European Rail Travel - German trains 29€ discount tickets: Can I board from a different station?

I am planning to do a trip from Prague to Budapest and I can get a 29€ ticket from Deutsche bahn if I start at Berlin or Dresden (Berlin-Budapest night train Metropole), but not offered if my starting point isn't in Germany. But I would like to board the same train from Prague.

Is it possible?

Two problems:
1) I am fairly sure that the terms&conditions say that if you haven't occupied your allocated place within ~15minutes of the train leaving your ticketed departure station, then the conductor can sell it to someone else. May not be too problematic if you only have a seat, but could be very problematic if you have a couchette or sleeper, and the train is full.

2) The online self-print tickets sold by DB rely on the journey starting in Germany, where the conductor will have the right equipment to check and validate the ticket. Once the train gets into Czech, the conductors may not have the right equipment, and you may have problems as your ticket hasn't been (and now can't be) properly verified.

If you want to start your journey in Czech, then ideally you would purchase your ticket from Czech Railways, not DB. It seems that the CD eShop (https://www.cd.cz/eshop/) will sell tickets on daytime trains for Prague-Budapest from as little as 500Czk (19€) ('SporoTiket Evropa') - but for some reason it doesn't offer tickets on the Metropol, nor on R719 (which leaves Prague an hour earlier, and arrives in Budapest at the same time as the Metropol, thereby giving you more time to sleep).

Incidentally, if you are going to take the night-train, if you can possibly afford a couchette, it will be much better than just taking a seat.

Two problems:
1) I am fairly sure that the terms&conditions say that if you haven't occupied your allocated place within ~15minutes of the train leaving your ticketed departure station, then the conductor can sell it to someone else.

Not quite correct. The rule is that if a seat has not been occupied within 15 minutes then the reservation lapses and the seat becomes a non-reserved seat which anybody can sit in.

2) The online self-print tickets sold by DB rely on the journey starting in Germany, where the conductor will have the right equipment to check and validate the ticket.

Not correct. You can buy online tickets for journeys which don't start in Germany (I regularly buy tickets on bahn.de for journeys starting in the Netherlands). And there is a difference between validating tickets (i.e., turning a non-valid ticket into a valid one), and checking their validity... and it's the latter that happens when staff run the scanner over them. Tickets are valid regardless of whether or not they have been run through the scanner, and I've been on several journeys where my tickets never got scanned - e.g., when I boarded a train in the Netherlands and got off just across the German border.

Once the train gets into Czech, the conductors may not have the right equipment, and you may have problems as your ticket hasn't been (and now can't be) properly verified.

I don't think Czech staff have any way of knowing whether or not a ticket got scanned by their German colleagues (and I very much doubt that they care - all they care about is whether or not you have a ticket that is valid for THEIR part of the journey). If they're the same as Dutch and Danish train staff they will just look at the ticket and then clip or stamp it - no electronic checks involved.

Whether or not ticket rules would allow you to start your journey in Prague is another matter. I don't know if Czech stations have ticket barriers (I will know next week!), if they do then you may have problems getting onto the platform with your Dresden-originating ticket.

Not correct. You can buy online tickets for journeys which don't start in Germany (I regularly buy tickets on bahn.de for journeys starting in the Netherlands). And there is a difference between validating tickets (i.e., turning a non-valid ticket into a valid one), and checking their validity... and it's the latter that happens when staff run the scanner over them. Tickets are valid regardless of whether or not they have been run through the scanner, and I've been on several journeys where my tickets never got scanned - e.g., when I boarded a train in the Netherlands and got off just across the German border.

Sorry, this is not quite correct. Or rather, it is correct for Germany/Netherlands (or Belgium, etc), but it is not fully correct for Germany/Czech (or Croatia, etc).

Bahn.de will sell you online self-print tickets for Germany-Netherlands, or Netherlands-Germany no problem. It will also sell you an online ticket for Germany-Czech - but not for Czech-Germany. If you try to buy such a ticket, it will insist on having it delivered by post (and the self-print option is greyed out).

