Frequently asked questions about "Tickets & offers"
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Prices vary according to route, booking and travel date, and are valid for a single journey within Germany.
ICE or other long distance train (product class ICE):
- Use all long distance trains (e.g. ICE, RJ, RJX, IC/EC, TGV - except trains requiring reservations -, ECE) and regional and local transport trains (e.g. IRE, RE, RB, S-Bahn) on the booked route and on the booked day.
IC/EC ticket (product class IC/EC):
- Use all IC/EC and regional and local transport trains (e.g. IRE, RE, RB, S-Bahn) on the booked route and on the booked day.
Yes. The City-Ticket is included free of charge for you in 130 cities. The "+City" on your ticket indicates that the City-Ticket option covers your start and destination stations.
- Single journeys of less than 100 km:
The ticket is valid on the day indicated on the ticket. - Journeys over 100 km:
You must begin your journey on the day specified on the ticket. You can interrupt a journey if you like and continue at a later time, such as the next day, as long as the start and destination stations remain unchanged.
- Tickets for return journeys under 100 km:
For the outward and return journeys, the date specified on the ticket applies -
Tickets for round trips over 100 km:
You must start the outbound or return journey on the day indicated on the ticket.
You can interrupt a journey if you like and continue at a later time, such as the next day, as long as the start and destination stations remain unchanged.The validity period of your ticket remains unchanged
Yes.
- Up to 1 day before the 1st day of validity of the outward journey: free of charge
- From the 1st day of validity of the outward journey: 30 euros per ticket
Regardless of the booking conditions:
You can cancel your digital ticket free of charge within a period of 3 hours (180 minutes) after purchase, regardless of the specific offer's terms and conditions. Payment will be refunded in full.
You will receive a 25% discount with a BahnCard 25 and a 50% discount with a BahnCard 50.
- Children up to the age of 5 always travel free of charge and do not need to be indicated when booking.
- Children aged 6-14 travel free of charge when accompanied by a person aged 15 or over. However, they must be indicated in the booking. The ticket holder can bring up to four children per ticket.
- Children up to the age of 5 always travel free of charge.
- Children aged 6-14 pay half the adult fare.
- Children aged 15 and over pay full price.
Flexible fare tickets are available up to 12 months before you plan to travel. Please observe the timetable changeovers in June and December
As of 1 January 2022, it is no longer possible to buy tickets from train attendants on long-distance services.
However, you can book a digital ticket on long-distance trains up to 10 minutes after departure (even if delayed). There is one condition: the train must travel for over 10 minutes between the station where you board and the following stop.
- Second class: second class tickets do not include a seat reservation. You can purchase a seat reservation with your ticket or separately at a later point of time.
- First class: first class tickets automatically include a seat reservation.
Yes, you can book the flexible fare Europe for international services.
Prices vary according to route, booking and travel date, and are valid for a single journey within Germany.
The offer is available to book from 1 September to 12 December 2026. You can book the offer for journeys between 1 September and 12 December 2026.
You can buy the flexible fare for young people via int.bahn.de or our DB Navigator app.
When booking, please select the passenger type "Person (aged 15-26)" and 2nd class under "Travellers, bicycles, discounts" or in DB Navigator under "Travellers, bicycles, discounts".
Please note that at least one leg of the desired journey must be travelled on trains in the ICE or IC/EC product classes.
The flexible fare fpr young people is also available at DB Travel Centres and DB agencies.
With the flexible fare for young people, you are not tied to a specific train.
ICE or other long distance train (product class ICE):
- You can use all long distance trains (e.g. ICE, RJ, RJX, IC/EC, TGV - except trains requiring reservations -, ECE) and regional and local transport trains (e.g. IRE, RE, RB, S-Bahn) on the booked route and on the booked day.
IC/EC ticket (product class IC/EC):
- You can use all IC/EC and regional and local transport trains (e.g. IRE, RE, RB, S-Bahn) on the booked route and on the booked day.
