D-Ticket: To buy or not to buy

When I search the website for the ticket price info and include ICE trains the cost comes up as Euro 24.99 to Euro 44.99.

You mean that each of the 5 journeys falls within that range - correct? Those are the cheapest possible saver fare prices, I assume, fares that are non-refundable and are train-specific... meaning that you must ride those ICE trains at the precise day/time stated on your tickets. Those prices are PER PERSON, correct? So assuming an average of 35 p.p., that's 105.00 per journey, or 525.00 total for all 5 journeys for all of you.

The D-ticket is 64 each. If your travel is within a calendar month, that's 192.00 total for all of you.

It is not clear to me at all what the 51.00 refers to. Regional train for one trip for all 3? x 5 trips? But it obviously is more than the D-Ticket, which offers 100% flexibility.

Colmar is not accessible with the D-Ticket.

If you are STAYING in Gengenbach and Staufen, both "KONUS" towns, then you should also take into account that your train travel on departure day from these places will covered by regional trains within the boundaries of the KONUS zone by the KONUS Karte. So a significant part of the journey to Colmar and the entire journey from Staufen to Basel will not require the purchase of tickets.

I'm sorry. I definitely did not make this clear. Forget about the 3 persons and their ages. I don't think there are discounts anyway.

The ticket from Frankfurt airport to R.O.T comes up at Euro 51 per person if I only allow RE and RB trains.

It comes up as Euro 24.99 up to Euro 44.99 if I use ICE trains wherever available. There is one longer ICE leg.
This makes no sense to me! Why using ICE trains would be less expensive.

I have been to R.O.T. many times by train and know that much of the journey is on very small and slow regional trains.

I am just trying to research whether or not the D-Ticket would be the better way to go.
Thank you. You have always been so helpful.

This makes no sense to me! Why using ICE trains would be less expensive.

That is because that is a SuperSparPreis Ticket which is only valid for that specific train. If you are delayed landing or getting through passport control and miss the train, your ticket is worthless and you will have to to buy a new full fare ticket, which for FRA to Rothenburg would be 73.30 EUR using ICE trains.

The 51 EUR price for using local transport only is a Quer-durch-Land Ticket. If there are 2 of you, it would be 63 EUR total, and for 3 it would be 75 EUR total. The the QdL ticket costs 12 EUR for each additional person for up to 5 total people traveling together. That ticket is good on all regional trains to anywhere in Germany for that day.

When I limit the search for ticket price on regional trains the cost comes up as Euro 51!
This makes no sense to me!

With a little background information, this becomes clear: Fares for long-distance trains are set independently by DB Fernverkehr, a division of the DB Group. Fares for local transport, on the other hand, are set by the Deutschlandtarif Authority, a nationwide association of all companies that operate local transport services. And the Deutschlandtarif simply does not provide for discounted local transport tickets; it only offers the standard fare, which is fully flexible. Discounts are, howeever, available in the form of various passes (e.g., the Bayern-Ticket) and the Deutschlandticket.

I think the DT is worth it for you, since you can also use it for those two longer trips. On some local train connections, the trip from Frankfurt to Rothenburg doesn't take much longer than taking the ICE, and the same goes for the trip from Rothenburg to Gengenbach.

The ticket from Frankfurt airport to R.O.T comes up at Euro 51 per person if I only allow RE and RB trains.

You are entering only ONE adult traveler and assuming that a party of three will cost 153 Euros.

But if you enter THREE adult travelers, you will find a fare of 75 Euros for all on one ticket known as the Day Ticket For Germany (QdL Ticket) which is actually a DAY PASS you can use at any hour (on Sat or Sun) OR after 9 am on any weekday.

You do NOT need to purchase this day pass in advance, and if you do, it is only to your disadvantage. The ticket is non-refundable, and there is no discount or seat reservation option that you will get if you buy early. Buy it at the airport in Frankfurt or on the day prior when you know for sure that your flight hasn't been canceled etc. and that you will actually be in Frankfurt the next day.

Once you've bought it, you can hop on ANY regional train sequence to Rothenburg that same day (with the understanding that on weekdays you can't leave FRA before 9 am.)

The ICE trips you are considering are NOT a good choice for leaving FRA airport... They are going to be more expensive for the trip to Rothenburg by regional train, but more importantly, you have no idea right now what time you will be ready to leave FRA for Rothenburg. Maybe your flight lands at 9:00, according to schedule, but your plane may be late, you may have a long line at security, etc. etc. so it is somewhat foolish to commit to a cheap, time-specific, train-specific saver fare ticket on the ICE - if you don't make that train, you lose every dime you paid for your train tickets, and then you have to buy a full-fare (flexpreis) ticket to Rothenburg; that would cost around 200+ Euros for 3 adults.

It comes up as Euro 24.99 up to Euro 44.99 if I use ICE trains wherever available.

I would also add those are the prices if you buy these nonrefundable tickets today. These prices will increase over time until such time as all of the allotted discounts are sold, then only the FlexPreis tickets will be available, the same price if you bought at the station when you arrive.

Also for Rothenburg to Gengenbach, it is about the same amount of time and number of transfers if you take all local transport or a route that contains IC train. The local transport route starts with a bus from Rothenburg to Schnelldorf, then regional trains to Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Offenburg and Gengenbach. That means that you can use a Baden-Wuerttenburg Ticket, costing 45 EUR for 3 people for the section Schnelldorf to Gengenbach. Schnelldorf is in Bavaria, but as it is just over the border from B-W, the B-W Ticket is valid. So that leaves the bus from Rothenburg to Schnelldorf, which is 8 EUR per person, So the whole trip will cost you 69 EUR for 3 people.

Never use ICE trains on arrival day unless the extra cost is minimal ( I once got a ticket that was very cheap so I didn’t mind too much when my flight arrived late)

From RodT to Gengenbach, consider using ICE on the segments you can. No problem with not getting your starting train, but given tne poor on time performance lately, you might miss the connection to the ICE. However the local trains seem to be onntime and it is the ICE trains that are running late