What is the difference between first class and second class on the german rail pass?

1* Slightly more comfort.
2* Slightly more space.
3* Considerably fewer passengers.
4* Considerably more expensive.

ditto

5* Fewer drunk and rowdy teenagers.

>5* Fewer drunk and rowdy teenagers.

Take an ICE at noon. You will get drunk, loud and merry seniors instead. In the 1st class as well (or especially?)

I admit my experience is limited to very late hours (we ride the last departure of the day if we can). But we've never encountered any seniors that were out of line.

The difference is such that people are willing to pay much more to ride first class - if they did not the railways would not have it.

many more empty seats IME in first class if you just hop on trains without reservations

2nd class i would make reservations - esp if a couple wanted seats together

<i>many more empty seats IME in first class</i>

Up to a point. On some heavily-traveled business commuter runs, such as CGN-BRU, the evening trains are packed, even in First Class.

The first time I rode trains in Germany was in the eighties on a business trip. The company made the arrangements and paid for my tickets, which were in first class. I rode alone in an entire rail car one Sunday night from Offenburg to Heidelberg.

Then I discovered that first class was not much, if any, better that second class. On my next business trip, even though the company was paying, I rode in a six person, 2nd class compartment (side aisle car) with five Germans who were happily pointing out the sites to me.

I prefer the culturally richer experience in 2nd class.

I rode alone in an entire rail car one Sunday night from Offenburg to Heidelberg.&gt;

Exactly why i love first class - different strokes for different folks

i'd rather be sitting in an isolated aisle and window seat with my bags on the seat opposite me than being wedged between others as likelier in 2nd class.

And there are cultural interactions even in first class - like this year talking to some Saudi Arabian prince and his German business contact - that was interesting.

My family (5 of us) had a Eurostar car to ourselves in 2003. The cabin crew outnumbered us, and the service (champagne breakfast) was excellent!

Folks looking for seats together without reserving - just hopping on trains that don't require reservations like most in Germany will find a much better chance of sitting together IME in first class - 2nd class often it seems has some single seats available but not often 3 or more together.

And on regional trains in Germany i've regularly seen swarms of school kids jump on board for a few stops, causing one to feel like they are back in a high school lunchroom.

That said in general 2nd class in Germany is quite good - first class just a bit gooder IMO

On one occasion last March and again in August, we were glad we had reservations: the 8:21 from Bonn to Koblenz, and a 17:00-ish departure (don't remember the time) from D&uuml;sseldorf to Amsterdam.

In both cases, the train was jam-packed with businessmen - and on the AMS train, our reserved table had been usurped by a party that had boarded in K&ouml;ln - so we had to summon the steward to shift them into widely-dispersed seats.

As per Robes' experience - even first class can be quite full at times and as optional reservations are only a few euros then for longish traips like Frankfurt-amsterdam you may want to make them - even though at times the car will be practically empty when you claim your reserved seats IME - but you never know.