Train tickets printed at home

If your printed tickets show a bar code and have assigned seat for a particular train and a specific time and date, then this is all you need- you don't have to validate it at the platform or to exchange for another ticket. Show it to the conductor on the train when he comes along and have an ID with you.

I assume because you posted under the Germany section that the tickets to which you refer are for Deutsche Bahn.

Yes, those print outs serve as the actual ticket. A conductor will check your tickets at some point during each trip with a portable scanner. Note, however, that you need to present the credit card you used to make the purchases with the tickets. DB uses this for validation.

Thanks everyone! So I've added one more item to my "to do" list for between now and Sunday -- make sure we are actually traveling with the credit cards that I used when paying for the tickets. OK, I actually had to stop NOW and go check credit cards and now I have a sticky note on the four different train trips to indicate in which pocket we'll find the appropriate card.

I wonder what the deal is checking the cc rather than that the name on the ticket matches ID? How does a "kid" taking a trip with friends after high school or college produce a cc if mom and dad paid for the tickets? As it is, I'm not carrying my Amex card (having read that merchants prefer Visa & M/C) but only because we sat together making the first train reservation did my husband pull his card out when we got down to payment, and he's planning on carrying it as one of his three cards since we try to have at least one card each that the other doesn't have in case of loss or theft. The other three trips I arranged on my own, and yes that card is already in my travel wallet ready to go, but I could just as easily have tried to spread my expenses across several cards, not all of which would have been traveling with me.

So do they throw you off the train if you can't produce the cc? Or take a passport as backup ID at that point?

What they are trying to stop is you printing a second copy, and somebody else travelling with that in a different part of the train.
The ticket inspector scans the barcode on the ticket, then swipes your credit card to verify it, job done.
If there are a group of you and the person who paid is in the group it is not an issue, you get one ticket for the group.

There is an option on the website which say what ID you will provide, the credit card is the default, the alternative is an ID card (or a passport if you are a foreigner). This is what you would select of you are buying the ticket for someone else.

There is a section where you can specify somebody else is travelling (not the person who booked the ticket). If you fill that in AFAIK they then accept ID/passport. But I must admit I have always used the default credit card option.
I was once told that if you loose the credit card after you have done the booking, the best option is to go to the nearest DB ticket office and explain.

Yes, Faith, they might throw you off the train because you do not have a validate ticket. Anybody can make a copy of your print out. As someone who has purchased several Bahn tickets, it clearly states that requirement on the web site when purchasing the ticket. Don't take this lightly as the Germans tend to be much more thorough than other countries. You may not see a conductor in Italy but I am sure you will see a conductor with a card reading machine in hand in Germany.

Are electronic tickets with QR code on mobile phone acceptable?

I forgot to print hard copy tickets.

Thanks.

I'm pretty sure the website mentioned sending the ticket to your phone.

"the website mentioned sending the ticket to your phone". Yes, that is possible in some cases, but I have never done it myself.
But I must emphasise that the type of ticket (print at home, pick up at station etc.) is fixed when you book, before you pay. Once you have paid it is usually not possible to change it.

@N.Chan If you did choose "Print at home" and you have the PDF file on you (USB stick, memory card etc.), you could ask the hotel to print it for you. Personally I always print out 2 copies, for safety.

You can set-up a profile on DB's website and define which card will act as your form of ID. If you fail to do so the card you used to pay for the ticket is the form of ID. But in the end, it can be any debit or credit card - or European ID card - or your BahnCard or BahnBonusCard.

If you're planning on using DB a lot get a free BahnBonusCard (their loyalty card). That you could use as form of ID as well.

The conductor swipes the form of ID card through is machine, then scans in the QR code on the ticket. That way, within seconds, he'll know that everything is alright.

Faith,

if i remember correctly the only place i had to "validate" my ticket was for the Eurostar back in 2012. Don't know how it is now since i havent used it since then.

but on my recent trip, i didnt have to "validate" any of my tickets. that included retrieving them at the ticket machines and the print @ home tickets.

note that not once was i ever asked to show the credit card i used to purchase all of my tickets. If i was asked for ID it was for my passport. one other note was that on all of my tickets i purchased online and when asked for ID i use my Oregon drivers license number for the ID on the ticket and again, not once was i asked for that, only my passport if at all.

I'm sure it will vary, but you will have a blast.

happy trails.

Sorry Nathalie, you are wrong. The "print at home" e-tickets which DB issue are the final ticket. You do not need to take the printout to the station ticket window. As already mentioned, you just get on the train and show it (with the correct ID as discussed above) to the ticket inspector when he comes round.

I'm sorry but the advice given by nathaliebrown17 is incorrect regarding DB tickets.

What is the LetsFlyCheaper! all about? It seems irrelevant. Or is it a hashtag, which we don't use here?

Nigel, LetsFlyCheaper is a travel agent website. I presume Nathalie is using this forum to sneak in a bit of advertising. Certainly her advice is invariably incorrect, so it makes you wonder the value of the company she is shilling for.

But what is the connection between a travel agent website, starting a wine importing business, and living in Barcelona?