It's not different in Germany outside of theses three months. A day ticket in most cities cost 5-10€. That's why this ticket will be so appealing, 2-4 trips are enough to make it worth for the whole month.
> In most places it's around 80ish for such a monthly ticket.
Sure about that? A one-month ticket just for the city of Cologne (1 Million people) is 109.70 Euros. A regular one-month ticket that would include surrounding towns as far away as Bonn (30 minutes) costs 259.30 Euros [VRS level 4]. If you want to reach Düsseldorf (40 minutes) or Aachen (50 minutes), that's 351.40 Euros [VRS level 7].
Of course it's a bit cheaper if you get a yearly pass and much cheaper if your employer chips in, but the 49 Euro ticket will be a _huge_ improvement. And NYC doesn't sound all that bad in comparison to the regular rates of today.
For comparison, in Berlin the monthly ticket for the A-B zones (does not reach the airport) costs €86, and a 4-ticket pack €9.40. A €9 monthly ticket is an insane bargain, even if you only plan on using public transport within the city.
The whole day ticket actually costs 8.20€, the after 9am ticket 6.90€ (for the zones AB / city area)
If you're commuting and have monthly ticket it will cost 93.70€ (AB), though you might get around with a cheaper ticket if you're living in the center (zone 000).
25€ is not dirt cheap, unless you're planning on taking 4+ trips on a single day. In Belgium, a prepaid ticket for 10 rides, each from/to any station in the country, costs just 75€ (valid for one year).
just checked some prizes out of curiosity for that route and found tickets starting from 400 EUR for 2 adults and two kids (unless you have to travel on the most expensive dates). Make it 600 EUR but it still does not sound like a big difference and you are not factoring in the depreciation and maintenance a car costs for a long trip like that. Financially i don't think it makes a big difference, it's probably about convenience in the end.
IIRC you don‘t have to do 16 trips in four months. If do fewer trips, you have to pay 10€ once (or 20€ for the mid range trips). That is still a considerable discount.
Also cheaper by plane. Being a student with a limited budget, this very much affects my decision.
My tips would be:
* Book at least a week in advance.
* Buy a Bahn Card 25.
* Get up early.
If you do this Berlin -> Munich is €44.90 next Saturday on the 4 hour fast train. Also don't forget, it costs around €11 to go from Munich airport to the city.
I had a look into this and the price difference between a train and a flight was about $4USD: $26USD vs $30USD. The flight was a lot cheaper than I expected, so much so that I'm genuinely suspicious of it. They were both a lot less than $50USD though.
This was for the 30th of April between Berlin and Frankfurt.
Okay I just checked the price for a day in August, for my family it would cost north of 500 eur for 17 hour trip. Flying seems a better option on all counts.
This is awesome! For comparison, a single fare ticket from the Stockholm suburb I live in to city Central costs about €8.70.
9 euros for a whole month seems like a dream!
What you mean with expensive here? From the point of view of somebody who comutes daily, there is by far nothing cheaper than the 49 euro German ticket, similarly the Austrian climate ticket...
Same for Germany. My region (about 30km from one end to the other) charges about twice as much currently as this nationwide ticket will cost.
And that's not to speak of the Netherlands where you'll pay a few hundred a month for this service, regional subscriptions aren't a thing, though you can buy a subscription per route (those aren't cheap per km either).
DB is very expensive when travelling spontaneously and really cheap if planning well ahead. I regularly go from Berlin to Frankfurt for 20 Euros, which is around 500km. Often times, they offer me first class upgrades for 10 Euros, too.
In addition to the itinerary, it also depends on your planing. If you want to be very flexible, it's most likely cheaper than buying a long-distance ticket at the station/in the train.
If you want to plan and book your trips ahead of time, it may well be that, with early booking discounts, it's cheaper to book ahead of time. This would also allow you to reserve seats/a table, which I'd recommend if you travel with kids.
Also note that in Germany, and maybe in other countries as well, kids < 15 years travel for free with their parents if noted on their tickets.
If you travel a lot within one country, you may also want to check their frequent traveler programs. E.g. in Germany, the DB sells cards that give you 25%, 50% or 100% off of the ticket price. The 25% one can be ordered for a duration of only 3 months and costs 19 Euros, so it should pay off quickly! Note, however, that it is an subscription that you need to cancel.
I don't have a BahnCard, just looking at the site I'm really not sure I'd use it enough to justify it. Booked a couple of months in advance, and compared flight prices on that day to the train. Flights were significantly cheaper.
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