Berlin: U-Bahn, S-Bahn etc tickets - ever checked?
 

Went to the S-Bahn station at Zoologischer Gardens yesterday and bought a one day travel card for €6ish.

Then caught the S7 service towards Alex Platz.

One thing I noticed was that there were no ticket barriers anywhere.
No-one checked tickets either.
Used various U and S-Bahn services throughout the day and nothing.
Same thing with the airport buses. You get on and the driver doesn't ask to see a ticket.

So, is there a point to buying tickets?

a) they don't check your pockets when leaving the supermarket, but still you pay for everything there,
b) there are only ticket inspectors when you don't have a ticket...;)

On board, there are sometimes inspectors. I'd see them less than on 1/20 trips. Personally, I consider a willful avoidance of getting a ticket (and validating it) to be akin to someone jumping the barriers and skipping payment of the fare in the US: it's a crime. In Germany, not sure but there is a large fine.

Tickets get check randomly by ticket inspectors. It will cost you 40€ when they catch you without a ticket plus the embarrassment when the whole train notices that the tourist forgot to buy a ticket ( ;-) ) . It is not a crime unless you repeatedly didn't buy a ticket.

I've only spent one day in Berlin but I did experience a U-Bahn ticket inspection - couple of plain clothes guys. It was quite funny actually, there were a couple of older German women having a snide conversation about my brother and I (we didn't let on that we understood what they were saying) and when the inspectors came along they obviously thought we were about to get done for ticketing irregularities. Our tickets were fine, theirs weren't.

I've been ticket-checked in Berlin and Frankfurt (both times I had a tageskarte). In the Berlin instance (maybe 10 years ago) they seemed to be selective - they did not check everyone, while in Frankfurt all passengers were checked.

Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, and Poland use the "honor sytem" on their public transport. They all also have plains-clothed inspectors who randomly check passenger tickets.

Is this a serious question?

Regards

As someone mentioned, you'll only be checked the one time you forget/"forget" to buy a ticket.
Over time I've got the feeling (although this might be just me) that some routes have more inspectors than others.

They check the S Bahn a lot. I wouldn't risk it. Beyond the embarrassment you will be out 40€

Berlin is still relatively "cheap"! In Stuttgart and Munich, it will cost you €60 if you are caught with an invalid (or no) ticket...

It is certainly a criminal offence, sec. 265a of the German Criminal Code.

Some routes and times have more inspectors than others. Sometimes they rotate the effort to catch ticket cheats.

Schwarzfahren is akin to speeding -- most of the time there's no one there to verify you're following the law, but when you get caught, it can be very expensive.

Yes, ticket inspectors are often not uniformed. You'll get inspected from an old man or a group of people in trendy clothing. Especially if you're heading to the airport. Best to buy a ticket.