Germany - How To Purchase Train Tix With No Printer

1) Ask your hotel if they can print them for you. Provided you have a USB stick to copy the PDF-file on.

2) Wait until you get to a DB station (Hanover?) and buy the tickets from the ticket counter there. The price may have gone up a bit by then.

Thanks Chris. I'm using my iPad and I don't have a USB stick. I found a good deal on train tickets last night. I compared the price of buying now compared to buying them a couple of days before. Ouch! It was huge difference!

E-mail the ticket onward to the hotel?

I would if I could, but there is no hotel. I'm in an apartment now, and besides a little B&B early next week I'll be in apartments the rest of my time in France. And at my aunt's house in Germany after that. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Andrea,

i would check the information sent you for you tickets and see if there is any booking code where you maybe able to print them from the DBahn ticket machines. If find it interesting that you have no booking code to get the tickets out of machine too.

you can also try looking for a internet cafe in your area.

one thing that happened to me in Remagan, i had my booking code but i could not get the ticket out of the machine. The machine was older? or different and didnt allow that. The clerk was able to pull all the information necessary to print me what i needed. So, before you need the tickets and if you're at a DBahn station or office, i would check to see what they can do too.

good luck and happy trails.

The problem with waiting until I get to Germany on the 15th is that the price will be much higher at that point. I tried buying the ticket through the DB Navigator app I have on my iPhone. It allows you to have the ticket on your phone. I got through almost the entire process before discovering you have to live in Europe to do that. On the regular DB site it only allowed for email delivery. When I bought my ticket from Paris to Hannover, with a change in Cologne, I had to print out the segment from Cologne to Hannover. I have to pick the Paris to Cologne segment up at a SNCF office or train station.

If you can find either an internet cafe (I know there are few left), a business class hotel with a business center, or a place that makes copies (equivalent to Kinko's), you can usually get a printout for a fee.

You might want to ask on the tripadvisor Paris forum as there are locals who might be able to suggest a place.

Thanks Laura!

When you book online, they send you a PDF file for the ticket, but if you register with the Bahn, you can always go to your account online and retrieve the PDF file, e.g. at an Internet cafe in Hannover, for tickets you have purchased. I assume that once you have an account, you can retrieve tickets from Bahn automats as well, but I've never personally done that.

I carry the Apple app PASSBOOK on my phone in which I am able to load my boarding passes. It is worth a try to take a pic of the tix off the monitor screen w/phone or IPad after purchase.

"Passbook keeps your boarding passes, movie tickets, & loyalty cards in one place, and shows them on your lock screen when needed. To get passes, you can scan the Passbook code with your camera, or add them from apps, emails, or websites."

Should the app work, please let me know. :-). {Edit . . . I have used it for local tickets. Have not had the chance to use it on travel yet.}

Auf Wiedersteden

Etickets of various kinds were such a success in Germany for online bookings that routine collection at machines or offices was discontinued.

Your best bet if necessary might be to buy from DB over the phone where collection is still allowed. They will also post out tickets for a fee.

The number is 0049 1806-996633, but there may be one for France.

Thanks everyone! I sent a message to my cousin last night asking if it would be possible for her or her mother to purchase the tickets for us. I haven't heard back, but it's only 6:40 a.m. right now. If they can't I think I will call. Thanks for the suggestion Marco.

Us old folks remember the days before computer ticket sales, 'way back in the Dark Ages (15 years ago), when you stood in line to deal with a real live ticket clerk. It still works. You have your order number; take it to an agent.
As a general comment, not for your particular case, e-mailing to a hotel office for a print-out is preferable to a memory stick due to fears of viruses.

Southam, are you saying that if I buy the tickets online and they send me the PDF for the tickets, I can just go to a train station in Germany and with an order number they will issue physical tickets? If that's possible, problem solved!

Why don't you purchase the tickets now online and select "tickets by mail" (I see that option available on the Bahn website for Hannover to Frankfurt). Use your aunt's address for the mail delivery. It takes 3 business days. You have that much time.

Thanks again for all your suggestions. I heard back from my aunt last night, and she said her printer is working now. I purchased the tickets online and will print them at her place.

Whew!!! another problem solved, Batman. Just the odd dozen left then.

Really, Andrea, I'm glad that's worked out. Keep on enjoying your trip.

BTW - it is permissible to sleep in 2 times on a vacation, not just once, you know?

Lol Nigel! I know you're right about sleeping in, but there's so much to see, and so little time! We are in Burgundy now. It's supposed to rain tomorrow. Maybe we will sleep in a 3rd time!