AFAIK, this is because the conductors in Czech aren't equipped with the machines to read the self-print tickets. For Germany-Czech this isn't a problem, as the tickets are checked electronically by the DB staff in Germany, who then punch the printout, so the Czech staff can then rely on the fact the printout has been punched correctly. However, going the other way, the Czech staff can't verify the ticket when you board the train. (I'd assumed the opposite was true for the Netherlands and that the Dutch staff were able to check the tickets - but maybe they're just more relaxed and don't mind not being able to check them...)

One exception to this is the CNL sleepers from Prague to Amsterdam/Copenhagen/Zurich. For these, bahn.de will sell self-print tickets (even for the Czech-Germany direction) - I assume this is because these trains have DB staff and scanners on them for the whole journey, and so checking the self-print tickets isn't a problem.

If you check the Metropol on bahn.de, you can get self-print tickets for Berlin-Budapest, but not Budapest-Berlin... So, if you board the Berlin-Budapest Metropol once it's entered Czech, then as I mentioned above, the conductors may not have the right equipment, and you may have problems as your ticket hasn't been (and now can't be) properly verified. I haven't personally tried this though*, so you may also find that the conductors are willing to accept a ticket that hasn't been previously stamped by DB (or that the DB staff and scanner are still on board at that point) - but it's not a risk I'd want to take in the middle of the night...


I don't think Czech staff have any way of knowing whether or not a ticket got scanned by their German colleagues (and I very much doubt that they care - all they care about is whether or not you have a ticket that is valid for THEIR part of the journey). If they're the same as Dutch and Danish train staff they will just look at the ticket and then clip or stamp it - no electronic checks involved.

As mentioned above, the DB staff will punch the print-out, so the Czech staff can (if they want) check that the ticket has been verified.


Whether or not ticket rules would allow you to start your journey in Prague is another matter. I don't know if Czech stations have ticket barriers (I will know next week!), if they do then you may have problems getting onto the platform with your Dresden-originating ticket.
I also don't know what the detailed ticket rules say (the summary Angebotskonditionen on bahn.de say the border crossing has to be on the booked DB train - but it's not clear if this means you have to cross the border on the booked train, or simply that you can't cross the border on any other train...) However, in practice I think the issue is likely to be whether the Czech staff are willing/able to accept a self-print ticket from bahn.de that hasn't been punched in Germany.

I don't know about Praha hl. n., but I don't think I've encountered barriers or been asked for tickets when entering other medium/large stations in Czech.

* At some point, I will have to try doing such a journey with two copies of the printout. I will show the first one in Germany and get it punched - but produce only the second (untouched) one when tickets are checked across the border - and see what the result is....

PS Just to clarify: all my comments are made assuming a self-print ticket purchased from bahn.de. If you had a 'traditional' paper ticket (eg: purchased from a counter or ticket machine in Germany, or even ordered by post from bahn.de) then I doubt you would have a problem with what you propose. The Czech Railways staff should have no problem in accepting a 'traditional' ticket - and they probably would not query why it hadn't been stamped in Germany. (However, if you had a sleeper or couchette berth, that would still be at risk if you hadn't occupied it within the ~15 minute deadline, and another passenger wanted to pay to have it).

Not correct. You can buy online tickets for journeys which don't start in Germany (I regularly buy tickets on bahn.de for journeys starting in the Netherlands). And there is a difference between validating tickets (i.e., turning a non-valid ticket into a valid one), and checking their validity... and it's the latter that happens when staff run the scanner over them. Tickets are valid regardless of whether or not they have been run through the scanner, and I've been on several journeys where my tickets never got scanned - e.g., when I boarded a train in the Netherlands and got off just across the German border.

You can't get online tickets in several countries, unfortunately. You are right about the scanning process - doesn't it just check that the ticket hasn't been cancelled (since most tickets can be cancelled up to the day before travel), and that the credit card is the one used for purchase?

