Train travel is one of the best ways to explore Germany — but ticket prices can add up quickly. Luckily, there are smart ways to save without sacrificing comfort. In this guide, I’ll share some of the best tricks I’ve learned: from using BahnCards strategically and finding cheaper tickets via foreign railway websites to knowing when it’s worth skipping Deutsche Bahn entirely and booking with FlixTrain instead.
This article is part three in a five-part series on saving money while traveling. Part one covered accommodation — from loyalty programs and mobile-only deals to cashback extension discounts and house swaps. Part two focused on flights: avoiding baggage fees, earning airline miles, and spotting hidden discounts. Part four (coming next month) will focus on travel insurance, mobile data, and managing your money abroad.
Part four (coming next) will cover car rentals and ride-sharing options, and part five will dive into travel insurance, mobile data, and managing your money abroad. Want the next articles delivered straight to your inbox? You can subscribe to the newsletter here.
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In This Guide
🚆 BahnCards for Cheaper Deutsche Bahn Tickets
If you travel by Deutsche Bahn even a couple of times per year, a yearly BahnCard* can easily pay for itself. The 3-month version, called a Probe BahnCard*, starts at €19.90 and can pay off even after one trip.
You can choose between two main discount levels — BahnCard 25 or BahnCard 50 — depending on how often you travel and the types of fares you usually book (all prices for second class):
BahnCard 25 gives you 25% off all long-distance fares: Super Sparpreis, Sparpreis, and Flexpreis
3 months (Probe): €19.90
Break-even: ~€80 of ticket spend12 months: €62.90
Break-even: €250 spend over the year
BahnCard 50 gives you 50% off Flexpreis fares, 25% off Sparpreis and Super Sparpreis fares
3 months (Probe): €76.90
Break-even: €150-300, depending on fares you book12 months: €244
Break-even: €500-1000, depending on fares you book
If you’re under 27, the 12-month MyBahnCard 25* is available for €39.90, and the MyBahnCard 50* is normally €79.90 — but it’s currently on sale for €49.90.
The discounts apply to all long-distance fares, including the cheapest advance tickets, so these cards make a lot of sense even if you’re not a frequent traveler. Probe BahnCards automatically renew into a full-year version unless cancelled at least four weeks before the end of the 3-month period; you can easily cancel online in your Deutsche Bahn account.
Probe BahnCard can easily pay for itself even after just one trip.
💰 More Ways to Save on Deutsche Bahn Tickets
BahnCards aren’t the only way to cut costs on Deutsche Bahn* tickets. Here are a few other tips that can help you pay less for your journey:
Book in advance and look for discounted fares
The earlier you book, the cheaper your ticket is likely to be — prices tend to rise as the travel date gets closer. To get the lowest rates, look for “Sparpreis” or “Super Sparpreis” fares. These discounted options are non-refundable and tied to a specific train, but the savings can be substantial.
Use your Deutschland-Ticket
If part of your route is on regional trains and you already have a Deutschland-Ticket*, you don’t need to pay for that section. When booking, click on “Passengers” and check the box to indicate that the traveler has a Deutschland-Ticket — this adjusts the fare so you’re only paying for the remaining part of the journey (long-distance and ICE trains). You can also filter for “Deutschland-Ticket connections only” to see if the entire trip is possible on regional trains alone.
Depending on how much your long-distance ticket would cost otherwise, it might even be worth buying a Deutschland-Ticket for one month just to reduce the total fare – the subscription has no long-term commitment.
Look out for Deutsche Bahn sales
Deutsche Bahn occasionally runs seasonal promotions, and if you can time your purchase to one of these offers, the savings can be significant. The best way to monitor these sales is to subscribe to the Deutsche Bahn newsletter in your account settings.
Make use of co-branded promotions
DB regularly partners with supermarkets and food brands to offer discounted tickets or vouchers. In the past, there have been promotions with Lidl, Edeka and Aldi, and right now, there’s one running with Hohes C: if you buy a bottle with a promotional sticker, you get a €10 voucher that can be redeemed on your next DB train booking of at least €29.99. Some bottles also include a second code with an ICE train symbol, which enters you into a draw to win one of three BahnCard 100s.Both the redemption and travel period run until 15 December 2025, so this one ends quite soon — but future deals like this will be featured in upcoming newsletter issues.
