Deutsche Bahn Itinerary change? - confused

I assume your tickets are advance purchase, Sparpreis (Savings fare) tickets, which are trains specific.

The *only train that is specific (bound) by the ticket is IC 2226. After that you are free to take any regional trains (and that includes SEV buses), to Trier. So when you get off IC 2226 in Koblenz, find the replacement bus (it's called an SEV, and is probably out in front of the Bahnhof. There are probably signs; if not ask the conductor). Take the bus to Gondorf, and take the next regional train to Trier. If you have a ticket to Trier, they will honor it.

Having spent years using DB in Germany, this change would not concern me at all. What I would really worry about is if you are going to make the IC 2226 departure from FRA if the flight is late.

They are most likely planning repairs to the track. This happened to us and worked out fine. Train, bus to get around the section being repaired, then train again.

As Lee has pointed out, your only issue is that you must make that IC 2226. Right now, the DB schedule shows you taking the 11:40 SEV bus from Koblenz to Kobern-Gondorf, then transferring back on the train to continue to Trier, arriving at 13:30. Your ticket is valid for that and any later combination.

What time is your flight scheduled to arrive? If you are delayed and miss the train, your ticket becomes invalid. You have an option now of paying a 19 EUR fee and refunding the ticket. You could travel any time on regional trains by buying a Schoenes Wochenende Ticket (Happy Weekend Ticket) for 56 EUR covering all 3 of you. It takes just a little longer, since the regional train to Koblenz makes more stops than the IC train. You would also have the option of going via Saarbrucken and not having to deal with the train replacement bus. There is obviously some track repair work gong on in that section of the line.

There is a clever way to do it for less. Buy 3 RMV (the local transit network) tickets to Mainz for 4.90 EUR each, then a 3-person Rheinland-Pfalz ticket for 34 EUR. Total would be 48.70 EUR. Don't know if you want to get that cute to save 7.30 EUR.

Thanks everyone for the replies. That's good to hear that the tickets are still valid for later regional trains. I guess I was thinking in terms of airlines where you are tied to a specific flight. I'm used to airlines changing itineraries after you book them, but it's usually just a few minutes here or there and then the itinerary on the app reflects that. I think that's what's so disconcerting about this to me, having the app and my ticket not reflect that there's been a change in itinerary. I'm just glad I found out about this ahead of time. I would have been even more worried if I hadn't known until I arrived in Koblenz and we'd already missed "our" train. I would have had no idea that I'm supposed to be looking for a bus instead.

I knew this would probably come up, but for those who are worried about the late flight/missed train issue, we actually get into Frankfurt about 7pm the night before, so unless our flight is really late, we should be fine. We just decided to get a hotel at the airport for the first night to rest after our travel day and take the train out the next morning. My parents haven't really traveled internationally before and I thought this might be easier for them to break up the traveling a little and help with jet lag rather than taking a very late train/bus to Trier. I appreciate the concern though. We knew it was a risk to buy ahead of time, but since we have more than 15 hours between our arrival and our scheduled train, we thought we'd risk it.

Allie, I think that is wise planning.

I hope you will have a great time.

Does DB still only notify those on their frequent traveler program when trains are cancelled or changed? From Allie's experience, I have to wonder. A few years ago, when I went on DB's website to see if the rail ticket went up in price, I saw 2 of my itineraries no longer existed.

Just adding this as a follow up in case anyone else has a similar issue. Today I received an email back from DB stating that the change to my itinerary may have been a result of construction or a change in train configuration. Either way, they were kind enough to send me a PDF file with the revised timetable that they recommend I follow. (It's the train-bus-train combo I saw on their website.) It's not an actual ticket, but at least it's an official piece of paper with the times and stations on it, since the DB app has outdated info for me and is therefore not as helpful as it could be under other circumstances.

However, they did also tell me that I need to check in at the station before the trains leave to have my ticket "endorsed" so that it will be valid on a train other than the one I originally booked. I wanted to pass that along in case this happens to anyone else. It might be that it would be fine to just get on whatever train comes by next, as others have suggested, but since DB officially recommended checking in first, that's what I plan to do. Thanks again to everyone who helped put my mind at ease about this.