Buying Deutche Bahn tickets for German trains |
|
|
|
posted 11-12-2012 @ 04:31 PM
|
|
www
|
|
Buying Deutche Bahn tickets for German trains
don't know if anyone can help me here? but I found this German train booking site http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml
after reading recommendations from travellers to buy just straight from here.....has anyone here done so? it is just that it is a hell of a lot
cheaper than doing it via Flight Centre (they are quoting me double the price than what it is here and said their supplier won't price match it as it
will also include taxes, exchange rate differences, fees and charges....but given all that I still think it will be a hell of a lot cheaper!!)
this site is so easy to use for booking train trips and reserving them and just wanted to find out if anyone here has done so before leaving
Australia?? |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 11-12-2012 @ 04:44 PM
|
|
www
|
|
We travelled Europe on a Eurail pass but used this site to print out all the stops on our journeys. It was sometimes hard to understand the
announcements of which station we were coming in to - and you need to get off pronto or else!
We did book once from this site for a trip from Hamburg to Paris. No problems with that one.
Do you also know about the "Ländertickets" - day passes for the train in Germany? We used these all the time for day trips all over Germany. Dirt
cheap and just fabulous.
Ohh have fun!! |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 11-12-2012 @ 04:49 PM
|
|
www
|
|
I bought tickets direct from Bahn.de for travel from Munich to Berlin. It was easy - sometimes needed google translate to understand bits of the site
/ tickets from memory. It's much cheaper than any third party websites. |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 11-12-2012 @ 04:51 PM
|
|
www
|
|
thanks maaz...
we are only taking 2 train trips at this stage (ones we need booked in and reserved) from Salburg to Munich and from Munich to Vienna.
it is a hell of a lot cheaper than what flight centre is quoting....just wondering if Aussies can book tickets for themselves for travel in Germany?
also, is there any additional taxes involved??? flight centre wholesaler said they are in addition to the price quoted??????? |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 11-12-2012 @ 04:53 PM
|
|
www
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by MattsMum
I bought tickets direct from Bahn.de for travel from Munich to Berlin. It was easy - sometimes needed google translate to understand bits of the site
/ tickets from memory. It's much cheaper than any third party websites. |
thanks Mattsmum....did you book it in Australia? did you have any problems? do you just need your ID (credit card used to purchase) when travelling
there? were there any additional fees charges in addition to the price quoted....as I can't see unless I pay! TIA |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 11-12-2012 @ 05:00 PM
|
|
www
|
|
The additional fees etc could be the seat reservation fee - I don't think there are any other fees. You may already know that you purchase your
ticket but on the long trips you ALSO have to reserve a seat. We usually did this the day we arrived (you do it at the train station) so that we had
it reserved for when we left (4 - 7 days later). If you leave it until the day you leave, then you may not be able to get on the train you want -
unless you stand all the way. The reservation fee (from memory from 2009-2010) was about EU6 per person per trip. You can be lucky and get a seat if
you don't reserve it but it is worth it paying the extra.
EDIT: oh wow I just went back to the site and it certainly bought back good memories  We also booked Eurostar tickets on this site and had absolutely no problem at all. |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 11-12-2012 @ 05:02 PM
|
|
www
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by maaz
The additional fees etc could be the seat reservation fee - I don't think there are any other fees. You may already know that you purchase your
ticket but on the long trips you ALSO have to reserve a seat. We usually did this the day we arrived (you do it at the train station) so that we had
it reserved for when we left (4 - 7 days later). If you leave it until the day you leave, then you may not be able to get on the train you want -
unless you stand all the way. The reservation fee (from memory from 2009-2010) was about EU6 per person per trip. You can be lucky and get a seat if
you don't reserve it but it is worth it paying the extra. |
thanks yes, I know about reserving your seat you can do this when you book your seat on http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml
just wondered what everyone's experience was like booking this way....as I know $500 is going to be better in my pocket if it is all ridgy didge than
some rail wholesaler! |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 11-12-2012 @ 05:42 PM
|
|
www
|
|
I can't remember having to show ID/credit card when there - just the tickets and passport when the ticket inspector came around.
I just looked at the email and it said you need to carry the relevant ID with you (eg ID and credit card).
The only issue I had was reading the ticket, as its in German - I made sure I took a spare copy which I wrote in to identify what they key points (eg
class of travel, platform, seat) were.
The price I paid was exactly as quoted on the website - I didn't need to confirm seats as they were prebooked. It cost €250 for the two of us to
travel from Munich to Berlin (8 hour ride).
If you PM me your email I'm happy to send you the documents I received as it was for travel taken last year.
