I may need to take a train between FRA and Hagen. I googled info regarding ticket purchase and came up with this site: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?ld=212.207&seqnr=1&ident=ct.04026207.1192825845&OK#focus

What is with the savings fares? Can I get them? Which of these would be the easiest as I will be in jet lag as well carrying my own luggage. Thanks for any help you can give.

Usually with the savings fares, you are buying an advance-purchase ticket that is for a specific journey (specific train on a specific day).

On the DB site, when you plug in your dates, the system will show the "normal fare" (fully refundable and changeable) and then, to the right, you MAY (or may not) see a "check availability" button for special fares. Click on the button to see the special fare - if it is available for purchase at that exact moment, you will see a small green checkmark and the word 'Available' in the 'Availability ' column.

For example, to do a sample test, I asked the DB site to show me pricing for Frankfurt Airport Station to Hagen on 7 December at 09:00. The system showed an ICE train (direct, no changes needed) leaving at 9:58 and arriving at 12:59. It showed a normal fare of €52,00 and the Special fare "Check Availability" button. When I clicked n the button, it showed me an available special fare of €29,00. The conditions for the special fare were as follows: Number of tickets is limited, use of selected train is required, refund excluded

I highly recommend purchasing your tickets and making your seat reservations online. It is extremely easy to set up an account, and you print your tickets on plain paper (it prints a barcode that the conductor "reads" with a handheld scanner). You can save your ticket as a .pdf file so that you can reprint it if needed. With your tickets in hand, you can literally go "from the plane to the train" :)

Probably stating the obvious, but... don't get a saver fare unless you are certain that you will be able to travel on that specific train.

If you buy a full-fare ticket it will probably come with a seat reservation... but seat reservations are not compulsory on German trains, and with a full-fare ticket you can get on any train and sit in any seat that isn't marked as "reserved".

The "reserved" signs are in the panel above the seat (where you would expect to find the seat number on an aircraft), and the sign will tell you for what part of the journey the seat has been reserved. You can sit in any seat that is not reserved for your part of the journey - so if you're getting on in Frankfurt, and the only empty seat is one that is reserved from Cologne onwards, then you can sit in that seat until Cologne by which time there will hopefully be an empty seat somewhere else.

Usually with the savings fares, you are buying an advance-purchase ticket that is for a specific journey (specific train on a specific day).

On the DB site, when you plug in your dates, the system will show the "normal fare" (fully refundable and changeable) and then, to the right, you MAY (or may not) see a "check availability" button for special fares. Click on the button to see the special fare - if it is available for purchase at that exact moment, you will see a small green checkmark and the word 'Available' in the 'Availability ' column.

For example, to do a sample test, I asked the DB site to show me pricing for Frankfurt Airport Station to Hagen on 7 December at 09:00. The system showed an ICE train (direct, no changes needed) leaving at 9:58 and arriving at 12:59. It showed a normal fare of €52,00 and the Special fare "Check Availability" button. When I clicked n the button, it showed me an available special fare of €29,00. The conditions for the special fare were as follows: Number of tickets is limited, use of selected train is required, refund excluded

I highly recommend purchasing your tickets and making your seat reservations online. It is extremely easy to set up an account, and you print your tickets on plain paper (it prints a barcode that the conductor "reads" with a handheld scanner). You can save your ticket as a .pdf file so that you can reprint it if needed. With your tickets in hand, you can literally go "from the plane to the train" :)I have tried to follow your advice but I have been unable to purchase the train ticket at the savings price. I registered. Then I tried to purchase a train ticket at the savings price of 29 euros. Well, it wanted an "online ticket number". What is that? That may be the reason I could not purchase the ticket. It wanted the "online ticket number" and expiry date. So I put in my Amex card. It seemed to accept it as it acknowledged it as Amex. I then put in payment info (same card), chose the train, window/aisle choice, and then pressed "purchase". Well, after a few minutes, I got a red error saying that the reservation purchase was not "accomplishable" and it didn't give me a reason. It just highlighted that "step 5" was the problem I think. I have been trying to buy this ticket for 2 hours now. I plugged in a new credit card number for the payment section and that too didn't work.

Do you know why I am not able to purchase the special priced ticket? I got the green checkmark which said that purchasing under that special price is available. I tried FAQ, searches but got nothing.

Again, I am registered. So I am guessing that the problem is my answer for "online ticket number" and "expiry date". I need to travel late morning local time in Frankfurt this Wednesday. When I wake up tomorrow, I'm afraid I'll lose that special price as it will be within 72 hours of my trip. But after 2 hours trying to buy the train ticket, I give up. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I just tried to do a "dummy" purchase (I cancelled just before actually purchasing the ticket) - I didn't get any error (but as you read your detail above, you got the error when you actually try to complete the purchase).

