I am interested in buying a Bayern ticket (around 25 euro) to travel by train from Munich to Salzburg. Can I buy this ticket online before I leave for Europe, or should I wait and buy it at Munich train station?

Many thanks.

There is no apparent reason to buy it online, if possible, as price would be same there and sold at stations. Search for Larryincolorado as he is an expert at answering any question on this bargain pass and has written extensively about it recently. Hopefully he'll confirm, or perhaps contradict, what i said above. It may be a bit cheaper to buy it from a station machine than the ticket window??

I have just returned from a trip to Germany.

Buying tickets from the automatic machines was easy, but people were also buying them from the counters.

You have flags and a button to press for the language to be displayed on the screen. Then there are a few easy steps to buy it.

There are some buttons at the lower side showing what kind of tickets you can buy. Bayern Ticket is mentioned as well.
The machines give change.

Don't forget to write your name in block letters on the ticket. It's easy to see where.

Thanks for your help.

Can you pay with a credit card in the machines in the train station, or do they only accept cash?

ttt

I think I can give a thorough answer to almost all of what you ask. The German text from Die Bahn is included below for anyone who wants a go at improving my translation, which is equal in quality to my price for doing it.

One big restriction is the type of train on which the Bayern-Ticket may be used. It is valid only on local trains, which means it cannot be used at all on EC, IC, and ICE trains - the express trains.

Whether or not a US style credit card can be used in the automats is doubtful because our cards do not have an electronic chip embedded in them. My own cards have failed to work in those machines.

If you buy the Bayern-Ticket at a window at the train station, my interpretation of the German text is that you pay the same price as you would at the automatic dispenser. You can always poke money in the thing as well!!

Here are some more details converted from the German text included below:

A Bayern-Ticket for a group costs €25 from an automatic machine or the ticket shop (on-line). It costs €2 more if purchased at a DB travel center or from a DB agent.

A Bayern-Ticket for a single traveler costs €18 from a ticket automat or via Internet. A single ticket costs €2 more if purchased from a DB travel center or a DB travel agent.

The Bayern-Ticket is valid for one day from 9:00 until 3:00 the following morning, Monday through Friday. On Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays the ticket is valid from 0:00 through 3:00 the following morning. [0:00 = midnight]

The tickets may be used by single travelers, groups up to and including 5 people, or family groups consisting of parents, grandparents and children/grandchildren under the age of 15.

The ticket is valid in 2nd class on all local DB train traffic, including IRE,RE,RB und S-Bahn trains. The validity area includes all of Bavaria and the cities of Salzburg, Kufstein, and Ulm.

The ticket is also valid on several private lines. (The extensive list is below.)

GERMAN Text

Was kosten die Bayern-Tickets?
Das Bayern-Ticket gibt es für 25,- EUR an Automaten und in unserem Fahrkarten-Shop sowie für 2,- EUR mehr auch in den DB Reisezentren und DB Agenturen. Das Bayern-Ticket Single und das Bayern-Ticket Nacht gibt es für je 18,- EUR an Automaten und hier im Internet sowie für je 2,- EUR mehr auch in den DB Reisezentren und DB Agenturen.

Wann gelten Bayern-Ticket und Bayern-Ticket Single?
Sie gelten einen Tag, und zwar montags bis freitags von 9.00 Uhr bis 3.00 Uhr des Folgetages. An Samstagen, Sonntagen und den in ganz Bayern gültigen gesetzlichen Feiertagen sogar von 0.00 Uhr bis 3.00 Uhr des Folgetages für beliebig viele Fahrten.
Bayern-Ticket und Bayern-Ticket Single – wer darf mit?

* Das Bayern-Ticket gilt wahlweise für Einzelreisende
* Gruppen bis zu fünf Personen oder
* ein Eltern-/Großelternpaar oder ein Eltern-/Großelternteil mit beliebig vielen eigenen Kindern/Enkeln unter 15 Jahren.

Wo gelten die Bayern-Tickets?
In allen Nahverkehrszügen (2.Klasse) der DB (IRE,RE,RB und S-Bahn) in ganz Bayern. Zusätzlich bis Ulm Hbf, Kufstein und Salzburg, auf der Außerfernbahn und der Strecke Lindau – Memmingen über Kißlegg. In den Zügen der Bayerischen Oberlandbahn, der Hessischen Landesbahn, der Regentalbahn, auf den bayerischen Strecken der Vogtlandbahn und der Erfurter Bahn, der Bayerischen Zugspitzbahn auf der Schienenstrecke Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Grainau und in den Alex-Zügen** zwischen Oberstdorf und München.

** Local train operated by the company known as: Länderbahn und EuroTHURBO GmbH

bob-brown - Thanks for going to the effort to translate the German. For future reference, there is an English version of the Bayern terms on the bahn.de site. It's a bit shorter.

Here is the wording: Bayern-Ticket (Bavaria-Ticket) Package price EUR 25 if you buy your ticket online or at the ticket machine. EUR 27 if you purchase your ticket at the ReiseZentrum.
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 0 a.m. until 3 a.m. of the following day. It can be used on all local trains (Interregio-Express, Regional-Express, Regionalbahn, S-Bahn) and the entire transport system in Bavaria as well as the Münchner Verkehrsbund (MVV) and Verkehrsverbund Nürnberg (VGN), Augsburger Verkehrs- und Tarifverbundes (AVV) and many more.

Bayern-Ticket Single (Bavaria-Ticket Single) EUR 18 if you buy your ticket online or at the ticket machine. EUR 20 if you purchase your ticket at the Reisezentrum. This offer is only for one person, same conditions as Bavaria-Ticket.

It looks like your translation is right on!

>buy it from a station machine
Machines take Maestro/EC debit cards.
German credit cards don't have chips and people pay by signing. The PIN (4 digit) is used to get cash from an ATM. The mayority of EC cards have additional chips for enhanced security, but all systems are backward compatible and quite a few EC cards come without chip. The chip can contain some money (Geldkarte, money card system) which is booked form your account onto the chip at the ATM. (up to a few 100&euro You can then use this to pay for low cost things (starting from a cent) without needing to sign or enter a pin. The chip is also used on cigarette vending machines to verify your age.

I've used the Bayern pass several times. Usually buy it at the train station. Last trip I used it to go from Salzburg to Lindau on Lake Constance. It was a slow but wonderfully beautiful relaxing trip.

And, yes, it is only valid on certain trains, which is why I buy my ticket at the station, so I DON'T get on the wrong train. I did that once and got bounced at the next station!

Highly recommend it! Wish more like it were available elsewhere!

And so there is an English version.
I did a search, but no English version.
I read tourist German fairly well, and I guess that is the price I pay for being a bit stubborn.

I found the English version, and it was one could find it. I just did not look hard enough, partly because I don't need to!!

The effort did cause me to learn one or two new words. And it gave my German a booster shot.

I need to do that before the 24th!

That on-line ticket option is a neat thing to do. I printed mine already at home and all I need to do now is go to Munich and start traveling!

Thank you everyone for your help. It was much appreciated! I feel much better about our upcoming Germany train travel.