Whether or not ticket rules would allow you to start your journey in Prague is another matter. I don't know if Czech stations have ticket barriers (I will know next week!), if they do then you may have problems getting onto the platform with your Dresden-originating ticket.

No barriers in CZ. I believe that the only country that faffs around with insisting on the "right" boarding and alighting stations is good old GB (maybe France too?). I know I have never had a problem in Germany, for example.

You can't get online tickets in several countries, unfortunately. You are right about the scanning process - doesn't it just check that the ticket hasn't been cancelled (since most tickets can be cancelled up to the day before travel), and that the credit card is the one used for purchase?

To be pedantic, not "the card used for purchase" but "the card stored in the traveller's account as their account ID". And this can be a credit card, or a debit card, or a German national identity card (Personalausweis).

I always use my Amex card for payment, but my account ID is my German debit card... and it's my German debit card that I need to present with my ticket, not the (UK-issued) Amex card.

You can't get online tickets in several countries, unfortunately. You are right about the scanning process - doesn't it just check that the ticket hasn't been cancelled (since most tickets can be cancelled up to the day before travel), and that the credit card is the one used for purchase?

That's a very good question - what actually happens in the scanning process? (ie: which information is being checked against what?) Is the scanner simply looking up and checking the ticket details in an online database somewhere? But if so, you should theoretically only need to present a 6-digit PNR - but in fact, the self-print tickets have all sorts of complex printing on them (which is presumably some form of anti-fraud system). But if the tickets aren't checked in realtime against a central database, then a fraudster could presumably print out a valid ticket ticket - then cancel it, but still travel on it... So maybe both forms of checking (against what's embedded in the printout, and against a database) are going on?

As Aviatrix has said, the system also checks the 'account ID', not the payment card. (I normally use my BahnCard as ticket ID (as I always have to have it with me anyway to prove eligibility for discounts) - and it's not a credit card at all).

Thank you all very much for your detailed answers. ;)

I checked now and it's not possible to buy online self-print tickets for this connection. So I'm going to order "standard" tickets from Dresden by mail (without sleeping berth reservation) and I guess that I won't have any problem with Czech conductors, if I understood you well.

I checked now and it's not possible to buy online self-print tickets for this connection.

That struck me as rather strange - as I have definitely used self-print tickets on this train in the past - but I realise always coming from a connecting train within Germany. And checking on bahn.de, it seems that you can get self-print tickets for this train when using connecting services (eg: Potsdam-Berlin-Budapest), but not if your journey is solely on the Metropol (eg: Berlin-Budapest). This does seem to suggest that DB conductors are able to check self-print tickets, and mark them as valid for non-DB conductors; but non-DB conductors (in Czech, etc) on their own can't check/accept such tickets.

So I'm going to order "standard" tickets from Dresden by mail (without sleeping berth reservation) and I guess that I won't have any problem with Czech conductors, if I understood you well.
Disclaimer: I don't know what the ticket terms&conditions say in detail, and I haven't actually tried this myself.
However, if you have a 'standard' ticket, then I guess this shouldn't be a problem. (As a passenger might have legitimately missed a ticket check between Dresden and Prague, if for example they were in the toilet when the conductor came round, or the conductor was too busy to get through the entire train. Although as it's ~2hrs between Dresden and Prague the conductor would probably come through more than once...)

As discussed above, it seems Czech Railways don't sell tickets online for this train, but it would be interesting to find out what their 'walk up' fare for Prague-Budapest is (just in case it is not much more than DB's Spar-Night fare from Dresden). If you email info@cd.cz they should be able to tell you.

And as mentioned in my first post, if I was taking this train I would definitely take at least a couchette. (Although that further complicates the ticketing question).