One question - did you register your Amex card in your profile, before beginning the actal purcase process? When I did my test just now, my registered credit card was pulled up automatically in the area marked "Online ID" - it's possible that this makes a difference.

(There's also a small confirmation box above the "online ticket id" space that has to be ticked in order to proceed).

If the time limit for the savings fare is three days prior to travel date, you *MIGHT* still have a chance on Sunday. I hope so - good luck.

(One last possibility - the overall credit card authorization system might have been down, given that you tried more than one card (I assume the second one wasn't an Amex)).

I just tried to do a "dummy" purchase (I cancelled just before actually purchasing the ticket) - I didn't get any error (but as you read your detail above, you got the error when you actually try to complete the purchase).Yes, it all worked out well until I hit "purchase".

One question - did you register your Amex card in your profile, before beginning the actal purcase process?Yes I did.

When I did my test just now, my registered credit card was pulled up automatically in the area marked "Online ID" - it's possible that this makes a difference.I really appreciate your doing that test! As with your test, my Amex information was pulled up automatically when I tried to make a purchase.

(There's also a small confirmation box above the "online ticket id" space that has to be ticked in order to proceed).Saw it and I checked it.

If the time limit for the savings fare is three days prior to travel date, you *MIGHT* still have a chance on Sunday. I hope so - good luck.I will try right now. I hope you're right!

(One last possibility - the overall credit card authorization system might have been down, given that you tried more than one card (I assume the second one wasn't an Amex)).That's right, the second one was a Visa. Be back in a moment to see if it works.

It worked!! :) I guess the system was indeed down last night AND I was able to get the special 29 euros rate. I did indeed reserve a seat for the extra 1.5 euros. I can't imagine NOT doing that.

Thank you again, Non-NonRev. My plane arrives in FRA at 9:25. Yes I am making the assumption that it will not be late but I think a 2 1/2 hour window is a good bet. If I waited to arrive at FRA before purchasing, the price would nearly be double and with the dollar tanked against the euro (against everybody actually), I think the gamble of making the train is worth it.

Again, many thanks.

Maybe before I celebrate, I need to check something out. I received an email confirmation of the purchase. It gave me a warning that my ticket may indeed be invalid. As I told you earlier, when the purchase didn't work last night, I put in a different credit card for payment. That was a Visa.

So when I made the purchase just now, I looked to see which payment information it had. I am not sure right now if it had the Visa info or my Amex info which is part of my online ID. I think it was the Amex. There was no warning issued on the purchase screen that I had to specify that my payment credit card be the exact same as my online ID card.

As I mentioned, the purchase was recorded as successful. I have a confirmation number. I printed the confirmation page. The email confirmation notice stated that I need to print my ticket in "A4" format. That will be no problem. My husband can do that for me at his office on Monday. After that it said that my ticket may be invalid if I used a different credit card than my online ID. Well I don't know. So I logged back in to the "manage your account" section to see the ticket info. When I did that, the information did not show which credit card was used to make the payment.

What should I do? I will certainly bring both cards with me as I always do. Is this a problem? I'm thinking of going to the German tourist office here in Manhattan if this really is a problem. I don't know what else to do.

Why couldn't they advise that I needed to use the same card? I would have used the same card if I didn't run into problems. I rarely use the Visa as I want membership reward points. But with the snags last night, I did add the card.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I don't think it will be a problem. In fact, I'm not sure what warning you are seeing exactly. You can use a BahnCard or an EC-Karte as an ID, but you can't pay with them.

Indeed, the DB website contains the following:
"Ihre gewählte Ausweis-ID ist unabhängig von der Bezahlungsart. Sie können also mit Ihrer Kreditkarte bezahlen und die ec-Karte als Ausweis-ID verwenden."
"Your chosen identification card is independent of the method of payment. You can, therefore, pay with your credit card and use your ec-Karte as the identification card."

Here is what was emailed to me:

Please remember that your Online Ticket is only valid in conjunction
with the form of identification you specified when making your
booking (Online Ticket ID: BahnCard or credit card). If a different BahnCard or credit card to the one used during booking is shown
when the Online Ticket is checked the ticket will be classified as
invalid. When your ticket is checked on the train the guard will
scan the ID and the Online Ticket certificate into his scanner.
Please show your ticket and valid BahnCard or credit card without
being prompted to do so. Please also note that your Online Ticket is
personal to you only.

