> Does anyone have any advice for finding cheaper train tickets?
What I did:
- got a DB Bahncard 25 (25% reduction on all prices)
- use the DB site or app to find the lowest-cost connections (enable "Show our best prices", only works 2 days in advance or later)
- select the lowest-price connection which has a bearable number of changes and waiting periods, for me this ends up between 6 and 10 changes for the trip from Sweden to the Netherlands which I make quite often. The price tends to end up about half of what it would cost to fly, sometimes a bit more, sometimes even less. I sometimes travel first class when the price difference between first and second is less than ~20%.
- as soon as there is a delay or reschedule - which seems to be "nearly always" - I reschedule to a route with fewer changes which normally would be sold for 3 or 4 times the price I paid. I then get reservations on the new route (easily done online, not always available though).
I just returned from a trip to the Netherlands where my original 10-change route ended up being a 4-change route including the NightJet to Bonn, ICE from Bonn to Hamburg through the night (train nearly empty so I could stretch out between the seats), Hamburg to Copenhagen followed by Copenhagen to Gothenburg. This is a long trip, about 22 hours. Travelling by car it would take around 16 hours but then I'd (a) have to have a car (which I don't) and (b) would have to drive while I can sit and walk and talk and work and rest in the train. Compared to a flight the train takes much longer (including travel to and from airports) but it is cheaper and I can take much more luggage and have much more freedom since I'm not treated as cattle to be herded. When I have the time I take a train, when not I either wait until I have the time - i.e. I change my plans - or I take a plane.
Also worth mentioning regarding Deutsche bahn ICEs, my understanding is that prices only increase over time. They never decrease like plane tickets do. And there's only a predetermined number of saver fares, so once those are gone, you have to buy the more expensive tickets (which are also more flexible, as opposed to the train-specific saver fares).
All true and with that it makes sense to either book in time or forego on the more expensive connections when you book - just choose the "best price" option. It is when you hit your first delay which causes you to miss a connection when things become interesting since then you suddenly can use those ICE trains which were much more expensive to book. A reservation costs €5.90 (for the whole trip, no matter how many trains are covered) when done the same day so as soon as you miss your first connection you can reschedule your trip to one with fewer changes - including ICE and IC. Thus far there has been only one connection I could not take, this being the night sleeper between Hamburg and Göteborg (SJ EuroNight) since it is not bookable through DB and has special fared not covered by the "ICE Fahrkarte, Super Sparpreis EU" train-specific ticket I tend to buy (which becomes non train-specific after a schedule change or connection-missing delay).
Having said all this it is remarkable that ICE and to a lesser extent IC seem to be far less reliable than RE (regional) trains in Germany. I've spent large parts of several nights in the dank tunnels of German train stations with alcoholics coming by every few minutes to ask for money to start new lives (i.e. get a new can or bottle) waiting for ICE trains which are delayed up to 4.5 hours.
What I did:
- got a DB Bahncard 25 (25% reduction on all prices)
- use the DB site or app to find the lowest-cost connections (enable "Show our best prices", only works 2 days in advance or later)
- select the lowest-price connection which has a bearable number of changes and waiting periods, for me this ends up between 6 and 10 changes for the trip from Sweden to the Netherlands which I make quite often. The price tends to end up about half of what it would cost to fly, sometimes a bit more, sometimes even less. I sometimes travel first class when the price difference between first and second is less than ~20%.
- as soon as there is a delay or reschedule - which seems to be "nearly always" - I reschedule to a route with fewer changes which normally would be sold for 3 or 4 times the price I paid. I then get reservations on the new route (easily done online, not always available though).
I just returned from a trip to the Netherlands where my original 10-change route ended up being a 4-change route including the NightJet to Bonn, ICE from Bonn to Hamburg through the night (train nearly empty so I could stretch out between the seats), Hamburg to Copenhagen followed by Copenhagen to Gothenburg. This is a long trip, about 22 hours. Travelling by car it would take around 16 hours but then I'd (a) have to have a car (which I don't) and (b) would have to drive while I can sit and walk and talk and work and rest in the train. Compared to a flight the train takes much longer (including travel to and from airports) but it is cheaper and I can take much more luggage and have much more freedom since I'm not treated as cattle to be herded. When I have the time I take a train, when not I either wait until I have the time - i.e. I change my plans - or I take a plane.