Flying Lawyer
Jan 14, 08, 3:55 pm
DB DEUTSCHE BAHN AG
German Railways, or die Bahn (or for us older once "Bundesbahn"), as we call them, has become a constant topic in this formum. I tried to put together a general thread on Bahn and its the offers. It deals with rail travel in Germany and tickets on offer in Germany. It does not deal with any rail passes only available abroad.
This thread will always be work in progress, so I kindly ask for comments and ideas. Pls. add your specific railway questions in this thread. This will allow to make additions and alterations and to constantly update this thread as a source of information. I will include critics, ideas and proposals into the story, so pls. feel free to post, your comments are very much appreciated.
German Railways
German Railways (Bahn) is owned by the Federal Republic of Germany and owns the rolling stock, the stations and the network as such. Most (90%) of the trains are operated by German Railways, 99.9% of the long distance trains are either operated by German Railsways or by the state "carriers" of France, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands on German tracks. Quite a few of the suburban trains are operated by other carriers due to political reasons: The suburban transit is subsidized by the German states and they gave contracts to third parties.
Verkehrsverbünde
Trains operated in sururban transit (all the red ones) are frequently operated under the fare authority of so called "Verkehrsverbünde" (public transit fare areas) in several parts of Germany. All "normal" long distance Bahn tickets are valid on these trains too, however, these "Verkehrsverbünde" allow for one ticket for all public transit in their areas. The largest ones are:
Rhein-Ruhr (Düsseldorf and the Ruhr area).
www.vrr.de
Rhein-Sieg (Cologne and Bonn).
www.vrs.de
Rhein-Main (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden).
www.rmv.de
Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin, Potsdam, Frankfurt/Oder).
www.vbb.de
München
www.mvv-muenchen.de
Hamburg
www.hvv.de
Rhein-Neckar:
www.vrn.de
You will find a full list (in German) here:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_deutscher_Tarif-_und_Verkehrsverb%C3%BCnde
If you hold a Ticket issued by one of the members (Bahn, bus operators, tram operators, ferry operators, whatsoever) of the relevant Verkehrsverbund, you are allowed to use all public transit within the regional reach of your ticket. EG: Buy a Verkehrsverbund-Ticket from Frankfurt to Main and take the tram in Frankfurt to the station, use a regional train to Wiesbaden and use a bus in Wiesbaden to your final destination. Tickets are in general available from vending machines, in general from bus drivers and certain other outlets. All Verkehrsverbünde are managed seperately so their ticket and fare policies slightly differ. You will need to check the website.
There are certain general rules:
NEVER board without a ticket (unless it is available from the driver, in general only on busses, sometimes on trams, never on trains)
NEVER use a long distance train with a Verkehrsverbund ticket (unless is es explicitly allowed and signposted). You ticket will not be accepted.
NEVER forget to validate (stamp) your ticket if it is not prevalidated. If you are not sure, ask somebody.
To make it easier: Most Verkehrsverbünde offer day passes which in genral offer very good value for mony. Check the websites.
Trains
Bahn offers several types of trains:
The high speed ICE trains (most expensive tickets) run at up to 300 km/h on certain routes (CGN-FRA, MUC-FRA, HAM-FRA). ICE trains are easily identified since they are not only snow-white with a red band but consist of a train-set. These trains were part of a big infrastructure project in Germany introducing the high speed trains to Germany. For train spectators: There a three generations of these trains running on German tracks. All of these have 1st and 2nd class, most have a bistro or restaurant. The French Thalys operates on German tracks too.
The IC (Intercity) and EC (Eurocity) trains are sometimes a bit cheaper and sometimes slower. Intercity trains run between German cities, Eurocity trains cross borders. IC trains are in general snow-white with the same red band but are drawn (or pushed) by a locomotive. However, you will find quite a few of the EC trains being operated by foreign carriers. All of these have 1st and 2nd class. Most of them have restaurants (or similar facilities). The comfort is not always as good as on an ICE as the rolling stock is older and some of the foreign carriers use "so-la-la" stock.
Nearly all other trains are in general red. They are called Regional Express or Regionalbahn (=Regional Train) and operate in suburban transit. However, suburban trains can without any problem run over destinations of several hundred kilometers. Some of them use two-storey carriages. Sitting upstairs is quite nice, you get a good view. Most of them have 1st and 2nd class (1st class to be identified by a yellow band over the windows at the outside of the carriage). Some offer bistros or food and drink service. The S-Bahn provides the "real" suburban service and stops every one to three kilometers.
The few exceptions: There are a few D-Züge, which used to be the old express trains, still operating. Mostly they run on strange routes, you will find quite a few in the east going to Russia. Furthermore you will find certain overnight services with hotel comfort, which we will deal with seperately.
