$8 ticket on Germany's worst-rated train company
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 21 сен 2024
- subscribe & join the patreon for more content from your favourite English boy living in Europe / tomthornton
And book your own FlixTrain / FlixBus tickets with my referral link: flixbus.tp.st/... (where I receive a small commission to support the channel, at no extra cost to you)
(feel free to enable subtitles (CC), as train audio is no fun)
Today I'm taking the bright green Flixtrain from Berlin to Basel, the longest journey on their network, to test it out for you and let you know what I think :) This train company has some of the lowest-cost train travel in Germany, and definitely represents one of the best methods of budget European travel, but their reviews are scaring away a lot of people. So I set out to see, how bad is flixtrain, really?
I cover the fares, seat reservations, neighbour-free travel, luggage, toilet, cancellation and delays on flixtrain.
Music from Epidemic Sound, feel free to sign up using my referral link if you liked it :) share.epidemic...
#travel #flixtrain #germany
I hope that you're doing well and staying safe.
insta: / tomth0rnton
Camera: amzn.to/3bGGrb2
Microphone I use at home: amzn.to/2MtTGTF
My 40L travel backpack: amzn.to/3b3Ywkh
SSD I edit from: amzn.to/3syP7He
"Flixtrain was invented by Deutsche Bahn to make themselves look good" - Dang, you didn't have to destroy them that much xD
The thing is that Flixtrain would be good if they wouldn't get delayed by the aging infrastructure from DB
And also DB likes to prioritise their own trains, so the private companies really aren't the ones to blame
@@young_diogenesNo, because Flixtrain buys the cheaper routes with low priority. It doesn’t have anything to do with the DB prioritising their own trains, we just prioritise trains that booked for a more expensive route with a higher priority.
@@young_diogeneshaha … and DB an all others travel on other infrastructure ?!
@@young_diogenesthis is just bullshit.
Flixtrain uses refurbished coaches of former DB Interregio trains - they used to have this "wavy ceiling" that you saw in your coach.
I could imagine that this is there to reduce the noise in the cabin.
So they reuse the already shit vehicles. Nice
Correct. Those are Bi* (B: second class, i: type of carriage, *: there is more, but not important for this), the former carriages built for the IR-network of the DB in the 70s. Although they have the same dimensions and doors as the Bp and Bm of the IC fleet, they have no AC, and more importantly: cheaper boogies without air suspension - and you can tell, especially above 120 km/h...
@@alihorda they are not shit the Inter Regio Carriages are actually pretty decent. And what do you expect for a 8€ Ticket trough the whole of Germany? If you want a nicer ride feel free to pay 10 times the price and take a ICE.
@@alexanderschoneberg8610 I expect working trains and not it getting cancelled every second day. 8€ or 40€ I don't care, but this is ridiculous at times
I think the biggest problem with FlixTrain is, when your train is really late or cancelled, you have no alternative, due to the less FlixTrains in service. With a DB ticket you are allowed to use other DB trains towards your destination.
Yeah that is a major drawback
I think if it's cancelled, you ought to be able to take non flixtrain trains. By cancelling the train, they have a duty to get you to your destination someway else
@@grassytramtracks you are actually not allowed to use DB (german national railway company) trains if your flixtrain gets cancelled. It's up to Flixtrain to fix it and not the problem of the other companies
@@grassytramtracks Nope.
My Flixtrain was cancelled once due to a storm. So they gave me a ticket for a bus on the same day, took longer but it worked.
Crazy how the worst rated train company in Germany makes me envious as an American. In the US you might pay 20 times as much in Amtrak for a similar journey.
Not really at all actually, Amtrak seats recline, have dining cars, bathrooms, good tables, leg room, wi-fi and more. This is akin to a regional train you would see with SEPTA or Metrolink or NJ Transit, but those, too, cost around $8. The sloppiness of the timetable is familiar, though.
