|
|
Post by cozaar on Jan 25, 2003 5:37:08 GMT -5
Hi , train questions again. l'm travelling from Goslar to Bamberg on 10th April (Thursday)and would like to know the cheapest mode of transport possible. The DB site price of 63 Euro dollars involve one transfer at Wurzburg,but l was wandering if l can use 1)The Lander-Tickeys at Euro 21(buy the Sachsen-Anhalt-Ticket (Saxony-Anhalt-Ticket)? 2)HappyWeekendTicket (EUR 28,- Sa or Su) ? What are the restrictions/terms for these tickets and must l reserve them/where to buy them?  Thanx! |
|
|
|
Post by nitsansh on Jan 25, 2003 18:35:11 GMT -5
FYI...
Goslar is in Niedersachsen, Bamberg is in Bayern. The Lander ticket is valid for travel in one Lander only.
Happy Weekend ticket, as its name imply, is only available on weekend. Not on Thursday.
Both these tickets allow you to travel on local trains only.
If you travel on local trains, the price would be 44-47 Euro, but this trip will take at least 6.5 hours and involve multiple changes.
If you use the fastest trains, the journey will take 4 hours and require 2 or 3 changes. The normal price is 63.20E, but can be reduced to 56.80E if you buy a Plan&Save ticket. This type of ticket has to be purchased at least a day before travel and is restricted to pre-determined trains.
One connection, beginning with the 7.41 train to Halle, will take 5 hours but cost only 53.60E (48.20 with Plan&Save).
There are several other connections that are slightly faster than local trains and cost 49E with Plan&Save.
Time or money... it's your choice...
|
|
|
|
Post by Cozaar on Jan 27, 2003 1:11:43 GMT -5
Hi Nitsansh,thanx so much for the advice.
l'm considering "the 7.41 train to Halle, will take 5 hours but cost only 53.60E (48.20 with Plan&Save).The "Plan and Save"sounds good!
1)Can anyone just buy the"Plan &Save" ticket,do u need to be an EU member,possess other railpass
like German Rain pass etc .to be eligible to buy it?
where can l buy it and any supplememnt/additional charges needed?
2)l'll be travelling from Kassel(4th April,Fri)-->Hannovrsch-Munden(5th April ,Sat)-->
Hameln(6th April,Sun)--->Hildesheim(8th April,Tues)--->Goslar10Th April,Thu)---->Bamberg.
Does the The Lander-Tickeys at Euro 21 or
HappyWeekendTicket (EUR 28,- Sa or Su) help me to save money for any of these short journeys?
Have a nice day!
|
|
|
|
Post by nitsansh on Jan 27, 2003 9:33:45 GMT -5
Go to the DB website and check fares and schedules.
If these are short journeys of less than 2 hours, they are likely to cost less than the price of Lander or Happy Weekend tickets.
Even if it's a few Euro extra, I wouldn't bother to travel on slow trains if there are faster trains available.
Lander ticket will apply if you travel within one Lander (state), or in some cases several Lander grouped together under one ticket. Check your map or guidebook to see which Lander you have to go through. Lander ticket allow up to 5 people to travel on local trains between 9AM and 3AM the next day on work days (Mon-Fri). The 9AM restriction does not apply on weekends and official holidays, but on those days the Happy Weekend ticket is also available.
Lander or Happy Weekend tickets are not valid on ICE, IC and other express trains.
The main advantage of these tickets are for groups of several people. If you travel alone you won't benefit unless you travel long distances, but then you would spend many hours on trains and need to make many changes.
Plan&Spar tickets are available to anyone, but are quota controlled and therefor could be sold out before the deadline.
These tickets are valid only for specific trains, so you can't change your travel plans, or else you should pay a penalty of up to 50 Marks. Regular tickets are valid for any train on the same route and have no restrictions.
If you travel one-way, you can only get 10% reduction with Plan&Spar, and you must only buy the ticket on the day before travel.
Larger discounts are only available for return tickets and they need further advanced purchase.
Several people who travel together allways get discounts. One person pays full price and anyone else in the party (up to 5 people) pay half price.
The Bahn card, which cost 60 Euro (valid one year), give you 25% discount on all tickets in 2nd class.
If all discounts (Plan&Spar, Travel together and Bahn card) are combined, you can get as much as 73% discount from the original fare!
