DB Trains New Timetable

What are you trying to book? For which day and time?

I am trying to book from Bamberg to Berlin.

Popular travel period. It takes only a few reservations to sell out the cheap-tier €15 p.p. tickets. €45/ ea. is a pretty good price for that route; flexfare would be nearly 3 times that amount.

Suggest you look at EVENING or EARLY MORNING travel from Bamberg to Berlin if you want prices closer to €15. If I were in your circumstance, I might move my departure from Bamberg to the evening before the planned travel day - and my hotel night from Bamberg to Berlin. Tickets after 18:00 or 19:00 are in less demand and usually cheaper.

Fares for express trains are date- and time-specific.

I have been comparing the same train -same time on 12/6 and 12/27. I see the differences between the other different departure times, but this is such a crazy price difference. I am hoping it is because the tickets were just released? Isn't it based on popularity?

On https://int.bahn.de/en I find prices between 28 and 58 EUR per ticket in 1st class on Dec 6 - all direct connections Bamberg - Berlin.

Deutsche Bahn announced that the new timetable came out without price changes. Source press release of Deutsche Bahn in German language:
https://www.deutschebahn.com/de/presse/pressestart_zentrales_uebersicht/Buchungsstart-bei-DB-12-Prozent-Fruehbucher-Rabatt-13579778

Without a date (ooops, my bad, you posted a date) a class (1st or 2nd) a ticket type (full or discount) a time of day there isnt much anyone can say but keep watching. But I doubt they will go down in price. I looked at a few days in early January and there are direct morning trains at reasonable times that are 19 euro on a discount ticket, 2nd class. So my guess is the demand for your date in "late December" is high enough that there were not many cheap tickets issued. You might be paying 240 euro plus the seat reservation by now.

27 December is a Saturday, and the first day after a 3 day holiday schedule for DB, where only a minimum number of trains were available. A lot of folks who have been visiting family will be moving around that day. Trains will be full. Airfares are also up that weekend.

€45 is normal for a saver fare ticket from Bamberg to Berlin and, compared to the standard fare, which is between €120 and €150, it is still very cheap. Occasionally, there are individual tickets for less than €20, but these are the exception rather than the rule and are not to be expected during the peak travel season between Christmas and New Year.

On 27 December I see a lot of discounted tickets on that route. But maybe they were not there earlier today.
There is even a direct train in the morning for 27,99

DB sells two kinds of tickets:
Flexpreis tickets are purely relation based. The price is based solely on distance,and does not change depending on time of travel or booking. Those tickets are good for any train during a period of one or two days (depending on the distance). So you can pick any train on the route at your own discretion.
Sparpreis and Supersparpeis: Discounted tickets. Not flexible, only valid for the train you selected. These tickets are limited in availability, so for each train there are a number of fare buckets, and each bucket contain anumber of tickets.

Neither come with reservations btw. This is NRT country, so reservations are separate.

Anyway, DB basically uploads the schedule, and then starts uploading the fare buckets. So it is possible that if you try to book to earlly that you only see expensive Flexpreis tickets...

Last remark: Notice how the ICEs from Bamberg to Berlin are almost an hour faster in the new timetable. That is quite an improvement.

Thank you for your input! It didn't even cross my mind that it would be a busy weekend to travel for the locals. Duh!
I almost wish I hadn't tried to compare different weeks. That price tag hurts alot more now, now that I know the price is so inflated due to the holiday. :)

I am still puzzled though.

Your claim implies that you can find tickets under 50,- for 4 persons on that route. When I look at the beginning of December I do not see such cheap tickets. Maybe you are misinterpreting what you are seeing?

What I see is that prices are just slightly higher on the 27th then they are at the beginning of the month.
C just be that the cheapest fare bucket is now more expensive, on account of the trip being significantly faster.

I don't expect the 27th to be a very busy travel day. This year Christmas and NY fall on a Thursday, which means you can get a full two weeks of holidays using just 4 of your paid days off. There will be a lot of travel before Christmas, and after NY, but less in between.

Here is another tip to save money: From you other post I gather you are only spending some hours in Bamberg, on the way from somewhere to Berlin.

So if you are eg. travelling Munich - Berlin and want to visit Bamberg en route, just enter "Bamberg" as a stopover with the time you want to spend there. This way you can buy a Supersparpreis for the whole trip, with a break, on one ticket, and that will usually be cheaper than getting two separate tickets.

Looking at your other post, you don't have specific plans for Bamberg. So why go? Save time and money, and fly from Munich to Berlin.