As discussed above, it seems Czech Railways don't sell tickets online for this train, but it would be interesting to find out what their 'walk up' fare for Prague-Budapest is (just in case it is not much more than DB's Spar-Night fare from Dresden). If you email info@cd.cz they should be able to tell you.

And as mentioned in my first post, if I was taking this train I would definitely take at least a couchette. (Although that further complicates the ticketing question).

I already checked the price from Czech Railways and it's about 60 euros for regular ticket and 20 euros supplement for couchette (so it's a double price in comparison to DB and another reason of why I thought about doing this).

You're right about a couchette, so I'm considering going to Dresden from Prague with morning bus (10€) and then boarding there normally with a couchette ticket. It would be cheaper and I'll have time to do some sightseeing in Dresden as a bonus.

I guess its irrelivant now, since it would only apply to an eticket: but interestingly I remember reading exactly this on ČD's website, though I can't find it now. When buying Czech e-ticket your journey has to start in the Czech Repbulic, since international conductors can't scan the tickets. So you can buy Prague-Copenhagen or Prague-Copenhagen-Prague, but not just Copenhagen-Prague and you can't frist board in Berlin. They sounded pretty strickt about this as I recall.
And in this case, if everyone else's tickets get stamped by the Germans, and then in the Czech Republic before the train reaches Prague, it may be noticeable that yours isn't. This could be a problem.


The paper ticket is a safe bet. Still, it seems like buying a ticket from ČD would be a better idea, or do you know that it would be more expensive? ČD has much better customer service than DB.


Regarding cutting a trip short: Aside from the Brits, the Hungarians and the Austrians (on regional routes) are the only ones who've checked my ticket when leaving the platform. The later two only care that your ticket takes you far enough, and really don't care if you're throwing away further legs of the trip.

I already checked the price from Czech Railways and it's about 60 euros for regular ticket and 20 euros supplement for couchette (so it's a double price in comparison to DB and another reason why I was thinking to do this).

You're right about a couchette, so I'm considering going to Dresden from Prague with morning bus (10€) and then boarding there normally with a couchette ticket. It would be cheaper and I'll have time to do some sightseeing in Dresden as a bonus.

CD sells discount tickets for this train, but available only at a CD office (not online):

http://www.cd.cz/en/mezinarodni-cestovani/jizdenka/slevy-evropa/-8984/

ticket + couchette = 39/49 euros for 6/4-berth compartment

CD sells discount tickets for this train, but available only at a CD office (not online):

http://www.cd.cz/en/mezinarodni-cestovani/jizdenka/slevy-evropa/-8984/

ticket + couchette = 39/49 euros for 6/4-berth compartment

Thanks for this info!

Do you maybe know if the tickets for that price could be bought 2-3 days before the trip? (or are they usually already sold out?)

"The number of spaces at this attractive price is limited; they are sold from the start of advance sales until sold out. Tickets for special prices are not intended for transporting groups of passengers.

We generally start advance sales of these places 2 months prior to the train’s scheduled departure; for selected connections the term of advance sales can be up to 6 months."


So, it just depends on when you want to travel -- could sell out a couple weeks in advance, or could be available on the day of travel. Just check when you get to Prague.

And I should make a slight correction to myself: the tickets can only be purchased at INTERNATIONAL CD counters (mezinárodni pokladni). There are five in Praha, at the main station (hlavni nadrazi), Holesovice, Masarykovo, Liben, and Smichov.

I thought if there's some deadline when they withdraw those "early" tickets no matter how many are sold, but it seems there's none.

Thank you very much for your help ^

It seems like they are available up to the day of travel if there are not enough sold...so good luck!

BTW, I was in Belgrade this summer for the first time and it was one of my favorite places I've ever been!

Thanks again :)

I'm very glad to hear that.
This will be my second visit to Prague, beautiful city, but being there first time with high school excursion almost 10 yrs ago, and being 16 I didn't quite do a justice to the city. This time, traveling with gf, I'll put a little less focus on beautiful girls and litres of fantastic beer :D