@@indisciipline $8? For the same 550 mile long distance?
Yes but Amtrak has comfy seats, nice restaurants and panorama cars as well as working aircon. So I’d taken an Amtrak journey over Flixtrain, if I had time. If not, just fly in either cases.
It says in the Ten Commandments, not to covet something that isn’t yours? That’s what Christina’s believe
@@elliotbrehm7658 not everyone is religious & not everything has to be made about religion
I've never had more problems with Flixtrains than with the regular DB trains. Especially considering how cheap their tickets are, I'd definitely recommend them.
Just wish they'd expand their connection network. Unfortunately, Deutsche Bahn has or owns the sole license for most routes
Yeah, because the issue isn't DB but the underlying infrastructure which the DB Netz AG can only expand if the government had the correct policies in place...
@@PM-vv3uc and additional trains are also an issue: they wanted to order 65 230 km/h trains in Russia... the news was published at the 10th of February 2022 and cancelled 2 weeks later. But the train network is formally not in the hand of the DB, but the prices are pretty high.
Exactly, this title is hard bs. Maybe they are worst rated because of rating manipulations or redditors, if you go and speak with ppl they will 99% recommend it over DB
Your 100% right a cheap service you get what you pay for they get you there and that's the main thing always complainers 🥴
One must know that even when you don’t pick a seat you get a reservation for free. But flixtrain chooses that seat for you.
To my knowledge they introduced the "Book the seat next to you"-system during the first year of the pandemic. I guess it was meant as a win-win: as a passenger you had less of a risk while the company sold more tickets.
Were they not obligated to close off every "direct neighbour" anyway in the first year which would make them unavailable in any case? At least I saw many trains that had to physically be blocked by band, even on benches at the station.
@@gentuxable So, there often weren't specific rules for that, and instead every company just had to have a specific safety-concept ("Hygienekonzept") that can involve many things as a best effort, and be approperiate to the current pandemic risk. Those concepts were then checked by local authorities.
I don't know which oners Flixbus/Flixtrain did at specific phases in the pandemy, but there were phases where they did things in differnt ways.
Also, airlines, for example, often had the concept of "trying to leave the middle seat empty", but that was best effort, i.e. they only did that with non-full planes (so, never). So yeah, it's a mess, in short.
@@Fs3i ok thanks I was assuming it was but given Flixtrain is a private company without a real Task from the government it changes a lot.
Didn’t expect to see the times in 12 hours and not 24 hours. Seems you got a good run though.
I took Flixtrain only once until now, and I had a fine experience with it. The train arrived on time at 6am in Dresden, everyone got on board and after a 2 1/2 hour trip, I arrived in Berlin still on time at 8:40.
Later that day, on 11:45, I got a message from Flixtrain stating that my journey had to be cancelled. I quickly realised that I should never have arrived in Berlin and travelled back in time, back home to Dresden to not take my train.
haha 👏
Hahaha! I had a similar experience in Offenburg once. FlixTrain messaged me to say there is a 25 minute delay. The actual delay was just 7 minutes. If I had believed the message and had gone to drink a coffee, I would have missed the train. Oops.
It seems their computer system is a bit disorganized.
I also had a very odd experience with Flixtrain. I had to travel from Kassel to Frankfurt because the GDL was on strike that day, so I had to take Flixtrain. The train arrived in Kassel 5 minutes late after a platform change. It was shortly before Christmas. Towards the end of the journey, the conductor played 'Last Christmas' over the train speakers. People were generally much more relaxed than on Deutsche Bahn. We ended up arriving in Frankfurt 10 minutes early.
that is an odd experience, in a good way 😅
Thanks for the video Tom! Those delays are usually not the fault of Flixtrain, but really of the infrastructure of German railways. They have so many delays even on DB that Swiss operators started to "hide" the trains coming from Germany on the Swiss train schedule. If you search for a connection inside Switzerland they almost never suggest a train that is coming from Germany for your connection, due to the (high) chance of having delays. Keep up the good work 👍
Haha yes I saw a German doku about that, embarrassing 🙈 thanks mate :)
Flixtrain does plan with very little rolling stock for the scedule there are operating. So that makes things worse.
