We will be traveling to Berlin from Amsterdam and I would like to book my tickets on line. Has anyone done this and how much of a difference is there between first and second class? Also, I can't seem to figure out some of the other initials after each train choice (ICE, RE, IC). How important is it to book in advance or can we do it when we get to Amsterdam? Any help is appreciated.

You can do it when you get there without problem but can save a lot potentially by going to www.bahn.de to see if there are SPAR -online discount fares that can be ridiculously cheap even though they are sold in limited numbers so act early (60 days when they come on)

ICE InterContinentalExpress - the crackest and fastest of German trains

RE regional train - much much slower

IC InterCity - fast but not high-speed train

check also www.ns.nl - Dutch rail web portal

>ICE InterContinentalExpress
That would be the direct train Europe to America. . Well, it's only in between cities. RE is the regional express, that doesn't stop everywhere. RB is a regional train.

If you are interested in taking the non_ICE connection between A-dam and Berlin I've done that at least four times.

I have yet to see it filled up but I've always taken the morning departure.

There is little difference between First and Second on those trains IMO.

If you are going to be in A-dam for a day or so prior to departure I would wait and get the tickets there.

Dookie:

I've taken the non ICE A'dam-Berlin train too - last Jan last time and, of course i had a pass, changed trains in Hanover to an ICE and got to Berlin about 30 mins quicker than if i had stayed on the other train. Only useful if you have a pass however i believe. But yes the A'dam-Berlin train is rarely crowded in my experience either

Unfortunately, the saving on tickets bought from DB is not possible if the train originates in Amsterdam.

I looked at the Dutch rail website and was doing fine until I tried to find out ticket prices. That part of the website as near as I could tell is in Dutch, which is hard for me to read!!

I did figure out that the date makes a difference as does the degree of desired flexibility. The cheapest ticket I could finagle out of that thing was a mid flex ticket for €74 2nd class. Now just what you have to do for that price I could not figure out. (Stand on your head maybe?)

Hopefully someone who knows the Dutch website better than I, or one who can read Dutch with full comprehension, can help out.

ICE by the way means Inter City Express, and there are now at least 2 subtypes:
ICE Tilt and ICE Sprinter which may also tilt.

EC trains are euro city trains and IC are inter city trains within the same country. I have not detected much operational difference in the two. outside of Germany.

Within each country therer are many trains with local designations.
Locals usually stop a lot.

<The cheapest ticket I could finagle out of that thing was a mid flex ticket for €74 2nd class>

therefor someone going round trip would find the Germany-Benelux railpass to be nearly cheaper if this was the cheapest - $110 each way for a semi flex and for $240 Saverpass you could get five unlimited travel days, fully flexible on any train, out of a two month period.

I kept fooling with that thing, just clicking buttons with Dutch captions, and I got a price of €29 for July 3.

Don't ask me how I did it. I tried to take it a step further and go to the point where I could print the ticket, but that, too, was in Dutch and I bailed at that point. I was not sure what to do next.

I do know that the calendar that I saw had shaded dates for highest prices and the grey dates, if booked far enough in advance, were where I found the cheaper ones.

I am not sure why the site is not in English! I started in English, but when I got down to buying the ticket, it all turned to Dutch. Perhaps I missed something.

espinach:

Bob has graciously as usual done the footwork and you can see how huge savings are possible so try.

The lowest I could get is 58€ roundtrip.
Dutch is just a kind of German "baby talk" ;-). No problem reading (understanding) everything. But true, it's basically self explaining.

The price I got was one way.
We never did address the 2nd class vs 1st class question.

I have booked first class a few times when I had a discount card of some type.

In Germany, the difference was minimal other than that the car was not very crowded.

In Austria, the same was true. In 1st class there was a little more space, etc.

To my perceptions, the difference between 1st and 2nd on the trains is not as great as between coach class and business class on a trans Atlantic flight.

On the airplane, business class is a different world. On the train, just a slightly improved same world.

If you get the big saver fare, you ride 2nd class.

If someone does not read German, fighting the Dutch on that website is a chore and a half. I looked again, and still did not find a way to go through the ticket buying steps in English.

I messed with that website some more.
The €29 fare is not widely available, just a few very specific days. You must check each day for the best price on THAT particular day.

Thank you so much to all of you. You answered all of my questions so well. Fodorites are really great!

Well, we did NOT tell you how to buy a cheap ticket from Amsterdam to Berlin, and print it yourself.

I suppose if I really wanted the ticket, I could keep clicking and eventually figure out how to get one.

The German site is fairly easy, I think.

I will tackle it in a few days and report back to the forum.