Ticket vendors
Railway tickets are offered by several vendors and this is sometimes confusing: Bahn offers tickets for sale
at the station (from an agent, certain tickets require a surcharge),
at the station (from a vending machine),
via the internet (in general cheapest) and
via travel agents (in general with a service fee).
from the conductor (on ICE and IC trains, but in general not on regional trains)
The prices for flexible (unrestricted) tickets are are the same when buying them from an agent at the station, vending machine or the internet. However, since travel agents do not receive commission, so they in general charge a service fee to the customers. Be aware: Most young passengers prefer vending machines, so prepare for queuing (and these things are not really easy to use). The same can be true for the ticket counter at the station. However, there are special counters available for First Class tickets or top tiers of the Bahn FQTV programm. Queus tend to be shorter there. HOWEVER: Flexible Tickets and tickets with Bahn-Card-Discount (however no other discounted tickets) are always available from the conductor on ICE and IC/EC trains (but only on some regional/suburban trains) with a small surchage. As a rule of the thumb: Never ever board a regional/suburban train without a ticket in a town or city. You will most likely be treated as a fare avoider. Outside the cities is CAN be different and it will be explained somewhere on/in the station, just ask one of your fellow passengers.
Types of tickets
Bahn offers several types of tickets:
German Rail Pass can be a great offer, however only available for people outside Germany. I do not have any personal experience with this tool, however there is plenty of wisdom in this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/germany/666637-german-rail-pass-explained.html
Flexible tickets in second or in first class are in general good for any train. First class requires a 50% surcharge. However, since there are different types of trains running on a single route the fare is not always identical. An IC train is cheaper compared to an ICE train on the same route. For the benefit of the greatest flexibility always buy a ticket allowing for the use of an ICE, for the the benefit of the lowest fare buy a ticket for suburban trains only.
Non Flexible tickets are available for first and second class. When buying these, you are bound to the single train booked. No changes are allowed (other than for operational reasons) and refund is limited. There are currently three types of non flexible tickets: The Sparpreis 50 gives you a 50% discount compared to the unrestricted return fare (only). This is subject to a Sunday return rule and a purchase three days in advance and subject to availability. The Sparpreis 25 gives you 25% discount compared to the unrestricted return fare (only). It requires a purchase three days in advance and is subject to availability. Further information is to be found here: http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/sparpreis.shtml. To get the Sparpreis50:
you need to book 3 days in advance
you need to book a roundtrip
there needs to be availability at their capacity-controlled rates
you need to either travel exclusively on Saturday and/or Sunday or have a Saturday night stay.The Dauer-Special is a flat fare starting at 29 Euro for a single fare. I requires purchase three days in advance and is subject to availability (Capacity controlled). In general: The earlier you buy (at the earliest three month in advance) the better the price you can get. And the more you keep away from peak hours, the better the price you get. Be aware: You do not have any chance either to change your reservation or the use these tickets on a stand by basis. They are only good for the chosen specific train.
State tickets: State tickets, or Länder-Tickets as they are called in German, are valid on suburban trains and all public transit in a German state. They offer very good value for money, are valid for all full day during off-peak time (after 9 am) and for up to five persons. For certain states, tickets for a single person are on offer too. The fare is in the range of 20 to 30 EUR. Make sure that you stick to your state (which can be complicated in the FRA area). Further information is here: http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/laender_tickets.shtml
Weekend Ticket (Schönes Wochenende): This is bummer of German transit. A ticket valid for up to five persons for a full day on more or less all public transit (not on IC and ICE trains) for 35 Euro. Valid for up to 5 persons travelling together and for parents travelling with their children aged 14 or younger on Saturdays or Sundays between midnight until 3 a.m. of the following (Sun- or Mon-) day for only 35 EUR if you buy your ticket online. Information is here: http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/swt.shtml. In theory you can take your group of five from Flensburg in the far north to Salzburg on the Austrian border.
Regional Ticket offers:
There are several regional ticket offers valid on Bahn too. This is a result of the fact, that Germany has a (a) federal system and the states subsidize the suburban traffic and (b) the fare authority for suburban traffic rests frequently with the Verkehrsverbünde (and there are more than one in a single state). However, the system is similar all over Germany and once you understood the system in one state or region, you will easily understand the system at your final destination.
Let's take the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen as an example. This is one of the biggest states and it includes well known destinations like Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn but places like Essen, Dortmund, Münster and Duisburg, too. It is the home of nine (!) Verkehrverbünde, however, most likely you will get in touch with two of them, VRS (for Cologne and Bonn) and VRR (for Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen, Dortmund). Given that, you have to understand the following:
The Weekend ticket is issued by BAHN and is valid on all suburban traffic in Nordrhein-Westfalen too (due to agreements between Bahn and the regional providers) but as the name suggests, only on weekends.
There are equivalent tickets (issued under authority of the state governement) valid only within the state. These are called "SchönerTagTicket NRW 5 Personen" and "SchönerTagTicket NRW Single" and are good for a full day of travel every day for a group of five or a single traveller within the state. They are sold for EUR 33,00, resp. EUR 23,00 online (http://www.nahverkehr.nrw.de/) or at vending machines and ticket outlets state-wide.
