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German Rail Passes

Posted by (Englewood, CO, USA) on

I looked into several of the sites for purchasing German Rail Passes. I found that there are different prices for www.germanrailpass.com, auroral.com and the main dbahn site.

Any guidance as to pros and cons of both. Germanrailpass.com and eurorail.com are slightly more expensive!

Also, as we are traveling with a party of 8, is there a benefit from one person purchasing all the passes (for ease of booking reservations/travel) or is it best that each couple purchase their own tickets (we will most likely be using the "twin" option).

Thanks, Charlie

Posted by
16895 posts

If you're booking through a US agent like our link at http://ricksteves.raileurope.com/rail-tickets-passes/german-rail-pass/index.html, then booking together helps you qualify for free shipping (with $399 minimum purchase). When placing multiple pairs into one web booking, it may be easiest to add each pair individually, to get the name assignments correct, then "add a trip" or return to the page link above to add another pass. If you plan to buy directly from DB, you can do so in a train station in Germany, instead of counting on mail delivery from Germany. Exchange rates do affect the price, whether they are calculated by Rail Europe or calculated by your bank.

If you want to book reservations in the same order, especially if you're looking for the German Rail Pass Promo that requires reservations and offers a couple for free, then it does make sense to do all 8 to get seats assigned together. Aside from those on the promo offer, standard seat reservations are cheaper to make at a train station or through the DB site.

Posted by
7072 posts

Large groups benefit in a big way with the "Länder Ticket" daypass and the other daypasses DB offers.

QDL Ticket
Länder Ticket
Happy Weekend Ticket

All 3 daypasses offer schedule flexibility and multiple trips per day using the local/regional trains; they offer convenience of purchase as well, as they can be bought on the day of travel. Savvy Germans travel with these and with advance-purchase saver fare tickets for extra-long trips. You can do so as well.

DB saver fare

Railpasses are pushed heavily by the travel industry and are a good source of revenue for DB, but often they are a not-so-economical choice for international travelers

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