Trains in Germany....

Colonel Sanders

Has anyone used the train service in germany? Thinking fo flying to frankfurt and then back from berlin at new years so looking at getting a train from Frankfurt to berlin.

Had a look at a website which showed journey times etc. Was confused at the price structure tho, mentioned 25% and 50% reductions available. Does anyone know how to obtain these discounts? Do I need some form of rail card and will the fact i opnly want a one way trip influence my fare? Also what kind of fare am i looking at and is there an online discount?

P. Breathnach

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/international_guests.shtml

Dig around in the menus and the discount schemes are explained. At first glance, I don't think you qualify.

finbarrk

Train travel is expensive in Germany. I went Frankfurt-Dortmund return and it was around €100. I'm not sure about those discounts, maybe try and buy the ticket and see what happens.

Mr. Presentable

I've never used it but I have heard

trains in Germany run like you'd expect in Italy, while trains in Italy run like you'd expect in Germany. Trains in Italy are great, in my experience, so where does that leave Deutch rail?

masseyno9

Any german trains i was on this summer were bang on time (5 or 6 i think)
Seriously, once the station clock ticked over to the departure minute it was off. ICE trains (german version of TGV) are cool too, get one of them, much faster.

Think the discounts are for oap's students, kids etc. I remmeber one of my mates bought a 50% discount and some local started giving out to him, his excuse...."why is the button there if i can't buy it?"

Tiesto

They have the sparpreis 25% and the sparpreis 50%.
These apply to return trips only..
And only a limited number of seats (but if you book a couple of weeks in advance, should have no problem)

If your return trip involves a friday night stopever.. then you get a 25% discount.
If it includes a saturday night , you get a 50% discount..

If it includes both friday and saturday, then obviously you dont get 75%, but the 50%.

Whenever I travel anywhere in germany, i use this offer..
Makes the price very reasonable..

ian_m

i flew to frankfurt and got the train to freiburg a couple of times. it isn't cheap but unlike ireland you can get almost anywhere on a train. which is handy. the ICE trains are nice and fast.
you get a discount online.... http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/international_guests.shtml

H2G2

Its really easy, I do it all the time and you can print your own e-ticket. You don’t need a BahnCard. The steps are simple: (1) Just go to the web site and create an account by clicking "first time registration". You will need an account to get a e-ticket. (2) Do a search and select your trains and (3) Buy the ticket – probably no discounts apply as you won’t have a BahnCard. There is no mystery to it. Its all explained here
http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/international_guests.shtml

Things to remember: 1. Reserve a seat (it only costs a few euro) as it will make all the difference if the train is busy, as they tend to be. 2. You must have the credit card used for booking with you on the train to validate your e-ticket.

Also a word about Frankfurt:
You can get the train from Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt (M) Flughafen, no need to go into the city itself. Be careful in Frankfurt airport to get to the correct train station – there is 3: Long Distance trains, Regional trains and Metro. It will be Long Distance trains (Fernbahnhof) for Berlin.

Aer Lingus flights arrive in Terminal 2. You need to get the Skytrain to T1 and follow signs for Train Stations. Go to “Fernbahnhof” and not “Regionalbahnhof”. Easy way is to go upstairs and follow signs for Sheraton hotel and cross over road in covered walkway following signs for Fernbahnhof.

jester77

As the others have said, plus if you book a ticket for a specific train as opposed to a flexible ticket you'll get a discount. But the ticket will only be valid for the journey printed on it, miss that train and you'll have to buy a new one.

Colonel Sanders

Much appreciated lads, thanks.