There are equivalent tickets (issued under authority of the Verkehrsverbünde) valid only within the Verkehrsverbund. Let's take the VRR (www.vrr.de) as the most prominent one as an example. They offer day tickets valid every day and good for unlimited travel again for a group of up to five and for singles valid in one city (for EUR 4,90 / 10,60), for one city and all cities surrounding (EUR 9,30 / 14,50) and for the full VRR - Region (EUR 20,30 / 26,90). (http://www.vrr.de/imperia/md/content/en/abc_e.pdf)
Similar systems are in place in other state and areas of Germany. In Bayern you will find eg. a "Bayern Ticket" valid statewide and for Munich you will find three types of group tickets with veerrrry German names: When arriving at the airport you will need a "Partner-Tageskarte-Gesamtnetz" (better do some exercise to pronounce that properly :D) taking you into town and good for travel for up to five for a full day for 18.00 Euro. The day (group) ticket offers in general great value for money and they free you from getting a ticket for every single journey and from understanding the different types of vending machines.
A real life example: Just let's assume that you, your wife and your offspring arrive in Düsseldorf from the US (on NW, LH or AB) and your hotel is in the heart of Düsseldorf and you plan to to more than one journey on public transit. You buy yoursself a VRR ticket on price level "A" valid for Düsseldorf for EUR 10,60 and enjoy a full day of travel for you and your family to your hotel and in Düsseldorf. The next day you want to see the the cathedral in Cologne. Cologne is within the state but outside the VRR region. You buy yourself a "SchönerTagTicket NRW 5 Personen" for EUR 33,00 and this is good for all travel in Düsseldorf, in Cologne and whereever you want to go within the state. The next day you want to make a harbor tour in Duisburg. You are by far more familiar with the system and you are now aware that you need a VRR ticket on price level "B" valid for Düsseldorf and Duisburg (and Mülheim, Ratingen and several other places you don't want to go). For the weekend you plan a daytrip to Frankfurt. This is neither within the state nor within the VRR region, so you need a Weekend ticket for EUR 35,00.
For all trips you have to be aware: You must avoid ICE and IC trains with these tickets (travel time to Frankfurt on suburban train doubles, 3:50 hours from Düsseldorf with one change in Koblenz, however the flexible return fare on an ICE train for a group of three is EUR 420,00) and most tickets have to be validated on your day of travel. If you are not sure, just get your ticket stamped in one of the little boxes either on a bus/tram or on or before a platform, it won't harm.
Seat Reservations
Bahn offers seat reservations for a small surcharge for all long distance trains. Coaches are numbered, and somewhere on the platform you will find the Wagenstandsanzeiger showing each train and the position of the relavent coach on the platform. Above the platform you will find big blue boards with white letters - A, B, C, D etc. The same letters are to be found on the Wagenstandsanzeiger , so just check where your coach will stop on the platform. Seat reservation can be made for "Grossraum" (coaches without compartments) or "Abteil" (coaches with six-seat or somestimes five or four-seatcompartments). Long-distance trains usually have both types. Your reservations will show "Wagen" or "WG" (coach) and "Sitz" (seat). Most likely coach Number 11 will be at the head of the train. Certain ICE trains with two units have coaches from 11 into the range of 30. In the coach you will find the seat number above the seat (Grossraum) or in front of the compartment (Abteil) and most likely you will find your specific reservation on display (eg. Frankfurt - München).
However: You can take every non-reserved seat you want. Above the seats on the wall or on the overhead compartment you will see small displays. The display will show the name of the stops where the seat is reserved. In your case it should say Hamburg-Berlin. If nothing is shown on the display the seat is not reserved. You are under no obligation to take the seat reserved, your ticket is good for any non-reserved seat in the relevant class of travel.
Luggage
Luggage can in general not be checked in. You need to schlepp it. There is no baggage service on ICE trains (the only exception I know is the AirRail codeshare service with Lufthansa from Stuttgart to Frankfurt Airport). However, IATA size carry-on fits perfectly in the racks above the seats. Even larger suitecases can be fitted up there but it is a little bit tricky depending how heavy it is. You can also store your large suitcases between the seats. There are some seats that face back to back and you can put your luggage there with no issue.
Tipping on a DB (night) train
Do not laugh, this is serious. There is no statutory need to tip a conductor on any train or any steward on a night train (some would call him/her night train conductor). I have tipped stewards in the restaurant/lounge cars (round up to next Euro + 1 or 2 Euros, depending on size of bill), but only for table service, never at the bar. If the conductor serves drinks and food at your seat in F/C or you buy anything from the trolley I would round it up to the next Euro or half Euro depending on what coins you have saving him or her and yourself the burden of looking for change.
