How train travellers in Germany can get cheap Deutsche Bahn tickets this March
If you're planning to travel by rail in Germany this year, you may be able to save quite a bit on your train tickets by buying them this March.
For bookings made in March - for trips up until December - German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) is offering discounts on 'saver price' (Sparpreis) tickets, which are DB's somewhat flexible budget price tickets that can be cancelled before the travel day for a fee.
According to a report by SWR, DB is releasing one million discounted saver price tickets in March.
What's on sale?
Discounted tickets for short distance trips - for example from Munich to Ingolstadt, Hamburg to Bremen or Stuttgart to Heidelberg, will start at €9.99. Customers with a Bahncard could feasibly pay just €7.49 for comparable distance routes.
Offers for medium-haul routes, such as from Frankfurt am Main to Stuttgart or Berlin to Leipzig, will go for €14.99. Bahncard holders could pay €11.24 for these connections.
These cut-price tickets must be purchased in March, but can be for journeys up until December 13th, which marks the end of the current timetable.
Young people can also take advantage of age-specific bargains in March: Deutsche Bahn is also offering 30,000 additional so-called 'Super saver' (Supersparpreis) youth tickets, which are also valid for longer distances and start at €12.99.
Super saver tickets are not flexible, meaning they cannot be exchanged or refunded (except within the first three hours after purchasing them). And the youth tickets are only available to customers under the age of 27.
All of these offers are available via DB's online booking portal and in the DB Navigator app.
Why is DB offering cheap tickets?
Deutsch Bahn has seen significantly fewer passengers on certain trains since the introduction of the Deutschlandticket local transport pass.
"We have lost people, especially on the short distances," Stefanie Berk, head of long-distance rail marketing at DB told SWR.
Whereas the Deutschlandticket allows customers to ride regional and municipal trains for free, it doesn't work on DB's faster long-distance trains i.e. ICE, IC and EC trains.
Especially on some of the short and medium length connections listed above, customers tend to opt for regional trains, which may be slower or involve added transfers, but are free for passengers with the €58 monthly travel pass.
DB hopes that the discounted saver fares will create a choice again for passengers who might be willing to spend a few euros more for a faster and somewhat more comfortable journey.
If it works, DB may help reduce congestion on Germany's regional trains whilst also selling a few more tickets.
To find the best deals on saver price tickets, you're advised to book your trips well in advanced and/or look for journeys at odd hours, such as early in the morning or late in the evening.
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