No. The flexible fare ticket for young people is only valid for second class. No upgrades to first class are available.
No, the ticket does not include a seat reservation. You can buy this either together with the ticket or separately later.
Yes. The City-Ticket is included free of charge for you in 140 cities. The "+City" on your ticket indicates that the City-Ticket option covers your start and destination stations.
You will receive a 25% discount with a BahnCard 25 and a 50% discount with a BahnCard 50.
You can only book this offer for journeys in the period from 1 September to 12 December 2026. You must travel part of the journey on ICE or IC/EC product class trains.
No, the flexible fare for young people is only valid for journeys within Germany.
Yes.
- Up to 1 day before the 1st day of validity of the outward journey: free of charge
- From the 1st day of validity of the outward journey: 30 euros per ticket
Regardless of the booking conditions:
You can cancel your digital ticket free of charge within a period of 3 hours (180 minutes) after purchase, regardless of the specific offer's terms and conditions. Payment will be refunded in full.
- Children up to the age of 5 always travel free of charge and do not need to be indicated when booking.
- Children aged 6-14 travel free of charge when accompanied by a person aged 15 or over. However, they must be indicated in the booking. The ticket holder can bring up to four children per ticket.
No, the offer is not available for children travelling alone. Children travelling alone receive a 50% discount on flexible fare tickets or (super) saver fare tickets. However, the child discount does not apply to the "Young" fares ((super) saver fare young and flexible fare young).
The flexible fare ticket for young people is a limited-time offer. It can only be booked from 1 September to 12 December 2026 for journeys until 12 December 2026.
The offer is specifically aimed at young travellers aged 15 to 26. Eligibility is based on the passenger's age on the first day of travel, not on the date the ticket is purchased. In the case of a return journey, eligibility is based on the passenger's age at the time of the first journey (outbound trip).
Government-issued ID cards are compulsory in Germany for people aged 16 and over. However, passengers can use a pupil's ID, passport or other form of photo ID as an alternative.
You can reserve a seat on any long-distance train. This costs EUR 4.90 in second class and EUR 5.90 in first class.
A free reservation is included when booking a first class ticket on the following trains:
- All long-distance trains within Germany.
- Long-distance cross-border trains, up to the station where you get off or change trains abroad.
If you change trains abroad, you will pay EUR 4.90 for second class and EUR 5.90 for first class seat reservations on subsequent trains.
Trains requiring seat reservations:
For trains requiring reservations, you will receive your seat reservation free of charge when you book your ticket. If you buy the reservation later, you will pay EUR 4.90 for the seat in second class and EUR 5.90 in first class.
Reservations are compulsory on some international services. If so, the reservation will already be included free of charge in the ticket price. Reservations are required in the following trains:
- France: high-speed trains (ICE and TGV) to Paris and Marseille (including all stopovers)
- Italy: Trains to Milan via Basel Bad Bf
- Poland: All long distance trains to Poland
Please note that you cannot travel on trains requiring reservations without a reservation, even if you have already purchased a flexible fare ticket including a reservation for another train.
Depending on the country, most trains can be booked up to 12 months before the day of travel and until shortly before the train's departure.
If the travel information does not show any connections, the date you selected is outside the current timetable period. The next timetable is usually released in mid-October, You can book your tickets after the release.
Yes.
You receive a 25% discount with the BahnCard 25 or a 50% discount with the BahnCard 50 on the German part of the journey.
With a BahnCard 100 you receive a 100% discount on the German part of the journey (except France). Holders of a BahnCard 100 can take advantage of relations-dependent fixed prices for journeys on cross-border co-operation services to France.
Children up to 3 years of age always travel free of charge and do not need to be indicated when booking.
Children under the age of 6 always travel free of charge on the German section of the journey and do not have to be specified when booking. Children under the age of 6 travel free of charge on the foreign section of the journey to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.
