Lander Tickets and Group tickets

"...is there an even better option than the Lander ticket for a day outing?"
For Garmisch, yes. It's €19 + 4 per additonal for the Regio-Ticket Werdenfels.

Werdenfels ticket flyer

It has the advantage of use on weekdays prior to 9 am (not so on the Bayern Länder Ticket.)

It will get you around Munich on all the S-Bahn trains and on regional DB trains that cover the S-Bahn system.

Regio-ticket Werdenfels map: http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/bahnintern/angebotsberatung/regio/regionale_tickets/mdb_200857_karte_regio_ticket_werdenfels_sept_2015.pdf

"...it looks as if the more people you add to the reservation (up to 5) the cheaper the tickets get per person. Is this correct!?"

Reservations on local/regional trains (the only ones you can use with these tickets) are not available. The Länder Tickets and the Werdenfels Ticket shouldn't be purchased online; you can buy them at the last second or in advance at the station. There is no refund on such tickets - so buy in advance if you insist, but you can't change your mind!

"does this ticket include the double deckers in Munich"*

double decker what? I've never seen a double decker bus in Munich (like in London) but if there are any, and if they are operated by the Munich Metro system (Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarrifverbund). Some regional trains are double deck. They would be included as long as they are regional trains.

To get to Garmisch, you would take the S-Bahn (either one) to the Hauptbahnhof and take a regional train from there.

does this ticket include the double deckers in Munich

If you are referring to HOHO tour buses, no. These are privately operated and not part of the public transport system.

Thanks Sam, that is what I was referring to...

Thanks Russ, that is perfect! I couldn't find anything else other than the Lander ticket on bahn.de. As a matter of fact, I STILL can't find the site other than the map link you provided!

"Reservations on local/regional trains (the only ones you can use with these tickets) are not available. "

By reservations I wasn't referring to the seats themselves, sorry; just buying the tickets. We have some hard dates in mind and I'm using a "No foreign transaction fee" card I'd like to have clear by the time we hit Bavaria. I'm not going to buy the train tickets from the airport to Garmisch because who knows when we will get in and don't want to miss the ticket time window in case we are late. But the ones for the return trip and the day outing to Munich are pretty set in stone at this point.

For posterity, here is the link to the Werdenfels page on bahn.de. I still can't find a way to get there from any link on bahn.de though. There are some good deals on the Regio-DB site other than southern Bavaria. Of course, this site is all in German unlike the main DB site.

http://www.bahn.de/regio_oberbayern/view/angebot/tickets/regio-ticket-werdenfels.shtml

Here is a webpage with all of the regional ticket specials in Bavaria.

" I still can't find a way to get there from any link on bahn.de"

It really helps to speak some German in Germany. (Why do they speak German in Germany? Doesn't everyone speak English?) The Bahn tries to make information available to the foreign language illiterates, but sometimes it's just too much effort.

Anyway, on the German language side of the Bahn website, select "Länder-Tickets". When you get the map of Germany, go to the bottom of the page and click on "Angebotsberater" (offer advisor). Under Innerhalb, change "Ganz Deutschlands" to "Bayern"; unselect Fernverkehr. At the bottom of the page, click on "Weitere Angebote ..." for the complete list of offers in Bavaria.

I'm using a "No foreign transaction fee" card I'd like to have clear by the time we hit Bavaria.

I don't quite understand exactly why you can't use the card once you're there, but I don't have to. A typical "foreign transaction fee" might be 3% or so, right? So you're talking about saving about €1 on a Werdenfels ticket that costs €35, right? But what if something else grabs you between now and your trip (which is 3+ months off, right?) What if it's raining buckets in Garmisch on the day you buy the ticket for and you think something INDOORS would be better? What if you come down with the flu? If you don't use it on the day in question then you lose the full amount you pre-paid. IMO the €1 is more than worth the flexibility you gain on the ground.

"I'm not going to buy the train tickets from the airport to Garmisch because who knows when we will get in and don't want to miss the ticket time window in case we are late."

The Werdenfels ticket gets you from MUC to Garmisch; it is a day pass that you can use multiple times on one day on the whole network and it is valid at ANY hour of the day. If you insist on pre-purchase, that's a fairly safe bet (unless your flight is cancelled, which HAS happened to me.) But again, it's a matter of saving €1, which won't buy a cup of coffee.

LOL, darn inconsiderate of them to speak their own language. I speak enough German to get by in country. However I never considered the English site on bahn.de would be different than the German site!

As far as the CC is concerned every little bit of savings helps and the card has a low limit. Added up over a whole trip the savings can be significant especially if you are considering lodging as well. So anything that can be booked here and paid off the better.

Thanks for the help.