Bahn Card
The BahnCard is a discount card available online or at Bahn ticket offices. You will need a passport-size photo; you will get a temporary card immediately from the ticket agent and the plastic card will be mailed to you. The BahnCard25 provides for a 25% discount on DB fares, including those sold at the SparPreis fares menitoned before. Theoretically this adds up to a 65% discount. For 2nd class, it costs 55EUR. BahnCard50 gives you 50% off on all standard DB fares, giving you full flexibility (interrupting your journey--domestically you must complete travel within two days, refunding your ticket, choosing your trains, etc.). For 2nd class, it costs 220 EUR. Prices are double for First Class. Students at an age of 26 or under pay half price for the card. Bahn Card gives no discount on State Tickets, Weekend Tickets or Dauer Spezial Tickets. Tickets bought with Bahn Card Discount gives you a free ride on public transit at your destination, a nice perk since you do not have to fight with the fare system at your destination.
Bahn Bonus and Bahn Comfort
Bahn Bonus and Bahn Comfort are the "frequent flyer programs" of Bahn. Bahn Bonus is available to any customer holding at least a "BonusCard Business" or any Bahn Card. Bahn Bonus gives you "Award Miles" whereas "Bahn Comfort" (only available if you hold a Bahn Card) gives you "Tier Points". If you do not plan to spend at least 1000 Euro on Bahn Tickets within the next three years, simply forget about it.
www.bahn.de
Bahn operates a sophisticated booking engine on the internet in English at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en allowing
to book tickets online
to make reservations
and to print online tickets
for most national and certain international destinations. It is a several step process but normally it works without any problems. If you are used to buying airline tickets online you will not have any problems. The booking engine is similar, offers (there are certainly more stations than airports) more choice.
On the first page you enter your Start and Destination. The system "understands" the English names for German cities, so no problem. There is a nice little feature called "via". This allows you to enter intermediate stations to "force" the system to sell you a specific routing. Entering for example "Mainz" as an intermediate station on an itinery from Frankfurt to Cologne forces the system to sell you a ticket via the scenic Rhine-Line; entering "Frankfurt" as an intermediate station on an itinery from Berlin to Cologne gives you a detour to Frankfurt (which can be an overnight) on a trip from the capital to the cathedrale. With "means of transportation" you can include or exclude ICE and/or even all long distance trains to get cheaper fares. "Travellers" allows you to enter up to five travellers, child or adult. Under "Class" you select second or first class carriage.
On the second page you select your outbound journey. If you book at least three days in advance the system offers a normal (unrestricted) fare and a restricted (savings) fare, if not, it shows only unrestrcted fares. At this stage you do not know that a restricted fare is actually available, the system does not perform a general availability check. To check, whether or not a restricted fare is available for your itinery or any other train proposed you either click on the box "Check Availability" or more easy on the link "Check Availability for all". You can either carry on with your booking or add the outbound to your shopping cart and continue with the inbound journey.
On the third page the system asks for the dates/times for the inbound journey (if not entered earlier) and proposes adaequate connections on the fourth page. The fare offered now is for the entire journey and the system will propose (if booked three days in advance) not only the unrestricted fare but the restricted (saving) fares too. At this stage you will find a number of proposals subject to availability. In general the system will propose Spar-Preis, Dauer-Spezial and unrestricted fares. You might find special fares for First Class too. If a special fare is no longer available for the itinary chosen you still have the opportunity to change your itinery. Sometimes special fares are available in First Class and no longer available in Second Class since there is a seperate capacity controll.
On the fifth page you can make a seat reservation which is highly recommanded if you travel early in the morning or at other peak times. A seat reservations does not convert a flexible fare into a restricted fare. You may use your reservation, you are not forced to do so. Vice versa, a restricted fare does not become unrestricted if you do not make a seat reservation - you may only end up without any seat. Whenever offered you should select "Online Ticket for self printing" as the type of your ticket.
The sixth page reconfirms your itinery and asks for your preferences for the seat reservation and is self explanatory. On the seventh page you can enter your password to get your personal data on sceen. I you do not have a profile registered you should in general proceed with "Booking without registering". If you plan to travel more frequently you might wish to register for a (free) user account. The next page asks for payment and credit card details. Most important: You are asked to enter your (a) credit card numbers twice. One card is for payment, the other one is for "Online-Ticket ID number". You may, but do not need to use the same card. However: You MUST carry the card used as "Online-Ticket ID number:" on your journey, if not, your ticket is not valid and you need (at the best and on long distance trains and certain regional trains) to buy another one or (even worse) will be treated as fare avoider (on other regional trains). At the end of the process the system will produce a PDF which is your ticket and receipt. Important again: You MUST carry a printout. It is not sufficient to present the ticket on the sceen of a notebook computer.
The booking engine offers several other features (like booking a hotel or a car) - just explore it. The booking engine does - however - not allow for State Tickets or Weekend Tickets to be printed online. These can be ordered but will be dispatched by mail (so better book these at the station).
