BrianJ

Hi everyone,

Next week, I need to take a train from Frankfurt to Munich in Germany. There are many ICE trains to choose from that run daily. I wanted to ask about the discount tickets that DE Bahn offers on their website (I save a little over 40 euros if I purchase online now). Will this discount still be available if I were to purchase it an hour or so before the train leaves FRA? Are these discounted tickets only available if one does an advance purchase? I ask because, as much as I think (and hope) my plane will arrive on time, if, for whatever reason, the plane arrives late, and I miss that train, my ticket will be useless, and I will have just blown 40 euro (or can you exchange even discount tickets for another train?).

If the discount is not available at the time of purchase shortly before the train leaves, what do you suggest: Purchase early and save and risk missing the train (the train is due to leave about 1.5 hours after my plane is scheduled to land) or just go to FRA and purchase the ticket there.

Thanks in advance!

obscure2k

Please continue to follow this thread in the FT Germany Forum.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

supermasterphil

The discount is just available if you book now. It's like at a LCC, very likely to be gone soon. The tickets is not changeable, meaning, you can just use it on the one train that you've booked. If you miss it and it's not the fault of Deutsche Bahn, you are out of luck.

Maybe somebody else can add more information.

Tenerife

If you are meaning the "Herbst Spezial" (Fall Special) tickets - the promotion has been extended up to Dec. 2008 - they must be bought no later than 3 days before you are planning to travel. They can only be used on the exact train for which they have been booked, and as supermasterphil said, if your missing the train is not the fault of the Deutsche Bahn, then you have lost your money!
Good news is that the latest reports about the ongoing union and management "discussions" say that there probably will be no strike started next week. Wait and see! (Oh course, if they do strike, you would get your money back)

Aviatrix

But AFAIK it's first-come first-served with limited availability... so you may not necessarily be able to get the special fare three days before departure.

For the OP - unless you're in a rush it's probably advisable to buy your ticket for a later train. It's better to hang around sipping coffee for an hour than to miss your train and have to buy a full-fare ticket. 1.5 hours should normally be enough, especially if you're arriving in T1 (you have to allow an extra 15 minutes or so for T2), but it's still a bit of a gamble. The alternative would be to buy a full-fare ticket which is valid on any train.

BrianJ

Thanks for the suggestions. I went ahead and booked myself a ticket, but am a little confused as to my seat reservation. For seat reservations, does DE Bahn assign me a specific seat, similar to what an airline would do? If so, how do I identify it? I see under my REservierung,

I have assigned Wg. [number], Pl. [number]

Does that refer to a seat? What does Wg and Pl stand for? I think I understand the rest of it, "Gang" means "aisle", "nichtraucher" no smoking, and Grossraum means, I assume, the coach, and not a compartment (correct me if I'm wrong).

Thanks again!

roberto99

Wg. = Wagen/Car

Pl. = Sitzplatz/Seat

Aviatrix

Coaches are numbered, and somewhere on the platform you will find the Wagenstandsanzeiger - a plan for each train using that platform showing you which coach will stop where. If you look up you will see big boards with letters - A, B, C, D etc - above the platform; you will see the same letters on the Wagenstandsanzeiger so just check where your coach is in relation to the letter boards and then go to the right area to await the arrival of your train. (Don't worry if you're in the wrong area, though - as you can always walk along inside the train to get to the right coach)

Grossraum means it's an open coach - as opposed to one that has been divided into separate six-seat compartments. Long-distance trains usually have both types.

brp

I'm still somewhat confused by how to book the discount tickets (the 25% Savings and 50% Savings tickets). We're looking to get tickets for 16-17 February. This is a Saturday/Sunday, so it should qualify for either of those. I don't see a link (or any entry in the drop down boxes) to try and book these discount tickets. When I do a search for the itineraries (Munich to Füssen) I see standard rate tickets. Is there a way to specify that I'm looking for the discount tickets...or does the lack of any response with a discount mean that there are none available for those dates?

Cheers.