This is why I was concerned. What can I do if indeed I paid with the Visa and not the Amex? Again, I had no idea that I needed to pay with the Amex attached to my online ID. The only reason the Visa info was there last night was because the website said my purchase was not "accomplishable".

I also was unaware that I needed to print the online ticket on A4 paper. But my husband can take care of that.

I can see why the warning message you saw got you worried as it's not really very clear. "Used during the booking" to me means "used as the means of payment". But looking at the bit quoted by soitgoes it seems that what they really mean is "used as your account ID" - i.e., you need to be in possession of the card used as your account ID (debit/credit card OR Bahncard) but you can use another card as your means of payment.

Very confusing!

On another subject - our A4 size is very similar to your Letter size (Letter is slightly shorter and slightly wider). If you can't get your ticket printed onto A4 it will probably fit onto Letter. (I have printed A4 documents onto Letter and Letter documents onto A4, without any problems)

Well ok, then. If the card of payment can be independent of card id, then I guess this negates the email sent to me about the potential invalidation of my ticket.

Is there a link I can print so if I do have a conductor who wants to invalidate my ticket, I can show him or her what soitgoes showed here on this thread. I need all the guarantees I can get.

As long as you hand the credit card which you used as an I.D. in your reservation to the conductor, there is no problem. (He will not need to see the CC that you used for payment.) I often use a CC that will be expiring soon for I.D. purposes with the Bahn.

The important thing about using the A4 paper (or regular letter size) is to be sure that the entire bar scan code (at the top right side of your "ticket") prints out. Otherwise the conductor is unable to scan it for validity.

BTW, the Bahn has been having major difficulties with labor strikes for the past couple of weeks. If you are taking an ICE or IC train, you will probably be o.k., all regional traffic may be having major problems, depending on the day you are travelling. The strikes are set to continue this week and, although it has been "outlawed" for the long-distance train personnel to strike, they are trying to force the possibilities of striking. Although we had valid train tickets to get to DUS airport last week, we were forced to do a one-way car-rental or miss our flight to Tenerife. (The alternative would have been getting to Duisburg train station with an ICE and then taking a taxi to DUS.)

Is there a link I can print so if I do have a conductor who wants to invalidate my ticket, I can show him or her what soitgoes showed here on this thread. I need all the guarantees I can get.
http://www.bahn.de/p/view/planen/buchen/onlineticket/onlineticket.shtml
When you had your ticket to the conductor, you should present your Amex (online ID card). He/she will scan your ticket and swipe your card. (Having your Visa payment card would be a good idea, but I would not hand it to the conductor unless there were a problem).
It is an automated verification process, and I would not be worried...but I understand the source of your confusion.

On another subject - our A4 size is very similar to your Letter size (Letter is slightly shorter and slightly wider). If you can't get your ticket printed onto A4 it will probably fit onto Letter. (I have printed A4 documents onto Letter and Letter documents onto A4, without any problems)
Printing out on Letter size would be fine. I would you make sure to set your print settings to automatically reduce to fit the page, but even that is probably not critical, because the key barcode info is near the top of the page.

The strikes are set to continue this week and, although it has been "outlawed" for the long-distance train personnel to strike, they are trying to force the possibilities of striking. Although we had valid train tickets to get to DUS airport last week, we were forced to do a one-way car-rental or miss our flight to Tenerife.
Good point, and there will likely be a court ruling this week about whether long-distance and freight strikes will be allowed.

(The alternative would have been getting to Duisburg train station with an ICE and then taking a taxi to DUS.)
On strike days, DB has been accepting local public transit tickets and other regional "Nahverkehr" tickets, surcharge-free, on IC/EC/ICE trains, so I might have used the ICE, but, then again, things have been a mess on strike days.

The train for which I am ticketed is an IC train. I noticed there are 2 train stations at FRA. What is the name of the train station for extensive intra-country travel? I know about the potential strike. Is it a day-to-day decision regarding whether to strike?

Thank you for the link. I am printing the information both in German and English. You never know....

If I need to reach my friends from FRA (I have no int'l cell phone), can I assume that there are internet cafes or business centers in which I can go online? Can I also buy some kind of German calling card at the airport so I can call my friends if necessary on pay phones?

Printing my ticket on A4 won't be a problem. My husband can do it from his office for me.

The train for which I am ticketed is an IC train. I noticed there are 2 train stations at FRA. What is the name of the train station for extensive intra-country travel?
It is the Fernbahnhof (long-distance train station), as opposed to the Regionalbahnhof. You should just follow the signs to long distance trains and will sort of go through the regional train area on your way to the very modern and pleasant (for an airport) long-distance train station area.

