Fun fact: if you have a non-flexible ticket and your train has a delay of twenty minutes or more, your ticket becomes flexible and you can board another train of the same type or lower (ICE > IC > RE). Also, if your train has a delay of one hour or more, you can get some of your money back.
@@BrokenCurtain What do you mean, it "becomes flexible"? Do you need some kind of a proof for the next train you take, so they know the previous one was delayed and your ticket is really flexible?
That was when the DB was still called Deutsche Bundesbahn and it was operated as a department of the government. Now they have been privatized and are forced by law to make a profit (because the government wants to sell them at the stock market and cash in the money for the infrastructure) just like Amtrak...
Great video and superb editing! I remember a German friend telling me that some people in his company struggled with punctuality. The boss suggested they go work for the DB 😂
As a British person who has travelled extensively in Germany on DB in first class I can say that it is way better than the service we are offered in the UK. I love DB especially their ICE first class trains.
To be fair, usually the ICE usually also takes slightly faster 200km/h tracks between Düsseldorf and Cologne and only takes around 18 minutes for that section but right now was a longer construction phase to improve reliability which is the reason the tracks were even more crowded and the section to Cologne took much longer. Just think that would have been worth mentioning.
I rode ICE trains extensively throughout Germany in May of 2024. Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg, Berlin, and Cologne. Then onto Brussels on the same ticket. With side trips to Bruges and Antwerp. I bought a Senior, one month, first class pass for $900. I was able to download the pass onto my phone, but you also need to pick a specific train and attach it to your pass and you get a QR code for the conductor. I accomplished it the first time, from Hamburg to Berlin, and was never able to do it again. I took a leap of faith in Berlin and boarded the train I wanted without a ticket and waited to see what happened. Nothing. I was checked for a ticket only 3 times out of 14 trips. Three times I was asked for a ticket. I showed my valid pass, and asked for help getting the valid QR code. Two of then said It's OK and moved on. One took my phone and punched a lot of buttons and finally said I did it! I asked how, and he said I have no idea.
I've had great experiences with the ICE, but one stands out for many reasons. I was taking an ICE 3 from Dusseldorf to Esslingen, followed by a few regional connections to return home. I had kept an hour-long layover period between every leg of my journey to be extra safe. However, in true DB fashion, even that wasn't enough. Moments after exiting Dusseldorf we were delayed by nearly 45 minutes, which only got progressively worse as the trip went on. The plus side? I had a reserved seat in a jam-packed second class which was extremely comfortable, with a good beer to go with it, and the train reaching a top speed of 300 kmph (186mph). The negative side? I missed my connection despite an hour-long layover, and reached home eventually at midnight instead of 8 pm. Long story short, while the current state of German railway infrastructure isn't exactly the greatest, I would also personally recommend trying to ride any train that isn't an ICE 3 (Neo is fine). The ICE 3s have been plagued with logistical and maintenance issues over the years. But looking past that one nightmare trip, the ICE is something I absolutely recommend. It's an iconic rail service for a reason :)
Very well produced video! But you had chosen one of the best developed and fast routes. Cologne or Düsseldorf to Berlin is a catastrophe, I know that from my own painful experience! Greetings from Cologne!
I'm glad that I've found this video because I will be travelling tommorow from main station in Berlin to Nurnberg and I can see how the train looks like. I hope that my train won't be late but as a person that is used to polish trains I am quite used to delays and all of that. It seems not that bad😃
Hello I had a question. If my Arrival at FRA Airport is at 13:20 and my ICE TRAIN from FRA TO HAM is AT 15:10 , will I be able to catch this train or should I look into booking a train with a more later time.
id never travel second class in an ice in germany. the standard ice 2. class tickets dont come with a seat reservation. if you add one of those to your bookings its about 6 euros extra. a 1. class ticket usually comes with a seat reservation and a 1. class ticket usually costs around 12 to 15 euros more than a regular 2. class without a reservation. so we are talking 6 to 9 euros extra for the other benefits of a 1. class traveling compared to 2. class traveling. for me this is definately worth it.