True. Delays usually don't say anything about an operator. I am also used to complain about DB frequently... but the public hate towards it is totally unjustified. The issue is purely caused by the political decisions that drove the infrastructure to the broken point it is right now. Same accounts in principle to Flixtrain. Even through, I generally really don't like private operators.
@@GebieterNah people hate the DB because they literally scam their customers out of hundreds if not thousends of euros
@@GebieterPlus the DB is a private operator as well
As a German, I haven't heard many complaints about Flixtrain and didn't have any issues myself either. Pretty much same experience as DB, just cheaper (not just 3x) and IC coaches instead of ICE.
Other German trains are also frequently, delayed but DB usually can get an alternative connection just 20-60 minutes later, if you travel to a somewhat popular destinations. I ruled out talking FlixTrain ever again when in winter my train had 110 minutes delay, and I would have to wait all that time to get back home.
DB offered 4 different connections to Berlin before my train would arrive, so my decision there was clear.
Yep, makes a lot of sense :)
You do know, that in that case you can also just use any DB train and Flixtrain has to pay that ticket? The only difference is that you have to pay first and get your money back afterwards
@@GaymerBennyquite honestly, I do not recommend going that route. I did it this spring when my Flixtrain from hamburg to Berlin hadn't shown up in over an hour, and I am still waiting for my money.
@@OleJanssen Flix customer service is famously horrible. Like any form of low cost transport carrier they are good until things go wrong and you have to deal with their customer service. Several years ago I had to take Norwegian Air to court after they consistently refused to pay compensation for a 7 hour delay.
@@OleJanssenget a lawyer (some offer free consultation to check if you can actually win I think) and then you'll get your money back...
Well, I guess it (the color) would make it pretty easy to spot where your train is parked!
Love your (refreshingly) non-hysterical style Tom. We'll continue watching.
Yep, no missing that one! Thanks John :)
Love the laid-back no-worries narration and gems like the "introvert tax" for reserving the adjacent seat!
The stop "Walldorf-Wiesloch" is actually a little village no one would mention, but the SAP headquarters are there.
I remember using Flixbus once instead of DB simply because it was super cheap. That was before Flixtrains were introduced. Bus was two hours late when I boarded, was told traffic is to blame. When we got on the Autobahn there was absolutely nobody else to find apart from the occasional car every few minutes. Somehow the bus still managed to lose another 50 minutes on its way from Stuttgart to Mainz. The new travelers were also told it's down to traffic. Refunds were not given out despite a 4 hour delay at my destination.
One of the selling points of Flixtrain is that they are reserving a seat for every ticket. But I don't know what happens if the train is shorter than usual.
Personally the noise going throug tunnels at high speed (HST beween Kassel and Hanover(?)), lack of AC in the summer and the seats beeing uncomftable on a long ride were a problem for me.
Funny enough train was faster than the DB alternative and had plenty of time to sit and wait at small Stations multiple times.
Yeah Flixtrain is interesting. The trains might feel lacking in ammenities but thats also because they're really old. 40-70 years old in fact depending on the individual coach, some of them date all the way back to the 1960's and have been modified several times since then. Ever since 2020 Flixtrain have renovated all their coaches into a uniform design that we see here.
And the timetable they use unlike Deutsche Bahns one has a lot of slack built in. Their train can run 200km/h but they mostly time the timetable for 185-190km/h in order to be more reliable. Thats alongside also generally being lower priority than Deutsche Bahns own trains. That way Flixtrian doesnt have to pay the authorities as much to use the tracks since their train will take lower priority. All part of the game to keep the main fares down.
