I am researching on the fare on S-bahn in the region, and see if anybody has more info.

My dad is doing Mannheim - Speyer - Heidelberg - Mannheim on the same day.

From www.vrn.de, I find the single fares for those 3 rides are 4.8€, 7.8€ and 4.8€, for a total of 17.4€.

They have three types of 24-hour passes, 5€ for "Preisstufe 0-3", 8.5€ for 4-5 and 13€ for "Verbundgebiet". I believe those refer to the zones or honeycombs in this system, and the last one is the network pass. Am I understand this correctly?

Since Speyer - Mannheim - Heidelberg crosses 7 honeycombs, I believe he will need to buy the 13€ Verbundgebiet for the day, which is still cheaper than the 3 individual tickets.

Please correct me if I am wrong about any of the above.

I think you are correct in your interpretation. Of course your dad can confirm the best price at the S-Bahn ticket window when he gets there.

Yes, that's correct, rkkwan-good on you for finding the most economical fare ticket.

Thanks to both for the replies.

Now, I just wonder if anybody can figure out the online booking site of the Mannheim National Theater to get opera tickets. They have a totally crazy system.

You are correct that he should purchase a €13 Verbundgebiet Tageskarte. That would allow him unlimited travel on regional trains, S-bahns, etc anywhere within the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar, which extends from west of Kaiserslautern almost to Würzburg.

The VV is divided into Waben, or honeycomb cells. Preisstufe, price level, corresponds mostly with the number of cells passed through. However, some large cities, such as Mannheim, have their Waben combined into one Großwabe. Any travel within this Großwabe is a fixed Preisstufe. For example, Mannheim is four Waben, but a single trip ticket anywhere within the Großwabe is Preisstufe 2. Within the Großwabe Mannheim, single trip travel within a singe Wabe or travel covering three Wabe are all Preisstufe 2.

I took a look at the Mannheim National-Theater site, and ordering tickets online does seem to be complicated. They apparently are outsourcing sales to another agency called Thea-Online.

There is a telephone number for ordering tickets given on this page:
http://www.nationaltheater-mannheim.de/index/kontakt/