🟢 FlixTrain: The Ryanair of the Rails
If your main goal is to save money, and you’re not too fussy about comfort, FlixTrain* can be an alternative to Deutsche Bahn. The savings can be substantial, especially on popular routes like Berlin–Cologne, Hamburg–Frankfurt, or Stuttgart–Berlin, where FlixTrain often undercuts DB prices by a wide margin.
But those low fares come with a few trade-offs. FlixTrain uses older trains, which vary in quality — some trains are reasonably modern, while others are, frankly, a bit rough. Air conditioning isn’t guaranteed, so it’s best avoided on very hot days. And unlike DB, which offers more frequent departures and rerouting options if something goes wrong, FlixTrain runs a limited schedule with fewer fallback options.
Think of FlixTrain vs. Deutsche Bahn as Ryanair vs. Lufthansa. You won’t get ICE-level comfort, but if your main priority is getting from A to B for as little money as possible, FlixTrain* gets the job done.
If your priority is getting somewhere cheap and you’re okay with sacrificing some comfort, FlixTrain is worth a look.
👀 A Cross-Border Trick for Cheaper Train Tickets
Here’s another Deutsche Bahn trick I discovered recently: sometimes, you can ride the exact same train for far less if you buy your ticket through a foreign railway.
The reason is simple: many European countries subsidize their railways more heavily than Germany, and they also use different fare models for international routes. As a result, the same Deutsche Bahn train can cost dramatically less when booked through ÖBB (Austria), SBB (Switzerland), or SNCF (France) instead of the DB website. You’re still going to take the same train – but you might pay less because you booked it elsewhere. Some foreign providers might also include seat reservations in the price.
The way it works is straightforward. Look at your route: is your destination near a border, or could you extend your route to a neighboring country? If so, book the longer international ticket through a foreign provider and simply get off earlier. For example, instead of buying “Hamburg–Cologne” directly from Deutsche Bahn, you could book “Hamburg–Brussels” via the Belgian railway and get off in Cologne.
Unlike doing the same thing with flights (which is called “skiplagging”), this is perfectly legal. Your ticket covers the whole journey, so no one cares if you get off sooner. But it’s worth noting that the opposite (trying to board later than the departure station on your ticket) is against the railway rules, and your ticket might be invalidated.
🇨🇭 Free Train Ride in Switzerland on Your Birthday
Switzerland isn’t exactly known for budget-friendly travel, but there is at least one exception. The panoramic MOB train line from Montreux to Lenk offers a free first-class day pass on your birthday. You can buy this ticket at a MOB ticket counter in Montreux, Gstaad, or Zweisimmen with your ID.
The ticket is valid for the whole day, so you can ride back and forth or hop off at stations along the way. You’ll also have the choice between the GoldenPass Express, a modern panoramic train, and the vintage Belle Époque train, which is apparently an amazing experience. Just don’t expect a budget trip overall – the lunch and accommodation prices will quickly remind you that you’re in Switzerland after all.
This dreamy train ride in Switzerland is free on your birthday.
🚌 Trains Too Pricey? Take a Bus Instead
Trains may be the default for traveling in Europe, but long-distance buses, especially low-cost options like FlixBus* or BlaBlaCar Bus, can be dramatically cheaper. I like using Omio* to compare prices on buses, trains (it has Deutsche Bahn, FlixTrain and most other railway companies), and flights in one search. It’s often the fastest way to see which option makes sense, without juggling five different websites. You can book directly through Omio too. They charge a small service fee for some bookings (though others, like FlixBus, are free), but in exchange you get an easy booking process, all your tickets are in the app, and you don’t have to wrestle with the quirks of foreign railway or bus company websites.
If you haven’t created an Omio account yet – even if you’ve already booked with them before – you can get €10 off your first booking when you sign up with this link*. Not bad for something that takes two minutes to set up.
Omio is my first choice for comparing and booking trains and buses in Europe.
Next up in this travel series: how to handle money, insurance, and mobile data while traveling – the small details that don’t sound exciting, but can help you save a significant amount of money when you’re abroad. Subscribe here if you’d like to get it straight to your inbox, along with the best deals and money-saving strategies in Germany.
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