starts:

You will be routed to the DB vending site. There the whole procedure of
buying DB-tickets online applies.

Completely insane, but at least there is a way.