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Rail pass versus point to point - reservations needed?

We are have planned the following over a 7 day period, traveling by train as noted:

Frankfurt-->Munich
Munich--> Salzburg
Salzburg--> Frankfurt

I still need to do the math on point to point vs. rail pass, but would like to travel on the ICE/high speed trains. Is it advisable to reserve seats in second class or is this overkill? Our travel time is late April. We really cannot be flexible with dates as we have already booked rooms, if that matters. But was not sure if just purchasing tickets is advisable or if reserving seats as an additional step is needed.

Thanks, Jay

Posted by
8168 posts

Point to point tickets is the way to go here. You will not need to reserve seats at all.
Since you have a set schedule buy your tickets asap to get the lowest price.

Posted by
7079 posts

An April trip means you can take advantage of German Railway's springtime rail pass sale. How many is "we"? A 3-day flexi twin pass for two adults costs €270 at DB if you buy by March 31.

Click on "book now" under "Flexible travel days" to see the prices for the twin passes:
https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/passes/german-rail-pass.shtml

You'll find that trip costs vary by date and travel hour for the p2p tickets at DB. Once you total up the costs of p2p tickets for those trains you want at the time you want, you'll see whether €270 is roughly competitive or not. There's no way to say until you check. Of course there's still a qualitative difference - with the rail pass, you can use ANY trains you like at any hour on your three planned travel dates (or on other dates instead.) With the p2p saver fares, you commit to those specific trains at the time of purchase.

If Frankfurt > Munich means you are leaving from Frankfurt Airport after a transatlantic flight, the rail pass has a particular advantage since you can hop on any train whenever you're ready to leave - whether your plane is on time or not. With the train-specific, advance-sale saver fares that Jazz+ recommends, a flight delay or other delay could mean you'd need to buy new tickets at a higher price.

Posted by
5697 posts

Re: reservations. I usually pay the money to assure we have two seats together -- many times this has proved to be unnecessary, but on occasion it was the difference between standing in the corridor for several hours (Budapest to Vienna on a weekend) and claiming our reserved seats, thus forcing other people to stand in the corridor.

Posted by
2481 posts

Frankfurt - Munich: If you travel to Munich on your arrival day check with your airline whether they participate in the Rail&Fly programm of DB. Tickets are flexible (ca. €33).

Munich-Salzburg: travel on a Bayern Ticket (€31/2). It's valid on local trains only, wich take 10 to 20 minutes longer than the RJ or EC

Salzburg - Frankfurt: Sparpreis ticket (bound to a specific train) start at €20/1 going up to €60 in peak times.

Total €137, if you get the cheapest tickets. But if you cannot get R&F tickets for the Frankfurt-Munich leg and have to pay the standard fare (€108/1) you are better off with the rail pass.

Posted by
379 posts

I prefer to pay a little extra to get reserved seats. When boarding the train, I find it a hassle to look for seats.

Posted by
2481 posts

IME it's more hassle to look for the right seats in the right car than it is just to sit down in an empty seat.

I agree. For the trips in question, the only leg I'd even consider making a reservation for is Frankfurt - München - but only if my train goes via Mannheim and Stuttgart, since there is almost always heavy demand for seats on the short (30 min) Frankfurt - Mannheim leg. The easy workaroud is to take a train via Würzburg and Nürnberg. Regional trains between Munich and Salzburg don't reserve, for the Salzburg - Frankfurt trip a reservation is unnecessary.

Posted by
27 posts

Thank you everyone - as always, these forums really deliver good insight... more homework for me!! Cheers!