German Railways, or die Bahn (or for us older once "Bundesbahn"), as we call them, has become a constant topic in this formum. I tried to put together a general thread on Bahn and its the offers. It deals with rail travel in Germany and tickets on offer in Germany. It does not deal with any rail passes only available abroad.
This thread will always be work in progress, so I kindly ask for comments and ideas. Pls. add your specific railway questions in this thread. This will allow to make additions and alterations and to constantly update this thread as a source of information. I will include critics, ideas and proposals into the story, so pls. feel free to post, your comments are very much appreciated.
German Railways
German Railways (Bahn) is owned by the Federal Republic of Germany and owns the rolling stock, the stations and the network as such. Most (90%) of the trains are operated by German Railways, 99.9% of the long distance trains are either operated by German Railsways or by the state "carriers" of France, Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands on German tracks. Quite a few of the suburban trains are operated by other carriers due to political reasons: The suburban transit is subsidized by the German states and they gave contracts to third parties.
Verkehrsverbünde
Trains operated in sururban transit (all the red ones) are frequently operated under the fare authority of so called "Verkehrsverbünde" (public transit fare areas) in several parts of Germany. All "normal" long distance Bahn tickets are valid on these trains too, however, these "Verkehrsverbünde" allow for one ticket for all public transit in their areas. The largest ones are:
Rhein-Ruhr (Düsseldorf and the Ruhr area).
www.vrr.de
Rhein-Sieg (Cologne and Bonn).
www.vrs.de
Rhein-Main (Frankfurt, Wiesbaden).
www.rmv.de
Berlin-Brandenburg (Berlin, Potsdam, Frankfurt/Oder).
www.vbb.de
München
www.mvv-muenchen.de
Hamburg
www.hvv.de
Rhein-Neckar:
www.vrn.de
You will find a full list (in German) here:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_deutscher_Tarif-_und_Verkehrsverb%C3%BCnde
If you hold a Ticket issued by one of the members (Bahn, bus operators, tram operators, ferry operators, whatsoever) of the relevant Verkehrsverbund, you are allowed to use all public transit within the regional reach of your ticket. EG: Buy a Verkehrsverbund-Ticket from Frankfurt to Main and take the tram in Frankfurt to the station, use a regional train to Wiesbaden and use a bus in Wiesbaden to your final destination. Tickets are in general available from vending machines, in general from bus drivers and certain other outlets. All Verkehrsverbünde are managed seperately so their ticket and fare policies slightly differ. You will need to check the website.
There are certain general rules:
NEVER board without a ticket (unless it is available from the driver, in general only on busses, sometimes on trams, never on trains)
NEVER use a long distance train with a Verkehrsverbund ticket (unless is es explicitly allowed and signposted). You ticket will not be accepted.
NEVER forget to validate (stamp) your ticket if it is not prevalidated. If you are not sure, ask somebody.
To make it easier: Most Verkehrsverbünde offer day passes which in genral offer very good value for mony. Check the websites.
Trains
Bahn offers several types of trains:
The high speed ICE trains (most expensive tickets) run at up to 300 km/h on certain routes (CGN-FRA, MUC-FRA, HAM-FRA). ICE trains are easily identified since they are not only snow-white with a red band but consist of a train-set. These trains were part of a big infrastructure project in Germany introducing the high speed trains to Germany. For train spectators: There a three generations of these trains running on German tracks. All of these have 1st and 2nd class, most have a bistro or restaurant. The French Thalys operates on German tracks too.
The IC (Intercity) and EC (Eurocity) trains are sometimes a bit cheaper and sometimes slower. Intercity trains run between German cities, Eurocity trains cross borders. IC trains are in general snow-white with the same red band but are drawn (or pushed) by a locomotive. However, you will find quite a few of the EC trains being operated by foreign carriers. All of these have 1st and 2nd class. Most of them have restaurants (or similar facilities). The comfort is not always as good as on an ICE as the rolling stock is older and some of the foreign carriers use "so-la-la" stock.
Nearly all other trains are in general red. They are called Regional Express or Regionalbahn (=Regional Train) and operate in suburban transit. However, suburban trains can without any problem run over destinations of several hundred kilometers. Some of them use two-storey carriages. Sitting upstairs is quite nice, you get a good view. Most of them have 1st and 2nd class (1st class to be identified by a yellow band over the windows at the outside of the carriage). Some offer bistros or food and drink service. The S-Bahn provides the "real" suburban service and stops every one to three kilometers.
The few exceptions: There are a few D-Züge, which used to be the old express trains, still operating. Mostly they run on strange routes, you will find quite a few in the east going to Russia. Furthermore you will find certain overnight services with hotel comfort, which we will deal with seperately.