Aviatrix

I've just tried this for you. A discounted fare (of EUR 35.00) will come up after you've entered the return sector. When you enter the outbound sector you will only see the full fare as the one-way fare (21.40) is less than the cheapest discounted fare. Once you've entered the return a second fare column will appear with the discounted fare.

soitgoes

For Munich to Füssen, you may wish to consider the BayernTicket, especially if you aren't traveling alone. http://www.bahn.de/p/view/internatio..._tickets.shtml
I think all of the trains to Füssen from Munich are RE or RB, both of which can be used with the BayernTicket, which costs 27EUR for up to five people for one day of travel and includes local public transport in Munich, etc. on the travel day. For one person, the ticket costs 19EUR.

brp

Thanks for the suggestion. I was looking at some similar tickets, but they have the restriction of 9 a.m. until 3 a.m. of the following day. For our plans, we want to leave on Saturday morning (16.02.08) on the ~7 a.m. train. The return would be OK, and we have to weigh the use of the S-bahn in Munich into the equation.

OK, maybe I misread this. Can someone help interpret the translation:

This ticket is valid from Monday to Sunday for one day of your choice from 9 a.m. until 3 a.m. of the following day (on bank holidays for the whole day)on Saturday and Sunday and bank holidays from from 0 a.m. until 3 a.m. of the following day.

Does this mean that if I buy the ticket Saturday that it is good all day Saturday (from, basically, 12:01 AM) until 3 AM on Sunday...meaning that it would cover the 7 AM Saturday train?

And a ticket purchased for the Sunday return would be valid from the first thing Sunday morning (12:01AM) until 3 AM Monday morning?

Edit: Thanks again soitgoes. I think I was editing while you were replying to the par I hadn't even asked yet

Cheers.

brp

I just tried this (from www.bahn.de). I did see the EUR 21.40 on the outbound. When I enter the return, though, I see the doubled price of EUR 42.80, as opposed to 35 (this is for the outbound at 06:51 and midday return ~12:00 or ~1:00). Perhaps this is already a discounted fare.

Also, we are looking at 1st class, and this is showing at EUR 34.20 one way and EUR 68.40 return. I know that when I experimented with a BahnCard 50% reduction in the menu, the price was half of this, so I thought that this was the full price.

Is there something I should be doing differently on this? I'm just entering the city pairs, dates and time of day to get these figures?

Cheers.

soitgoes

There is no time restriction on weekends and holidays. Leaving at 7AM on Saturday is no problem. The Bayern Ticket allows use not just of the S-Bahn, but also the bus, trams, and U-Bahn in Munich.

Track

I think you are confusing various Deutsche Bahn and Bavarian local reduced-fare offers. The 25% and 50% reductions are for people who have a Bahn card (BahnCard25, which costs 55 Euros per year for 2nd class and 110 in first, or BahnCard50, which costs 220/440 Euros, but here family members get an additional BahnCard50 for half the normal price). With these cards you can book tickets on the Internet just by clicking on "Bahncard25" or "Bahncard50" and get the appropriate fare-reductions. The normal price for Munich-Fuessen in 2nd class is indeed 21.40 Euros, and there is no reduction for advance purchase or return trip. Since you want to travel on a weekend (Saturday or Sunday), you could get a Schoenes Wochenende ticket for 35 Euros in second class, which allows up to 5 people to ride anywhere in Germany on local trains. Since one poster asked on the Internet for a return on the same weekend day, the computer showed a return fare of 35 Euros, which is the Schoenes Wochenende fare. Since you will be staying in Bavaria, you could also get a Bayernticket for 27 Euros (also for up to 5 people), good any day after 9 A.M. and all day on either Saturday or Sunday (valid up to early morning the next day, as one poster noted). Both these weekend tickets are for 2nd class only, which isn't bad at all, by the way, although the trains may be crowded with winter sports types.
The only reduced fare tickets for advance and/or return purchases are the Spezial tickets (29, 39, 49 or 69 Euros on long-distance trains, with limited contingents of tickets at each price and only in second class), but this doesn't apply to the local Munich-Fuessen trains.
If you want to go on Friday and return on Saturday or Sunday and you are at least two people, one Bayernticket on Friday (after 9 A.M.) and another one on Saturday or Sunday would be the only cheap possibility. Unless you are returning the same day, you would need 2 Bayerntickets in any case, even if you went on Saturday and returned on Sunday.
I hope this clarifies things a bit.
Enjoy your trip.