Children aged 6-14 travel free of charge on the German and foreign sections of the journey when accompanied by someone aged 15 or over. However, they must be indicated in the booking. The ticket holder can bring up to four children per ticket. The age on the day of departure applies.
For journeys to France and Switzerland, children receive a 50% discount on the price paid by adults on the French and Swiss sections of the journey.
Note: If you would like to reserve a seat for your child, please indicate the number of children and their corresponding ages when booking. The age on the day of departure applies.
Yes.
Children travelling on their own or accompanied:
Children pay a reduced fare for the trip from the age of either 4 or 6, depending on the country. Therefore, please indicate their age when booking. The age on the day of departure applies. In some countries, children travelling alone and persons accompanying them must be above a certain age. The next two questions provide more information.
In Germany, children and young people aged 15 and over pay the full fare. Abroad, children and young people pay the full price from the age of 12, 14, 15, 16 or 17, depending on the country:
- In Finland from the age of 17
- In Denmark, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland from the age of 16
- In Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic from the age of 15
- In Montenegro, Serbia and Hungary from 14 years of age
- In all other countries from 12 years of age
The price is calculated automatically when booking.
Yes. The following minimum ages apply:
- Belgium: 6 years
- Bosnia-Herzegovina: 4 years
- Bulgaria: 10 years
- Denmark: 6 years
- Finland: 6 years
- France: 12 years
- Greece: 12 years
- Croatia: 6 years
- Lithuania: 4 years
- Luxembourg: 6 years
- North Macedonia: 4 years
- Montenegro: 6 years
- Netherlands: 12 years
- Norway: 4 years
- Austria: 6 years
- Poland: 13 years
- Republic of Ireland: 4 years
- Romania: 18 years
- Sweden: 7 years
- Switzerland: 6 years
- Serbia: 6 years
- Slovakia: 6 years
- Slovenia: 6 years
- Spain: 4 years
- Srpska: 4 years
- Czechia: 6 years
- Turkey: 4 years
- Hungary: 10 years
- Tickets for international routes of up to 100 kilometres are valid for one day. This applies to both one-way and return tickets.
- Tickets for international routes of over 100 kilometres are valid for two days. The journey must start on the first day of validity.
If the outward and return journeys are booked as a single ticket, this ticket is valid for a total of two days. This means you must start the return journey on the same day of the outward journey. We recommend booking one ticket per direction if necessary.
If the outward and return journeys are booked as two separate tickets, each ticket is valid for two days.
Please note:
If your outward and return journeys are no more than two days apart, you will get one ticket for both journeys.
If your outward and return journeys are more than two days apart, you will receive one ticket for each journey.
The flexible fare Europe allows you to interrupt your journey and continue it later under the following conditions:
- The outward and return journeys must be made within the validity period of two days stated on the ticket.
- The validity period of your ticket must not be exceeded.
- The departure and destination stations must not change.
Yes.
- Up to 1 day before the 1st day of validity of the outward journey: free of charge
- From the 1st day of validity of the outward journey: 30 euros per ticket
You can cancel a flexible fare Europe ticket up to 6 months after the end of the period of validity.
Regardless of the booking conditions:
You can cancel your digital ticket free of charge within a period of 3 hours (180 minutes) after purchase, regardless of the specific offer's terms and conditions. Payment will be refunded in full.
- If you have a (super) saver fare ticket, you can only travel on the service indicated on the ticket. Offers are available for ICE/IC/EC connections within Germany.
- You can use local transport (e.g. RE, RB, IRE and S-Bahn or non-DB trains) to get to/from a long-distance station if you include them in your booking. You are not restricted to travelling on a specific train when using local rail services. However, your journey must be completed by 10:00 am the following day.
No. It is not possible to exchange or cancel this type of ticket.
Instant cancellation
You can cancel your digital ticket free of charge before the first day of validity and within a period of 3 hours (180 minutes) after purchase regardless of the specific offer's terms and conditions. You will receive a full refund of what you paid.