Ticket vendors
Railway tickets are offered by several vendors and this is sometimes confusing: Bahn offers tickets for sale
at the station (from an agent, certain tickets require a surcharge),
at the station (from a vending machine),
via the internet (in general cheapest) and
via travel agents (in general with a service fee).
from the conductor (on ICE and IC trains, but in general not on regional trains)
The prices for flexible (unrestricted) tickets are are the same when buying them from an agent at the station, vending machine or the internet. However, since travel agents do not receive commission, so they in general charge a service fee to the customers. Be aware: Most young passengers prefer vending machines, so prepare for queuing (and these things are not really easy to use). The same can be true for the ticket counter at the station. However, there are special counters available for First Class tickets or top tiers of the Bahn FQTV programm. Queus tend to be shorter there. HOWEVER: Flexible Tickets and tickets with Bahn-Card-Discount (however no other discounted tickets) are always available from the conductor on ICE and IC/EC trains (but only on some regional/suburban trains) with a small surchage. As a rule of the thumb: Never ever board a regional/suburban train without a ticket in a town or city. You will most likely be treated as a fare avoider. Outside the cities is CAN be different and it will be explained somewhere on/in the station, just ask one of your fellow passengers.
Types of tickets
Bahn offers several types of tickets:
German Rail Pass can be a great offer, however only available for people outside Germany. I do not have any personal experience with this tool, however there is plenty of wisdom in this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/germany/666637-german-rail-pass-explained.html
Flexible tickets in second or in first class are in general good for any train. First class requires a 50% surcharge. However, since there are different types of trains running on a single route the fare is not always identical. An IC train is cheaper compared to an ICE train on the same route. For the benefit of the greatest flexibility always buy a ticket allowing for the use of an ICE, for the the benefit of the lowest fare buy a ticket for suburban trains only.
Non Flexible tickets are available for first and second class. When buying these, you are bound to the single train booked. No changes are allowed (other than for operational reasons) and refund is limited. There are currently three types of non flexible tickets: The Sparpreis 50 gives you a 50% discount compared to the unrestricted return fare (only). This is subject to a Sunday return rule and a purchase three days in advance and subject to availability. The Sparpreis 25 gives you 25% discount compared to the unrestricted return fare (only). It requires a purchase three days in advance and is subject to availability. Further information is to be found here: http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/sparpreis.shtml. To get the Sparpreis50:
you need to book 3 days in advance
you need to book a roundtrip
there needs to be availability at their capacity-controlled rates
you need to either travel exclusively on Saturday and/or Sunday or have a Saturday night stay.The Dauer-Special is a flat fare starting at 29 Euro for a single fare. I requires purchase three days in advance and is subject to availability (Capacity controlled). In general: The earlier you buy (at the earliest three month in advance) the better the price you can get. And the more you keep away from peak hours, the better the price you get. Be aware: You do not have any chance either to change your reservation or the use these tickets on a stand by basis. They are only good for the chosen specific train.
State tickets: State tickets, or Länder-Tickets as they are called in German, are valid on suburban trains and all public transit in a German state. They offer very good value for money, are valid for all full day during off-peak time (after 9 am) and for up to five persons. For certain states, tickets for a single person are on offer too. The fare is in the range of 20 to 30 EUR. Make sure that you stick to your state (which can be complicated in the FRA area). Further information is here: http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/laender_tickets.shtml
Weekend Ticket (Schönes Wochenende): This is bummer of German transit. A ticket valid for up to five persons for a full day on more or less all public transit (not on IC and ICE trains) for 35 Euro. Valid for up to 5 persons travelling together and for parents travelling with their children aged 14 or younger on Saturdays or Sundays between midnight until 3 a.m. of the following (Sun- or Mon-) day for only 35 EUR if you buy your ticket online. Information is here: http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/swt.shtml. In theory you can take your group of five from Flensburg in the far north to Salzburg on the Austrian border.
Regional Ticket offers:
There are several regional ticket offers valid on Bahn too. This is a result of the fact, that Germany has a (a) federal system and the states subsidize the suburban traffic and (b) the fare authority for suburban traffic rests frequently with the Verkehrsverbünde (and there are more than one in a single state). However, the system is similar all over Germany and once you understood the system in one state or region, you will easily understand the system at your final destination.
Let's take the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen as an example. This is one of the biggest states and it includes well known destinations like Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn but places like Essen, Dortmund, Münster and Duisburg, too. It is the home of nine (!) Verkehrverbünde, however, most likely you will get in touch with two of them, VRS (for Cologne and Bonn) and VRR (for Düsseldorf, Duisburg, Essen, Dortmund). Given that, you have to understand the following:
The Weekend ticket is issued by BAHN and is valid on all suburban traffic in Nordrhein-Westfalen too (due to agreements between Bahn and the regional providers) but as the name suggests, only on weekends.
There are equivalent tickets (issued under authority of the state governement) valid only within the state. These are called "SchönerTagTicket NRW 5 Personen" and "SchönerTagTicket NRW Single" and are good for a full day of travel every day for a group of five or a single traveller within the state. They are sold for EUR 33,00, resp. EUR 23,00 online (http://www.nahverkehr.nrw.de/) or at vending machines and ticket outlets state-wide.
