ICE Munich to Berlin Flexpreis vs Saver; Reserve a seat?

Posted by wanderlustusa on 05/02/19 06:19 PM

I assume the Flexpreis allows you to take the train at any given time on the designated route, correct? That sounds appealing because 7:52 seems so early when recovering from jetlag, risk of oversleeping, etc.

But I noticed that some of the options say "High demand expected" and others say "Very high demand expected". How is this route on a Friday morning - would you reserve a seat (and therefore lock yourself into a specific time departure)?

Also, can you buy Flexpreis in First Class? If so, would that give you the best of both worlds (flexibility and a seat guarantee)?

Posted by Chris F

Basel, Switzerland

05/02/19 06:51 PM

8889 posts

If you have a Flexpreis ticket and reserve a seat, you don't absolutely need to go on that train, you can get an earlier or later train. In that case you have wasted your reservation fee.
"No shows" are quite common. Business travellers often finish their work earlier or later and so get a different train. The rule is the indicator above the seat that says it is reserved goes off 15 minutes after the train leaves the station. If nobody is sitting in the seat by then, it is free.
Sometimes people sit in empty reserved seats as soon as the train starts moving. If the owner turns up, they apologise and move. Otherwise they have a seat.

"can you buy Flexpreis in First Class? If so, would that give you the best of both worlds (flexibility and a seat guarantee)?" - I don't see how unreserved 1st class would guarantee you a seat any more then unreserved 2nd class.

Posted by sla019

Bavaria

05/02/19 08:25 PM

2481 posts

Reservation is included in the fare of a first class ticket provided you book your seat together with your ticket. You can change your reservation once at no cost.

Posted by NickB

Maryland

05/02/19 10:24 PM

909 posts

https://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml

Explore your options on the bahn.de website. The choices of what you get are listed as you go into the purchase but before you buy. If you are not in first class, definitely get seat reservations. I just did for our trip in June and you can even pick your seats like with airline seats. For Munich to Berlin you are probably fine with second class reservations since the trains start in Munich. But we have had people in our reserved seats many times when we got on a train at an intermediate station so be prepared and have a printout of your seat assignments to demand your seat. Never raise your voice, just repeat firmly "Meine Platz" = MY Place, rinse and repeat.

Posted by Fred

San Francisco

05/03/19 01:44 AM

14985 posts

If you do pop on the train and see above a seat "ggf." or "bahn.de"...go ahead and sit down.

Chances are no one will come around to bump you from that seat...never happened to me on ICE trains, which I mostly take. The "ggf" stands for "gegebenenfalls"

Posted by chris-s

Germany

05/04/19 09:07 AM

268 posts

The ICE trains between Munich and Berlin are quite popular, so I would definitely want to reserve a seat. You can also get two seat reservations for different trains, just in case... If the price for a flexible first class ticket is acceptable to you (of course, these exist), the price of an additional reservation should not be a major issue :-)