@@drdewott9154 I remember getting shunted into a side track with Flixtrain. The conductor announced it was to give another train priority and we'd be there around 10 minutes. The train that passed us was a freight train!
The lack of heating in the winter too, I had a journey from Frankfurt to Berlin with them once where the temperatures inside the carriages were single-digit for the entire ride
@@RebelRebelious I am really okay with that. If I pay like 10 bucks on a journey that would've cost me 130 with DB, that's fine. What bothers me most are the flixtrain dudes, announcing delays over speaker every time something like this happens and "thank the DB" for the delay.. Such cringe..
@@RebelRebelious I also have a story with that. I took a journey with Flixtrain and was wondering after a couple of minutes why we were doing some weird detour. I was in shocked for a moment because it looked like we were taking a route that leaves out my destination. It turned out the train was using freight tracks instead. I have never been going that way with any train I was on, ever. And I use this route at least three times a week. With this experience (combined with the fact that Flixtrain sometimes waits for ages at some weird spots in the middle of nowhere to be passed by other trains) I figured that they have the priority of a freight train, which is really low in Germany. Obviously, they want cut costs but it also leads to their unreliability and sometimes ridiculous delays
The green color is actually a signal color since at least in the beginning when the intercity buses started, DB only gave them very awkward locations for bus-stops around train stations which were sometimes super hard to find. No signs within the HBFs of course.
More then once, I only found my bus cause the green color hurts your eyes even from a kilometer away.
It wasn't Deutsche Bahn that was responsible for the location of the bus stops, but the cities themselves. Some cities saw long-distance buses as an opportunity, while others, such as Cologne, almost banned them and only allowed them to stop at the airport, far from the city center.
@@Malte_OJ Aha, I wasn't aware of that. Also noted the difference between cities though
Makes me remember the bus line I used to get back and forth my college campus - bright, almost neon yellow. Excellent color to see from far away, under rain and late at night, even for people with glasses.
We booked Flixtrain from Hamburg to Köln because I didn’t want to switch four times on regional trains or pay €150 for the fast through train. We’ll see how bad it really is.
Und wie war's? ^^
@@uploader-de7614 Ganz ok. War pünktlich & wie aus meiner Studienzeit in den 90-ern.
Flix is certainly an ...interesting company. I've traveled with Flixbus more than 30 times by now, and for the most part, beyond some smaller delays (less than 1h), its been alright. The biggest annoyance is always people not checking their seat number and sitting down randomly, though they are usually nice when you ask them to change. I did have a first long delay recently, a casual 3h+, which had me going on quite the adventure trying to get from Strassburg to Köln in the middle of the night to catch a flight. Fun times.
Flixtrain I've only ridden a couple times, mainly the Bremen - Hamburg part of the Hamburg - Köln route. Sadly that train does not stop in Bremen anymore :( . I also took one from Berlin HBF and had similar problems to yours, which I think the station and DB are more responsible for. I found the trains to be quite cramped, especially with people carrying heavy luggage around, as even 2 people passing each other without luggage is difficult. Also they do not really do a good job of showing which side of the specific wagon you are supposed to enter from, which also adds to the chaos.
In general there are some interesting things in the ToS and the "terms of carriage" (and the "Fahrgastrechte" in Germany). If you plan on using Flix more often it might be worth skimming over. Here are some "financial" tipps for anyone planning on using Flixbus/Flixtrain which I've used a couple times:
- When you try to refund your ticket, they try to get you to accept a voucher for the amount of the ticket price. BUT! if you go to the "help" section of their website, and go to "request refund" > "Cash pay back instead of voucher" you can get it refunded to your bank account instead. HOWEVER! you will have to fill out a form for this and wait for customer service to contact you. DO! keep in mind that if you cancel on short notice, they will subtract a fee (a couple €), unless you cancel more than 30 days in advance. If you cancel more than 30 days in advance and they still say they will subtract a "service fee" or something, say that cannot be the case, as you canceled in time. They will likely send the whole amount after that (happened to me once).