Edited to add: we booked an overnight train ticket from Paris to Munich using RailEurope then later realized we paid about twice as much as we would
have if we knew about Bahn.db
Yep, it was all booked while in Australia. |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 11-12-2012 @ 06:28 PM
|
|
www
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by MattsMum
I can't remember having to show ID/credit card when there - just the tickets and passport when the ticket inspector came around.
I just looked at the email and it said you need to carry the relevant ID with you (eg ID and credit card).
The only issue I had was reading the ticket, as its in German - I made sure I took a spare copy which I wrote in to identify what they key points (eg
class of travel, platform, seat) were.
The price I paid was exactly as quoted on the website - I didn't need to confirm seats as they were prebooked. It cost €250 for the two of us to
travel from Munich to Berlin (8 hour ride).
If you PM me your email I'm happy to send you the documents I received as it was for travel taken last year.
Edited to add: we booked an overnight train ticket from Paris to Munich using RailEurope then later realized we paid about twice as much as we would
have if we knew about Bahn.db
Yep, it was all booked while in Australia. |
thanks so much MattsMum.....looks like it is bahn for us! I can get 4 1st class tickets from Salzburg to Munich for $150 Aus all up....and Flight
centre wanted $250 Aus for 2nd class!!!!!!! this will save us heaps! |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 11-12-2012 @ 06:36 PM
|
|
www
|
|
Enjoy your trip! I just checked again and I did have a 7 euro seat selection fee (split between the two tickets) but that is minimal if you are saving
a lot of $$! |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 12-12-2012 @ 08:17 AM
|
|
www
|
|
Dont know about Germany,but we booked from australia onlinee all our Holland and
France tix.Worked well and way cheaper as was very expensive to buy over there from a ticket office for the traveller. |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 12-12-2012 @ 01:53 PM
|
|
www
|
|
Definitely use bahn.de, very very cheap. Try to book in advance, they have a so called 'saver fare finder', which, if you book at least 3 days in
advance, gives you huge discounts. Compare prices with and without using the ICE - though it is faster than say the IC, it's also usually more
expensive.
Always book a seat if possible, think it's between 2.50-4 Euros now.
Btw, this is another great site http://www.ltur.com/de/bahn.html?omnin=DB-DE where you can get last minute train seats if you book 7 to 1 days in advance - they cost 25 Euros
within Germany. If you want to travel within Europe, every 2 weeks the Ltur website on Mondays offers a European destination for only 35 Euros - has
to be booked 14 days to 3 days before departure.
Bottom line: Don't book from Australia, as everything is more expensive here 
Have a fantastic trip!! |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 12-12-2012 @ 02:07 PM
|
|
www
|
|
Ok thanks all! I did it...hope I did it right LOL! Was very easy.....good thing hubby speaks German coz he can read the tickets LOL
I got my family of 4 - 1st class train tickets on the saver fares - one from Salzburg to Munich and the other from Munich to Vienna for $262 all up
including reserving seats (love that you can pick which ones you want....got table with 4 seats around it on both trips)!!!!!!!! very happy this has
saved me so much! flight centre wholesaler wanted $950 and the trip to Munich from Salzburg was 2nd class! |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 12-12-2012 @ 02:23 PM
|
|
www
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Cheshire_Cat
Ok thanks all! I did it...hope I did it right LOL! Was very easy.....good thing hubby speaks German coz he can read the tickets LOL
I got my family of 4 - 1st class train tickets on the saver fares - one from Salzburg to Munich and the other from Munich to Vienna for $262 all up
including reserving seats (love that you can pick which ones you want....got table with 4 seats around it on both trips)!!!!!!!! very happy this has
saved me so much! flight centre wholesaler wanted $950 and the trip to Munich from Salzburg was 2nd class! |
Fantastic, have a fabulous time |
|
|
|
|
|
posted 12-12-2012 @ 02:28 PM
|
|
www
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by damita30
| Quote: | Originally posted by Cheshire_Cat
Ok thanks all! I did it...hope I did it right LOL! Was very easy.....good thing hubby speaks German coz he can read the tickets LOL
I got my family of 4 - 1st class train tickets on the saver fares - one from Salzburg to Munich and the other from Munich to Vienna for $262 all up
including reserving seats (love that you can pick which ones you want....got table with 4 seats around it on both trips)!!!!!!!! very happy this has
saved me so much! flight centre wholesaler wanted $950 and the trip to Munich from Salzburg was 2nd class! |
Fantastic, have a fabulous time |
Thank you! am really looking forward to it! this was the last thing I needed to organise! am sure I did it right but will find out soon enough LOL!
Just goes to prove that you need to do your own research on the internet these days and not rely on travel agents!!! I did get flight centre to book a
couple of tours and accommodation for us......but knowing the prices that you can buy accommodation on the net for made sure i got a good deal! |
|
|