I know about the potential strike. Is it a day-to-day decision regarding whether to strike?
Pretty much. Tonight they announced that there wouldn't be strikes tomorrow, but Tuesday is still possible. Right now, IC trains aren't being affected. That could change.

If I need to reach my friends from FRA (I have no int'l cell phone), can I assume that there are internet cafes or business centers in which I can go online? Can I also buy some kind of German calling card at the airport so I can call my friends if necessary on pay phones?
You can buy a Deutsche Telekom card at newspaper kiosks (there are several in the train station area). A lot of the payphones (probably all of them in the airport) accept credit cards, though I have no idea how much that costs. You might also consider signing up for an international calling card like the one from onesuite.com (reachable from German payphones via a toll-free number for a surcharge). I've never used any internet cafes in FRA, but I think there are some options. There are also WiFi hotspots.

onesuite looks great for calls back to the US! The rates for calls within Germany seem high so I'd like to compare them with Deutsche Telekom's calling card rate. Do you have the link for rates on the calling cards? I went to DT but could not find it. Thanks.

Just signed up for onesuite.

Glad to hear that you got the discounted price! :)

The last couple of times, I carried printouts of the online ticket in both A4 and US "letter" format, just in case. On board the train, I presneted the letter-size printout to the conductor, who used his handheld device to scan and read the "barcode" image. The whole process took less than a minute.

Have a safe trip!

onesuite looks great for calls back to the US! The rates for calls within Germany seem high so I'd like to compare them with Deutsche Telekom's calling card rate. Do you have the link for rates on the calling cards? I went to DT but could not find it. Thanks.

The rates are on their website, but it's not easy to find. I was curious,too, so thanks for asking!
http://mwl.telekom.de/produkte/pdf/oeffentliche-telefonie_tarife.pdf
€1 set-up charge for credit card use (no setup charge if using their calling card)
local calls €0.23/min
domestic long distance calls €0.34/min
German mobile phones €0.80/min
most of Europe €0.67/min
US, Canada €1.00/min

I think you are almost always better off with Onesuite.

The rates are on their website, but it's not easy to find. I was curious,too, so thanks for asking!
http://mwl.telekom.de/produkte/pdf/oeffentliche-telefonie_tarife.pdf
€1 set-up charge for credit card use (no setup charge if using their calling card)
local calls €0.23/min
domestic long distance calls €0.34/min
German mobile phones €0.80/min
most of Europe €0.67/min
US, Canada €1.00/min

I think you are almost always better off with Onesuite.Thank you for finding these rates! Onesuite is less expensive per minute for calls from a German payphone to a German landline (~$0.42/minute) and from Germany payphone to mobile phone (~$0.62/minute). From a German landline to the US the cost is $.089/minute. By far, Onesuite (especially calling back to the US) is much cheaper than Deutche Telekom is especially with the horrible exchange rate added to the mix.

Glad to hear that you got the discounted price!

The last couple of times, I carried printouts of the online ticket in both A4 and US "letter" format, just in case. On board the train, I presneted the letter-size printout to the conductor, who used his handheld device to scan and read the "barcode" image. The whole process took less than a minute.I will bring both of my "letter" and A4 copies. ^

Have a safe trip!Thank you very much. Thank you to everybody here. FT is such a wonderful resource and it is people like you who make travelling a little less stressful. Again, thank you. :)

The train trip was a complete success. Thank you everybody. They assigned me to a seat facing backwards which is something I won't do so I chose a seat facing forwards and it was no big deal. The views of the mountains along the Rhine was outstanding. What a great way to see some of the country.

The train trip was a complete success. Thank you everybody. They assigned me to a seat facing backwards which is something I won't do so I chose a seat facing forwards and it was no big deal. The views of the mountains along the Rhine was outstanding. What a great way to see some of the country.

Interesting ... you are lucky. There are actually two train lines from FRA to Cologne. The fast one is Right of the Rhine, next to the Autobahn. The other one is Left of the Rhine, right next to the river .... with a nice scenery.

Have a nice time in Hagen ..

Interesting ... you are lucky. There are actually two train lines from FRA to Cologne. The fast one is Right of the Rhine, next to the Autobahn. The other one is Left of the Rhine, right next to the river .... with a nice sceneryI have a feeling I'll be taking that autobahn route on the way back to FRA as the timeframe is one hour shorter. Now it all makes sense! :p