We are traveling to Germany Sept.21st thru Sept.29th and need rail tickets. Hoping for the Saver fares or the quer-durchs-land
saver fares, family of 4 traveling together. How can we and when should we order the tickets. How can we go directly with
D Bahn for ordering? Thanks for the help.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
You can order tickets directly on their website, www.bahn.com . You may need to sign up for an account (I did) but that's easy. You can print your tickets directly after ordering - I did this a few times while traveling in Germany.
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7029 posts
Tickets go on sale 90 days prior, buy as soon as you know your travel dates to get the cheapest saver fares. Be sure to alert your cc company before making purchases from foreign websites and you should have no trouble.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
The Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket (workdays) and the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket (weekend days) are all-day passes for regional trains anywhere in Germany. There are also Länder-Tickes, all day passes for regional trains in an individual German state. These passes are not limited in quantity and are always the same price. You can buy them just before you start your travel.
There is no need to order one in advance unless you are coming into Germany, or that state, and want to use the pass on the same train without getting off to buy it.
On the other hand, Savings Fare tickets, which must include at least one segment on a Bahn train (ICE/IC/EC/IR), are price-tiered and limited in quantity for each price tier. You should buy them online as soon as you can commit to a specific train. They are refundable for a penalty up to the day before travel, non-refundable as of the day of travel.
Posted by
Oxnard, CA, USA
43 posts
We have purchased German rail passes from Rick Steves. They offer a pass for those riding together at a reduced price.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
As implied above, the answer depends on what type of trains you take. If traveling on the faster trains between large cities (ie, Frankfurt to Munich or Frankurt to Berlin), tickets are cheapest when you buy them early in the 90 day window, but as noted, these tickets commit you to riding a specific train. For regional trains between smaller cities and towns, there's usually no advantage to buying in advanced. I never use the above-mentioned regional passes sold by Deutsche Bahn, so I can't really make an informed statement about them other than that for travelers, they can be a great deal (see Lee's response above).