Dbahn German train ticketing - best prices and modes to purchase

Munich to Salzburg 9:29 17 Euros
Saver fare on RJX train, advance purchase

Salzburg to Regenburg 9:08 26 Euros
Bayern Ticket, buy at station

Regenburg to Rothenburg/ Taube 16:35 28 Euros
Saver fare that includes IC or ICE train, adv. purchase

Rothenburg to Boppard 9:05 36 Euros
Saver fare that includes IC or ICE train, adv. purchase

Boppard to Frankfurt 17:16 28 Euros [nonstop]
Looks like RE train if nonstop, correct price €26, buy at station

Your advance-purchase fares are low-priced "saver fares" that come without change options and with consequences for refunding.

Also, the ticket machines [S-bahn] wouldn't take 20 Euro notes, they wanted smaller notes.

Example: If you buy a €6 ticket with a €20 bill or a €17 ticket with €50 bill, a machine which is geared up to hand back only coins probably can't handle ALL those coins. It's helpful to have lots of small bills and coins.

Russ, you're incredible. What constitutes advance purchase? Any time limit, and do they sell out? You have been integral to my trip planning, past and present! Thanks so much.

Pat, I've been getting in the habit of checking the different times of departure as that can change the price. For example, leaving at around 8 am might cost €19.90 but leaving at 7:30 am reduces the cost to €12.90. So it does pay to move the time earlier or even later. Sometimes you may tied to a certain time, but if not, I would check the earlier and later times.

An advance purchase means just that - purchasing in advance. Usually the prices will stay about the same until you get closer to the date of departure, when they start going up (could be a few days earlier or a few weeks). I've been buying mine in advance as much as possible.

Also, I would suggest downloading the DB app on your phone (it's called DB Navigator) and also opening an account (if you haven't already). That way any purchase you make online will automatically be added to your phone app, so you can leisurely check in using the "Komfort Check-in". This means you check in once the train starts and the conductor gets that info - no need to be disturbed by her or him later on. It's a nice feature. Plus if for some reason you need to quickly get a ticket, you can jump on board and purchase it from your phone.

Advance-sale, "saver fare" or "supersaver fare" tickets - which are for journeys that include at least one long-distance (IC, ICE, EC for example) train - are capacity-controlled for each specific train. As tickets sell, the price per ticket goes higher and higher. Thus a June 1 ticket for a 9:00 train from Frankfurt to Munich that is sold on January 1 might sell for €29, but if bought on May 1, it is very likely to sell for 2 or 3 times that amount... in any case, something closer to the normal price (€111) of the "flex-fare" ticket (which is not train-specific - you can travel the same route on any train that day - and also is fully refundable/flexible.)

Flex-fare (normal fare) tickets can be bought in advance, but you don't save anything. So the main point of advance-sale tickets is to clear some savings.

There are no "saver fare" tickets for regional-train-only journeys or other journeys that do not include long-distance trains. So in the case of Boppard > Frankfurt, you'd have a choice; some journeys include a change of train from regional to long-distance train. For example, on June 1, you can buy a saver fare ticket today for the 18:12 - 20:09 Boppard > Frankfurt journey (€19.90.) But if you want a DIRECT train and specify such, there's no saver-fare option because there are no direct high-speed trains. Only the RE trains do that. And you will pay €26 (normal fare - the only fare, really) for a DB ticket no matter whether it's bought today or on June 1.

(There's a workaround to save €1.50 off the €26 fare by buying a RMV ticket + a DB ticket, but I'm not going to complicate this discussion for that tiny amount.)

Now, keep in mind that if you are staying in Boppard and if your guest ticket is valid on your day of departure (I'm not sure about that) then you don't need any ticket at all to ride the train from Boppard to Oberwesel. You need only a ticket for Oberwesel > Frankfurt (€21.80) on that RE train you plan to board in Boppard.

(Tip for those heading to FRA airport from Boppard or other Rhine towns: always do as Pat has done if you can - use a DIRECT train to minimize the chance that you'll arrive late at the airport!)

Normal regional train tickets are flexible, just like the flex-fare "normal price" tickets for long-distance trains. Take the Oberwesel > Frankfurt ticket we just discussed. You pay the €21.80 and you can travel at any hour that same day. You can also break up your journey if you like for a stopover in Bacharach or Mainz if you wish.

As for savings on regional-trains-only journeys you have to look for DAY PASSES... or more rarely MULTI_DAY PASSES... Either the Länder (state) passes or passes issued by local transit authorities (like the VRM, RMV, etc.) These typically offer some value for the single traveler and excellent value for 2 or more individuals traveling together and normally have an after-9-am-only restriction. The exact rules vary by state / local authority. You just buy them as you go at the station, as a rule. S-Bahn trains are included with the regional-trains-only day passes; other varieties of "Nahverkehr" transport (tram, bus, etc.) are often accessible as well with these day passes.

