Our 21 yo son is going to Germany this summer. In comparing the costs, It looks like cost the of Saver Fares is about equal or less then buying a Rail pass. Does this sound right?
From the DB Bahn website, the Saver Fare from Berlin to Munich is 29 euro. . .
A Youth 2nd German Rail Pass, 7 Days in 1 Month = $262 For argument sake, 7 x 29 = 203
The saver fares would be less. . .
€203 = US$ 221
You have just made the same discovery we keep trying to tell people on this site. Congratulations and I hope your son really enjoys himself.
Think of all the beers and Bratwursts he can have in Munich on the money he saves.
Also good value are the Länder tickets. These are one-day tickets valid in one Land (German state), for example the Bayern Ticket. They are valid on any regional train, but not in InterCity trains (IC, ICE). These are great value for groups of 2 or more people. Click here for details
"It looks like cost the of Saver Fares is about equal or less then buying a Rail pass. Does this sound right? "
Yes it does! And as Chris F said, congratulations for being able to figure this out, BEFORE you committed to a rail pass that would actually cost you more money.
As long as your son can commit to the restrictions of Saver fares (on refunds and exchanges) and of Länder tickets (no fast trains), he can save a bundle over both regular tickets and rail passes.
A thorough discussion of the subject is here, from the rail guru The Man In Seat 61: http://tinyurl.com/bkw4u6c
Better not wait too long, those 29 euro fares disappear as time goes on.
Looking the furthest out you can buy tickets now, Sunday Aug 30, I see 2 trains with that price. Working back, Sat Aug 29 has 9 (nobody wants to travel on Saturday), 1 on Fri Aug 28, 0 on Thu Aug 27, 1 on Wed Aug 26. This is out of 24 plus trains a day, both direct and with connections, doing this route every day.
So get cracking!
True that saver fares can be a great option. But there's much, much more to consider than the math you've done. Daily travel costs may be substantially lower based on the actual length of the journey. And Saver Fares aren't the only fares that save money. Needs for flexibility must also play into the decision too. The GRP now covers many destinations outside Germany. Will he be traveling solo? If he has 7 journeys planned, lay them out with whatever you know about travel dates and any other info you have for better feedback.
It would surprise me if a 21-year old traveler has his trips firmly enough set to book them all ahead. If he does have a firm plan, then he can start with booking some of the longer, more expensive legs now to lock in the good fares. Remember that your 203 estimate is in euro, not dollars. If costs are similar, then hop-on flexibility is a distinct benefit of the German Youth Pass; new price tomorrow will be $257 for 7 travel days. As Russ mentioned, selected destinations/departures outside the borders of Germany are also covered by the pass.
Saver Tickets require a commitment to a specific train date and time. On the other hand, a German Rail Pass is for most train lines in Germany, including the S-Bahn in cities, but not other conveyances, like U-Bahn, trams, and buses.
Is he really going to spend 7 days of long distance travel. If not, if some of these days of travel are entirely inside a State, you might do better on those days with Länder tickets.
On the German pass, "extra" days (after the first three) are only costing $15-25 each. Therefore, if you do get a pass, I'd plan to use it for just about everything, not try to shave down the number of days. Regional Lander tickets cost about €23 for a single traveler (but better for groups).
