German Rail Pass Questions
 

I'm looking at purchasing the German Rail Pass off of the bahn.de site. I am looking at the 4 day pass. Now here are my quetions:

1. If we take 2 trips (Hamburg - Bremen; Breman - Hamburg) in one day is this considered 1 day of travel even though there are actually 2 trips?

2. Has anyone ordered this pass. The site states that one should allow time for the tickets to arrive via mail. Should we allow 2 weeks, 2 months???

Thanks so much,
Elaine

Check into the Landkarte ticket options. They generally provide reduced rate same day transportation within the same region on local trains for up to 5 people for about 25 - 30 Euros.


http://www.bahn.de/international/vie..._tickets.shtml

That would be good, but we are also planning on going from Frankfurt to Hamburg; Hamburg to Berlin; and then Berlin back to Frankfurt, so I don't think this would be the best option, do you?

A rail pass gives unlimited rail travel on the specified days. You can make two trips or a dozen train journeys. You can spend 24 hours going to and fro on trains if that's what you want to do. There is no limit to the number of trains you get.

You can also buy your pass in the U.S. and guaranteeably have it in a few days - prices should be similar i think. For lots of German trains and railpasses: www.seat61.com, www.ricksteves.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id9.html. Most U.S. companies have no shipping fee if ordered more than a few days in advance.

Thanks so much for the info. That's exactly what I needed to know.

When you get into Frankfurt, have someone at the Bahn window at the airport stamp the date onto your pass before you board the train.

Thanks for the information, Dutch. I have looked at the sites Palenque suggested, and they all appear to be more expensive than the bahn.de site. I noticed that one could purchase the rail passes upon arrival at certain rail stations. Does anyone know where I could find a list to these rail stations, and if there happens to be one at our initial destination, it would seem to be best just to wait and purchase our rail passes as soon as we arrive.

Hi el,

AFAIK, if you purchase railpasses in Europe, you will pay at least 10% more than if you buy them in the US.

You have looked for discount fares at www.bahn.de and compared the cost to railpasses?

((I))

If you are flying into Frankfurt, you can buy the rail pass there, but I think it is only the 5 day pass that is available.

As Ira mentioned, you can buy discounted fares at the bahn site, but then you are limited to specific trains and times.

For some reason only 5- and 10-day German railpasses are sold at a some large stations - why not the 4- and other day passes? Beats me

If purchasing in Europe add in 3% for credit card conversion fees.

Prices in $s and on bahn.de can vary periodically due to currency fluctuations - what may be the case today may not be the case next week.

Q- if buying the discounted SPAR type fares on bahn.de do those fares include a seat reservation or must you pay extra for that? i.e. is it a ticket that lets you sit in any empty seat?

thanks

and yes to me the total flexibility of the pass - just to hop any train any time is priceless. (Only exceptions are the very few ICESprinter trains on the Frankfurt-Hamburg route that leave a few times a day and designed for business types - there is a small surcharge to use those with a pass - but you would never have to take those.

German railpasses are also valid for 100% covered travel on K-D boats on the Rhine (www.k-d.com)

Ira, do you mean if we purchase point to point tickets in advance? These would be ok, but I don't want to lock into specific times of travel in case our palns change.

When I looked at the bahn site under German Rail pass, it shows that a 4 day Twin 1st class ticket is 370Euros. This converts (at today's rate) as $480.55 (Total for 2 people to travel). This is about $100 below the RailEurope site.

Am I reading this right?

Palenque & Dutch, I just re-read your postings. So what you're saying is that since I only want the 4 day pass and this is what I wanted to purchase once I got to Frankfurt, that I'd be out of luck, right?

Also, if I purchased off of the Bahn site w/ my credit card, I'd still be liable for the 3% credit card conversion fee, right?

But, even with 3% added on, it would still be about $78 cheaper to purchase from Bahn than RailEurope. However, having never purchased from Bahn, & not knowing how long the tickets would take to arrive, $78 might be worth it?

That is absolutely right. I am landing in Frankfurt on Thursday and will buy my pass there. The prices that dealers here charge were established when the Euro was much higher. Also a travel agent has advised me that all passes are available in Germany at those stations.

haxter, are you purchasing a 4 day or 5 day pass?

> I will be traveling with my son and plan to purchase a 7 day twin pass.

haxter1 - did you read above folks who say only a 5-day and 10-day German railpass is sold in Germany - or do you have some info that says this is not correct?

Elaine - for $78 i'd use the bahn.de site assuming they do not charge a ton for mailing - curious as to what are the euro prices on bahn.de - save me the time of tracking it down from there - thanks.

and the extra days on a German Twin Pass are so cheap you may want to even forego the restricted Lander Tickets and for $23/day or whatever be able to hop on any train, including the ICEs

I do remember reading in the past that only 5 or 10 day passes could be purchased in Germany. However I read on another forum a post by an authority on the DB that all passes can be bought there in the designated stations. If such were not the case why would all of them be listed and offered for purchase on the DB English website. True they are not as cheap this week as they were last due to the rise of the Euro but still cheaper.

If such were not the case why would all of them be listed and offered for purchase on the DB English website.>

Well it may have changed but that exactly has been the case for several years - could have recently changed. I never understood why they would not sell all lengths but for long time they did not - only the 5- and 10-day.

I think I will call bahn in Germany. I think I remember someone posting in the Fall about calling them directly & getting very good customer service. I'll post the results.