All these offers are available to anyone, regardless of nationality, but can be purchased only in German rail stations, travel agencies, or DB oulets in other European countries. You can also order them by phone or by DB online shop, but tickets can only be shipped to adress in Germany. The online shop is in German language only.
|
|
|
|
Post by nitsansh on Jan 27, 2003 9:58:10 GMT -5
2)l'll be travelling from Kassel(4th April,Fri)-->Hannovrsch-Munden(5th April ,Sat)--> Hameln(6th April,Sun)--->Hildesheim(8th April,Tues)--->Goslar10Th April,Thu)---->Bamberg. Does the The Lander-Tickeys at Euro 21 or HappyWeekendTicket (EUR 28,- Sa or Su) help me to save money for any of these short journeys? Have a nice day! The places you mentioned are in these Lander: Kassel - Hessen Hannovrsch-Munden - Niedersachsen Hameln - Niedersachsen Hildesheim - Niedersachsen Goslar - Niedersachsen Bamberg - Bayern You could use the Lander ticket to travel within Niedersachsen, but check if this ticket will save you money or worth the extra time. Perhaps you can rearange your itinerary and schedule the long trips for the weekend and use the HappyWeekend ticket. This would save you no more than 20 Euro, which in the big picture is not such big money... It would have been different if you had partners... |
|
|
|
Post by Cozaar on Jan 28, 2003 5:15:01 GMT -5
Hi Nitsansh,than you so much for your advice ;D It seemed that the various discounts are only geared towards families /groups,what about solo traveller like us  l was thinking of using the Weekend ticket from Goslar to Bamberg but then l will need to change my itin.Also,using only RB/RE will take 6-7 hrs!! and save only 20Euro,am l correct? l'll need to find out better routes available.The Lander tickets at Euro 21 only allow me to travel for one day,correct? Do enlighten me if u come across other better alternatives. Any routes mentioned above can be done by ferry  Have a nice day! |
|
|
|
Post by nitsansh on Jan 28, 2003 20:41:43 GMT -5
In case you didn't know it, solo travel is not cost-effective...
The train companies want to attract as many costumers, therefor they offer discounts for groups...
and they offer deals like Lander and Happy Weekend to fill trains at off-peak time... note that Lander is only available from 9AM on weekdays, therefor not suitable for commuters...
Trains usually have fixed # of carriages, therfor the cost of additional passangers is neglectable, and any additional income is almost net profit...
|
|
|
|
Post by nitsansh on Jan 28, 2003 21:10:20 GMT -5
Both Lander and Happy Weekend tickets are valid one day.
To be precise, Lander is valid on Mon-Fri from 9AM till 3AM the next day, and on Saturday and Sunday from midinight to 3AM the next day. Happy Weekend is valid on Saturday OR Sunday only at the same time as Lander, the difference between them is that Lander is only valid for travel within one, or several, Lander(s). while HW has no such restriction, and theoretically you can travel on it from one end of Germany to the other end.
The down side is that these tickets are only valid on local, slow trains, so long distance travel takes much longer than with express trains, and requires many changes of trains.
If you wanted to travel from Munchen to Berlin with HW ticket, it would take 9-11 hours and reqire 4-5 changes, while direct ICE makes the journey in 6.5 hours. But the ICE cost 75.2E OW with Plan&Span discount against 28E with HW.
Return ticket Munich-Berlin with P&S 40 will cost 100.4E vs 56E using HW.
But the big difference is for groups. 5 people will pay 301.2E for the cheapest fare available on ICE, vs 56E with one HW ticket!
|
|
|
|
Post by Cozaar on Jan 30, 2003 1:38:53 GMT -5
Hi Nit,how are u today  l'm thinking of going from Hameln to Bamberg instead on 10th April,it seems less train transfers needed.. Also ,then when l go from Hann-Munden to Goslar,the trips takes only 2 hrs with one transfer only. Kindly compare this alternative route which u suggested and give your views. Thank again  |
|
|
|
Post by nitsansh on Jan 30, 2003 20:30:45 GMT -5
I think I reached the limit...
I don't have the time and will to check the details of every journey... you should do it yourself...
If I had planned a trip to those places, I would stay overnight in less places and make day trips to nearby towns... it's quite a hassle to move from one place to another almost every day...
I would also get bored from so many towns, which look like repetition of the same type... and most of them are too small for one day, let alone two... 2-3 hours and I would move on...
how about some variance? A good trip, IMO, would be a balanced mix of big cities, small towns and nature... your itinerary has only one type...
|
|