People here in germany complain about delays but when they want to build new tracks people say everywhere but where I live so the dab can’t build new tracks
Thank you for this helpful video, My trip to Germany is in Nov and had to take the train from the Düsseldorf International Airport to Düsseldorf Central Station to get a ICE heading to Frankfurt. 😂. A Question: Since i'm heading to frankfurt from the Düsseldorf International Airport on the day of arrival, which eventually need to take the s-bahn trains to Düsseldorf Central Station to board an ICE train, a since there may be a chance of delays, does it make more sense to buy Flexpreis ticket class, in case we miss our train? Saying this due the noticing the Sparpreis is "train specific travel" while Flexpreis has "unrestricted choice of train" with i presume, as long ticket is consumed on the same day of travel hence meaning no matter what train you take can still be boarded to your destination for ICE.
Thanks! Yes, if you have several connections to make, the Flexpreis makes more sense. It will also give you a city ticket, so you don't need to pay extra for the S-Bahn.
@JackRoaming thanks, so bacially that being said, getting a flexpreis gives you a city ticket for S-bahn together as well, to use to travel from the airport to dusseldorf Central Station in order to get on to the ICE to frankfurt via unrestricted choice of train. Got it, this is helpful information
@@YeetFairy One thing to note tho: If you're buying a ticket with multiple connections on it and you miss a connection due to delays or cancellations caused by Deutsche Bahn, you're entitled to use any equivalent train instead to get to your destination, regardless of if your ticket was Sparpreis or not. You basically buy a contract to get from A to B at X point in time and if THEY fuck this up, you can take appropriate action to ensure you get there as fast as possible regardless. For this to work it can't be seperate tickets for the seperate legs tho. S-Bahns come so regularly, that I wouldn't stress about all of this tho. Just something to keep in mind if you're doing a journey with multiple long legs and transfers.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
Fun fact: if you have a non-flexible ticket and your train has a delay of twenty minutes or more, your ticket becomes flexible and you can board another train of the same type or lower (ICE > IC > RE).
Also, if your train has a delay of one hour or more, you can get some of your money back.
I once had an S-Bahn Connection and then due to delays was Abel to take a ice. So it doesn't seem like what you said is always true
@@emanrov That might no longer be possible due to rule changes.
@@BrokenCurtain What do you mean, it "becomes flexible"? Do you need some kind of a proof for the next train you take, so they know the previous one was delayed and your ticket is really flexible?
When I was stationed in Schweinfurt in the mid-eighties, German trains were known for their on-time and punctuality.
Und dann kam die Privatisierung...
That was when the DB was still called Deutsche Bundesbahn and it was operated as a department of the government.
Now they have been privatized and are forced by law to make a profit (because the government wants to sell them at the stock market and cash in the money for the infrastructure) just like Amtrak...
Great video and superb editing! I remember a German friend telling me that some people in his company struggled with punctuality. The boss suggested they go work for the DB 😂
Thanks! That sounds about right😅
As a British person who has travelled extensively in Germany on DB in first class I can say that it is way better than the service we are offered in the UK. I love DB especially their ICE first class trains.
To be fair, usually the ICE usually also takes slightly faster 200km/h tracks between Düsseldorf and Cologne and only takes around 18 minutes for that section but right now was a longer construction phase to improve reliability which is the reason the tracks were even more crowded and the section to Cologne took much longer. Just think that would have been worth mentioning.
I rode ICE trains extensively throughout Germany in May of 2024. Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, Nuremberg, Berlin, and Cologne. Then onto Brussels on the same ticket. With side trips to Bruges and Antwerp. I bought a Senior, one month, first class pass for $900. I was able to download the pass onto my phone, but you also need to pick a specific train and attach it to your pass and you get a QR code for the conductor. I accomplished it the first time, from Hamburg to Berlin, and was never able to do it again. I took a leap of faith in Berlin and boarded the train I wanted without a ticket and waited to see what happened. Nothing. I was checked for a ticket only 3 times out of 14 trips. Three times I was asked for a ticket. I showed my valid pass, and asked for help getting the valid QR code. Two of then said It's OK and moved on. One took my phone and punched a lot of buttons and finally said I did it! I asked how, and he said I have no idea.