There are equivalent tickets (issued under authority of the Verkehrsverbünde) valid only within the Verkehrsverbund. Let's take the VRR (www.vrr.de) as the most prominent one as an example. They offer day tickets valid every day and good for unlimited travel again for a group of up to five and for singles valid in one city (for EUR 4,90 / 10,60), for one city and all cities surrounding (EUR 9,30 / 14,50) and for the full VRR - Region (EUR 20,30 / 26,90). (http://www.vrr.de/imperia/md/content/en/abc_e.pdf)
Similar systems are in place in other state and areas of Germany. In Bayern you will find eg. a "Bayern Ticket" valid statewide and for Munich you will find three types of group tickets with veerrrry German names: When arriving at the airport you will need a "Partner-Tageskarte-Gesamtnetz" (better do some exercise to pronounce that properly :D) taking you into town and good for travel for up to five for a full day for 18.00 Euro. The day (group) ticket offers in general great value for money and they free you from getting a ticket for every single journey and from understanding the different types of vending machines.
A real life example: Just let's assume that you, your wife and your offspring arrive in Düsseldorf from the US (on NW, LH or AB) and your hotel is in the heart of Düsseldorf and you plan to to more than one journey on public transit. You buy yoursself a VRR ticket on price level "A" valid for Düsseldorf for EUR 10,60 and enjoy a full day of travel for you and your family to your hotel and in Düsseldorf. The next day you want to see the the cathedral in Cologne. Cologne is within the state but outside the VRR region. You buy yourself a "SchönerTagTicket NRW 5 Personen" for EUR 33,00 and this is good for all travel in Düsseldorf, in Cologne and whereever you want to go within the state. The next day you want to make a harbor tour in Duisburg. You are by far more familiar with the system and you are now aware that you need a VRR ticket on price level "B" valid for Düsseldorf and Duisburg (and Mülheim, Ratingen and several other places you don't want to go). For the weekend you plan a daytrip to Frankfurt. This is neither within the state nor within the VRR region, so you need a Weekend ticket for EUR 35,00.
For all trips you have to be aware: You must avoid ICE and IC trains with these tickets (travel time to Frankfurt on suburban train doubles, 3:50 hours from Düsseldorf with one change in Koblenz, however the flexible return fare on an ICE train for a group of three is EUR 420,00) and most tickets have to be validated on your day of travel. If you are not sure, just get your ticket stamped in one of the little boxes either on a bus/tram or on or before a platform, it won't harm.
Seat Reservations
Bahn offers seat reservations for a small surcharge for all long distance trains. Coaches are numbered, and somewhere on the platform you will find the Wagenstandsanzeiger showing each train and the position of the relavent coach on the platform. Above the platform you will find big blue boards with white letters - A, B, C, D etc. The same letters are to be found on the Wagenstandsanzeiger , so just check where your coach will stop on the platform. Seat reservation can be made for "Grossraum" (coaches without compartments) or "Abteil" (coaches with six-seat or somestimes five or four-seatcompartments). Long-distance trains usually have both types. Your reservations will show "Wagen" or "WG" (coach) and "Sitz" (seat). Most likely coach Number 11 will be at the head of the train. Certain ICE trains with two units have coaches from 11 into the range of 30. In the coach you will find the seat number above the seat (Grossraum) or in front of the compartment (Abteil) and most likely you will find your specific reservation on display (eg. Frankfurt - München).
However: You can take every non-reserved seat you want. Above the seats on the wall or on the overhead compartment you will see small displays. The display will show the name of the stops where the seat is reserved. In your case it should say Hamburg-Berlin. If nothing is shown on the display the seat is not reserved. You are under no obligation to take the seat reserved, your ticket is good for any non-reserved seat in the relevant class of travel.
Luggage
Luggage can in general not be checked in. You need to schlepp it. There is no baggage service on ICE trains (the only exception I know is the AirRail codeshare service with Lufthansa from Stuttgart to Frankfurt Airport). However, IATA size carry-on fits perfectly in the racks above the seats. Even larger suitecases can be fitted up there but it is a little bit tricky depending how heavy it is. You can also store your large suitcases between the seats. There are some seats that face back to back and you can put your luggage there with no issue.
Tipping on a DB (night) train
Do not laugh, this is serious. There is no statutory need to tip a conductor on any train or any steward on a night train (some would call him/her night train conductor). I have tipped stewards in the restaurant/lounge cars (round up to next Euro + 1 or 2 Euros, depending on size of bill), but only for table service, never at the bar. If the conductor serves drinks and food at your seat in F/C or you buy anything from the trolley I would round it up to the next Euro or half Euro depending on what coins you have saving him or her and yourself the burden of looking for change.