When we land at Munich and need an S-1 or S-8 to the main train station area, can we buy that on the DB app? We may not have any small change yet for the machines, [unless we can buy a pretzel first. ]

Does anyone have any experience with US credit cards working with the ticket machines now ? I'm assuming there are no in-person ticket sellers anymore???

Thanks again!

Pat , there are MVV kiosks ( self service machines ) right at the station which will take your credit card . Choose english , and follow the on sreen prompts . also , there are multi day passes available , so depending on how long you are in Munich , you may want to choose an appropriate one . Information at the MVV site - https://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/index.html ALSO - https://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/tickets-and-fares/tickets-daytickets/airport-city-day-ticket/index.html

I know this option is wildly unpopular on this forum, but we will be buying a German rail pass once we arrive in Germany. We will be traveling every single day making day trips. The 10 days of twin pass travel makes it $41 a day for each of us. No advance purchase, no time constraints, no pre-planning required. For us, that freedom and lack of stress is worth $41 a day.
And if there is a “ special” offered when we go it will be an even better deal. On our last trip we experienced three instances where trains were delayed and connections missed. With the rail pass we just jumped on another train. With a specific train purchase we would have just been out of luck.

TM: It's true that there is a lot of undeserved negativity about the GRP on this forum. While the German train system is very extensive and convenient and generally efficient, the TICKETING complexities are somewhat unparalleled and the GRP solves a lot of that. I've often recommended the GRP in certain situations that call for it.

On our last trip we experienced three instances where trains were
delayed and connections missed. With the rail pass we just jumped on
another train. With a specific train purchase we would have just been
out of luck.

I can't let this go unchallenged... it's just not true. Saver fare tickets that are train specific and do not generally allow for schedule flexibility DO in fact permit ticketholders to proceed on subsequent trains whenever there is a train delay that results in a missed connection. They do NOT provide this security to passengers who arrive late because their subway ride to the station was tardy, or they miss a train because they went to the wrong platform or had to stop at the bathroom or an ATM.

Russ, Mardee, Steven, and TravelinMom,
Thx so much. I've got this all printed and bookmarked. I appreaciate all your detailed efforts.
Safe travels to you!

Russ makes a good point about Sparpreis tickets and missed connections. It says right in the Conditions of Carriage (AGB) for the Bahn (in German), that although the specified long distance train (ICE/IC/EC) normally must be taken for the ticket to be valid, if it is missed due to a "fault" of the Bahn, they will put you on the next available similar train, at no penalty or extra charge. I unwillingly tested this feature in 2008, when a regional train I was taking from Walkenried to Nordheim for no apparent reason just sat in a station for way more time than was scheduled, resulting in my missing my connection to a specified IC. I went to the ticket counter at the connecting station and showed my ticket to the clerk at the desk. He check the computer to see that the regional train had indeed been delayed, marked my ticket for the next long distance train, an ICE, and I was off.

Another feature of Sparpreis (or Savings Fare) ticket that is not normally recognized (although is is clearly spelled out in German on the Savings Fare ticket, is what is called "Vor- und Nach-lauf" (before and after travel). On a Sparpreis ticket, only the long distance trains are specified. You may take any regional (Nahverkehr) train on the same route (but at a different time) to get to your specified train. (You could not, for instance, on a ticket direct from Augsburg to Munich, go by way of Würzburg). So, for instance, if your ticket included a tight connection to the long distance train, and you are concerned about making the connection, you can leave on an earlier Nahverkehr train to assure you have enough time to make the connection. Or, conversely, if your specified train is late arriving at it's terminus, you can just take the next regional train (on the same route), regardless of if it is the one shown on your ticket, to your final destination.

I once helped someone use this exact feature on a Sparpreis ticket to enable them to stay in Cologne for an indeterminate time. They wanted to use a Sparpreis ticket from Amsterdam to Bacharach, with a stopover in Köln (Cologne), but they didn't know for how long in Köln. The ticket, as offered by the Bahn, showed an IC (a long distance train) from Köln to Koblenz. With that ticket, they would have been required to take that IC from Köln whether they were ready to or not. I showed them how to manipulate the "mode of transport feature to write a ticket using a regional train from Köln to Koblenz. That way they were able to stay in Köln as long as they wanted, or to leave earlier if they wanted to, and take the regional trains the rest of the way.

The 10 days of twin pass travel makes it $41 a day for each of us.

I'm a little confused. I can't seem to find GRP prices online that match your numbers. Is that $41/day for both of you? $82/day seems a little high for a GR Twin Pass, but $41 seems a little low for for both of you.

Lee: 5-day German Rail Twin selectpass in 2nd class = €410, so that's €82/day/2 persons = €41/day each. https://www.bahn.com/en/offers/passes/german-rail-pass

Thanks to all, but now my head is REALLY spinning.
Safe travels!