I am trying to book a train trip from Berlin to Trier. I went to the bahn.com web site and plugged in the necessary information. Up comes a screen with 3 choices for departure and arrival times. I pick one of them and get the details. Over on the right had side it says something about 90+ days ahead of time booking. I understood that if one is to book a train ticket 90+ days ahead of departure (and knowing all the restrictions) that it is much cheaper than if I wait until I get to Berlin. When and how do I purchase this ticket to get the reduced price? Thanks for any advice.
Posted by
Texan in CA
4407 posts
I assume it says "Sale possible 92 days in advance at earliest"? Then you have to wait until approx. 3 months BEFORE your planned trip to buy them. In other words, sale possible WITHIN 92 days of travel date but no sooner.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
With an advance purchase of up to 92 days, you can get a Sparpreis fare, which starts at €29 per person. If you request the connection on the Bahn website, it will give you the option to "Purchase". It will then give you the option to purchase online with a credit card and have your ticket sent to you as a pdf file. You print out the ticket at home. You just have to have with you on the train, as identification, the CC with which you purchased the ticket.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8943 posts
Important when printing out your ticket is the fact that the paper used in the US is a different size than what is used over here. When people have printed their tickets and shrunk the page to fit, it changes the bar code and they then have a big problem when their ticket gets checked. Either purchase the same size paper to print your ticket, or when you print it, make sure it your printer doesn't do any of that Shrink to Fit, kind of thing, or enlarging. The bar codes have to match up.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
Jo, Excellent suggestion regarding the Printer and Bar Codes. I never would have thought of that!
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
I'm not 100% sure if that will necessarily be a problem. I have printed off tickets on my home printer, which I bought in the US, and not encountered a problem yet on DB.
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9100 posts
My experience is the same as Tom. I've always shrunken the DB tickets down to size countless times, and the conductors have never had a problem scanning them. The size difference is very small.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
That used to be a problem. There used to be a border around the ticket and it had to be a certain size and not missing a side. One thing you could not do is have it print the page based on paper size, because the ticket was formatted for the half size paper used by the Bahn ticket counters. I don't think it is a problem anymore. I printed my tickets in 2008 just the way they were sent to me, and they worked fine. And, watching the way the conductor scans the "bar code", the distance in not exact, so the size can vary, and the angle is not exactly 90°, so the proportions can vary. I printed my tickets in 2008 using several print setting, and the differed some, so I took both tickets with me. I also brought along the pdf file, and asked my host to print it with European paper. It's size was different from what I had first printed out, but my printout scanned fine.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19092 posts
What he is saying, you have to have with you, as identification, the CC you used to buy the ticket. The name on the CC should agree with the name on the ticket.
Posted by
OP
Honolulu/Seattle, HI/WA, USA
2788 posts
Thank you all. That is the quickest, most complete bunch of answers to any post that I have ever made on this web site. So now I wait for 90 days prior to train travel and purchase the ticket online using a credit card that I will have with me on the train and print out the tickets full sized if possible.
Thanks all again.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23269 posts
I think the printing issue is mute. I printed tickets last December with all default settings without any problem. You have to have the credit card because it is run each time the ticket is checked. Also, the discounts available are very clearly identified on the bahn site so you do not have to play an games to find them.