Train Tickets and Deals on the Deutsche Bahn

NOTE: These deals only work if you are staying within Germany and are available on www.bahn.de.

KIDS RIDE FREE – Kids (14 and younger) can ride free on the train as long as they are accompanied by their parents or grandparents. Kids older than 6 must be included on your ticket, but are still free. If you have 3 or more kids, you can get a Family Card from the ticket desk that is free and valid for one year. This will count as ticket for your children.

BahnCard – The BahnCard is a discount card that is good for one year. The BahnCard 25 offers a 25% discount on all tickets and costs €61 for 2nd Class. If you plan on taking many long distance trips on the train, this could be worth the investment. They also have a 4 month trial version (Probe-BahnCard) available for €25. The site will also offer this when you are booking a trip online so you can see the savings before you purchase.

Sparpreis/Savings Fare – These fares are usually available while booking a longer journey online as long as you book more than three days in advance of your travel. The catch is that you have to stay on the itinerary given on your ticket, however, you are allowed to deviate from your ticket if your train was late arriving and you miss your next train. You can buy these tickets between 3-92 days out from your date of departure.

All of the following deals are available at the ticket booth at the station or online if you click “Local Transport” when searching for tickets. On the ticket kiosk, click Specials Fares then Group Tickets.

Länder Ticket/SchönerTagTicket/Beautiful Day Ticket – This is the best deal out there. It is a full day pass (0900-0300 next day on weekdays and weekends starting at 0000) for the trains as long as you stay within the state. For us, that means staying in Nordrhein-Westfalen. The ticket is good for up to 5 people and costs €41 in NRW. These tickets exist for each state in Germany and the price varies depending on the size of the state.

Quer-Durchs-Land-Ticket/Cross Country Ticket – This ticket is another day pass good for up to 5 people and costs €44 for one person and goes up by €6/person. The times are Mon-Fri 0900-0300 the next day and it’s valid for use on all regional trains. This would be a good deal if you have to leave NRW to reach your destination.

Weekend Ticket – Valid on Saturday or Sunday from 0000 – 0300 the next day for up to 5 people. This ticket costs €42 and allows you to travel anywhere in Germany for one day.

Open Ticket – You can buy group tickets to Aachen for less than the Lander Ticket listed above. The total should be about 24 euro for up to 5 people per ticket. You must buy this ticket from the ticket desk. Remember to validate your ticket before getting on the train at one of the yellow time stamping machines located close to the ticket kiosks. The GK ticket desk opening hours are listed below.

For more information on travel deals on the Bahn, go here.