Bahn Card
The BahnCard is a discount card available online or at Bahn ticket offices. You will need a passport-size photo; you will get a temporary card immediately from the ticket agent and the plastic card will be mailed to you. The BahnCard25 provides for a 25% discount on DB fares, including those sold at the SparPreis fares menitoned before. Theoretically this adds up to a 65% discount. For 2nd class, it costs 55EUR. BahnCard50 gives you 50% off on all standard DB fares, giving you full flexibility (interrupting your journey--domestically you must complete travel within two days, refunding your ticket, choosing your trains, etc.). For 2nd class, it costs 220 EUR. Prices are double for First Class. Students at an age of 26 or under pay half price for the card. Bahn Card gives no discount on State Tickets, Weekend Tickets or Dauer Spezial Tickets. Tickets bought with Bahn Card Discount gives you a free ride on public transit at your destination, a nice perk since you do not have to fight with the fare system at your destination.
Bahn Bonus and Bahn Comfort
Bahn Bonus and Bahn Comfort are the "frequent flyer programs" of Bahn. Bahn Bonus is available to any customer holding at least a "BonusCard Business" or any Bahn Card. Bahn Bonus gives you "Award Miles" whereas "Bahn Comfort" (only available if you hold a Bahn Card) gives you "Tier Points". If you do not plan to spend at least 1000 Euro on Bahn Tickets within the next three years, simply forget about it.
www.bahn.de
Bahn operates a sophisticated booking engine on the internet in English at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en allowing
to book tickets online
to make reservations
and to print online tickets
for most national and certain international destinations. It is a several step process but normally it works without any problems. If you are used to buying airline tickets online you will not have any problems. The booking engine is similar, offers (there are certainly more stations than airports) more choice.
On the first page you enter your Start and Destination. The system "understands" the English names for German cities, so no problem. There is a nice little feature called "via". This allows you to enter intermediate stations to "force" the system to sell you a specific routing. Entering for example "Mainz" as an intermediate station on an itinery from Frankfurt to Cologne forces the system to sell you a ticket via the scenic Rhine-Line; entering "Frankfurt" as an intermediate station on an itinery from Berlin to Cologne gives you a detour to Frankfurt (which can be an overnight) on a trip from the capital to the cathedrale. With "means of transportation" you can include or exclude ICE and/or even all long distance trains to get cheaper fares. "Travellers" allows you to enter up to five travellers, child or adult. Under "Class" you select second or first class carriage.
On the second page you select your outbound journey. If you book at least three days in advance the system offers a normal (unrestricted) fare and a restricted (savings) fare, if not, it shows only unrestrcted fares. At this stage you do not know that a restricted fare is actually available, the system does not perform a general availability check. To check, whether or not a restricted fare is available for your itinery or any other train proposed you either click on the box "Check Availability" or more easy on the link "Check Availability for all". You can either carry on with your booking or add the outbound to your shopping cart and continue with the inbound journey.
On the third page the system asks for the dates/times for the inbound journey (if not entered earlier) and proposes adaequate connections on the fourth page. The fare offered now is for the entire journey and the system will propose (if booked three days in advance) not only the unrestricted fare but the restricted (saving) fares too. At this stage you will find a number of proposals subject to availability. In general the system will propose Spar-Preis, Dauer-Spezial and unrestricted fares. You might find special fares for First Class too. If a special fare is no longer available for the itinary chosen you still have the opportunity to change your itinery. Sometimes special fares are available in First Class and no longer available in Second Class since there is a seperate capacity controll.
On the fifth page you can make a seat reservation which is highly recommanded if you travel early in the morning or at other peak times. A seat reservations does not convert a flexible fare into a restricted fare. You may use your reservation, you are not forced to do so. Vice versa, a restricted fare does not become unrestricted if you do not make a seat reservation - you may only end up without any seat. Whenever offered you should select "Online Ticket for self printing" as the type of your ticket.
The sixth page reconfirms your itinery and asks for your preferences for the seat reservation and is self explanatory. On the seventh page you can enter your password to get your personal data on sceen. I you do not have a profile registered you should in general proceed with "Booking without registering". If you plan to travel more frequently you might wish to register for a (free) user account. The next page asks for payment and credit card details. Most important: You are asked to enter your (a) credit card numbers twice. One card is for payment, the other one is for "Online-Ticket ID number". You may, but do not need to use the same card. However: You MUST carry the card used as "Online-Ticket ID number:" on your journey, if not, your ticket is not valid and you need (at the best and on long distance trains and certain regional trains) to buy another one or (even worse) will be treated as fare avoider (on other regional trains). At the end of the process the system will produce a PDF which is your ticket and receipt. Important again: You MUST carry a printout. It is not sufficient to present the ticket on the sceen of a notebook computer.
The booking engine offers several other features (like booking a hotel or a car) - just explore it. The booking engine does - however - not allow for State Tickets or Weekend Tickets to be printed online. These can be ordered but will be dispatched by mail (so better book these at the station).