I've had great experiences with the ICE, but one stands out for many reasons. I was taking an ICE 3 from Dusseldorf to Esslingen, followed by a few regional connections to return home. I had kept an hour-long layover period between every leg of my journey to be extra safe. However, in true DB fashion, even that wasn't enough. Moments after exiting Dusseldorf we were delayed by nearly 45 minutes, which only got progressively worse as the trip went on. The plus side? I had a reserved seat in a jam-packed second class which was extremely comfortable, with a good beer to go with it, and the train reaching a top speed of 300 kmph (186mph). The negative side? I missed my connection despite an hour-long layover, and reached home eventually at midnight instead of 8 pm.
Long story short, while the current state of German railway infrastructure isn't exactly the greatest, I would also personally recommend trying to ride any train that isn't an ICE 3 (Neo is fine). The ICE 3s have been plagued with logistical and maintenance issues over the years. But looking past that one nightmare trip, the ICE is something I absolutely recommend. It's an iconic rail service for a reason :)
You should try Japanese Shinkansen
just visited and love the DB! From singapore!
Very well produced video! But you had chosen one of the best developed and fast routes. Cologne or Düsseldorf to Berlin is a catastrophe, I know that from my own painful experience! Greetings from Cologne!
Thanks a lot! Yes, the Cologne - Berlin route has a lot of construction, and not all of it is high-speed, hence why there are lots of problems.
Great info ℹ️ 🍻
I'm glad that I've found this video because I will be travelling tommorow from main station in Berlin to Nurnberg and I can see how the train looks like. I hope that my train won't be late but as a person that is used to polish trains I am quite used to delays and all of that. It seems not that bad😃
I'd be interested to hear how your journey went? What did you think and did everything work out according to plan?
Thank you very much for this informative vedio ❤❤
Hello I had a question. If my Arrival at FRA Airport is at 13:20 and my ICE TRAIN from FRA TO HAM is AT 15:10 , will I be able to catch this train or should I look into booking a train with a more later time.
id never travel second class in an ice in germany. the standard ice 2. class tickets dont come with a seat reservation. if you add one of those to your bookings its about 6 euros extra. a 1. class ticket usually comes with a seat reservation and a 1. class ticket usually costs around 12 to 15 euros more than a regular 2. class without a reservation. so we are talking 6 to 9 euros extra for the other benefits of a 1. class traveling compared to 2. class traveling.
for me this is definately worth it.
Definitely depends on the route you're taking
People here in germany complain about delays but when they want to build new tracks people say everywhere but where I live so the dab can’t build new tracks
When Poland?
Thank you for this helpful video, My trip to Germany is in Nov and had to take the train from the Düsseldorf International Airport to Düsseldorf Central Station to get a ICE heading to Frankfurt. 😂.
A Question:
Since i'm heading to frankfurt from the Düsseldorf International Airport on the day of arrival, which eventually need to take the s-bahn trains to Düsseldorf Central Station to board an ICE train, a since there may be a chance of delays, does it make more sense to buy Flexpreis ticket class, in case we miss our train?
Saying this due the noticing the Sparpreis is "train specific travel" while Flexpreis has "unrestricted choice of train" with i presume, as long ticket is consumed on the same day of travel hence meaning no matter what train you take can still be boarded to your destination for ICE.
Thanks! Yes, if you have several connections to make, the Flexpreis makes more sense. It will also give you a city ticket, so you don't need to pay extra for the S-Bahn.
@JackRoaming thanks, so bacially that being said, getting a flexpreis gives you a city ticket for S-bahn together as well, to use to travel from the airport to dusseldorf Central Station in order to get on to the ICE to frankfurt via unrestricted choice of train.
Got it, this is helpful information
@@YeetFairy One thing to note tho: If you're buying a ticket with multiple connections on it and you miss a connection due to delays or cancellations caused by Deutsche Bahn, you're entitled to use any equivalent train instead to get to your destination, regardless of if your ticket was Sparpreis or not.
You basically buy a contract to get from A to B at X point in time and if THEY fuck this up, you can take appropriate action to ensure you get there as fast as possible regardless. For this to work it can't be seperate tickets for the seperate legs tho. S-Bahns come so regularly, that I wouldn't stress about all of this tho. Just something to keep in mind if you're doing a journey with multiple long legs and transfers.
@Peter-kx8wd really? Won't there be any one checking your tickets randomly? 🙂
What's the rush? Time is short.
covercrowdet and atroucious punktuality
45€ well it would have been 120€ in sweden