- Another thing, there are some special legal requirements for train travel in Germany: If you travel with Flixtrain specifically, and the train's arival at the destination is delayed by 1h+, you are eligible for an immediate refund of the ticket, if you do not want to take it any longer. If you do chose to take the train, then you are eligible for a refund of 25% of the ticket price if it is late between 1h and 2h, or 50% if it is delayed more than 2h. (Only if the price to refund is 4€ or more for some reason).
thanks for the extra info 👏
I just travelled one time with with a Flixbus... and when it was going to leave the bus station it collided with another bus causing a delay of one hour to sort things out (fortunately there was no security concerning damage on the bus). But at least it was far cheaper than using Deutsche Bahn on the same line.
So the bad reviews are completely unjustified. Delays in major transport hubs are never the companies' fault. The train itself was decent and clean. The price outstanding. Hope you gave it a 5 star review!
not true. many people who give flixtrain bad reviews do it because of bad experiences with other people.
i have used them for their cheap prices often and experienced all kind of shit, like someone not stopping smoking even when passengers and personal ask them to do it.
flixtrain dont do much in those kind of situations. like they didnt call police, they just let him be because they wanted to be on time.
I only travelled by FlixTrain once (Berlin-Cologne), and I found it a decent experience. The train was clean enough (not super clean, though), the price was okay. Also, as a reserved seat is always included you usually do not have overfull trains. There were still a few people walking around looking for a seat (I wondered why)
If FlixTrain had more connections that I need regularly I'm sure I'd travel with them again.
the average person seems to have trouble understanding reservations. to be fair, on DB the reservation system is completly fckd
Thought Germany was all about efficiency... guess their rail service didn't get the memo
when Flixtrain was brand new, I rode one of their trains to Hamburg.
Back then they didnt have the carriages refurbished, and the carriages on my train were repurposed "convertible" sleeper carriagves, where the seats where extremely uncomfortable "bunks"
It is really hard to describe, and was REALLY hard to sit on... for 6 hours...
Half way in. Great video. I travelled all over Europe via train in 1984. It was great then. To be able to visit Berlin and Freiburg for $10 in 2023 in freaking genius. This is a great advert for this train company.
When everyone brings luggage, like in holiday season, the luggage space above the seats is hardly ever enough for all passengers. Before modernisation these carriages had a few luggage shelves dotted throughout, but Flixtrain removed them for more seating. On my last trip with Flixtrain there were also no announcements at allfor about half of the journey. the train just pulled into a station and you had to figure out where you were by yourself. After half of the trip at least the bare minimum was done by saying "next stop: Dortmund/..". Once I rode on a flixtrain that was replaced by old "n-Wagen" cars, which were ment for regional service, but atleast there was friendly staff on that train (making very good announcements that cheered people up) and it wasn't as crowded as last time. I also don't think that only showing the premium seat makes for a good review to be honest.
My overall opinion towards flix train is rather negative. I see it as a cheap alternative when I didn't book in advance, but when you book early enough, the saving isn't worth the missing comfort compared to DB. I would, on some routes prefer taking slower regional express trains instead, which are usable with the 49€ ticket.
Thanks for the thoughts :)
Regarding the lack of announcements, I had the same thing happen to me on an IC by DB so I think thats due to some Trains lacking proper systems for that? Pretty odd either way
I'm honestly so jealous. In Sweden, a trip half as long costs €50-€100 (Gothenburg-Stockholm) and at the same time you can get plane tickets for as little as €10 or drive there for ~€50. Solely because of the high prices, trains really aren't the obvious choice that they should be.
Göteborg to Stockholm for 50€ by car?
That's a fuel efficient car I guess ....
@@papst7377 It's nothing special, 6.15L/100km, a lot of cars can do that.
@@oyuyuy My bad, I thought it was around 1000km not 500km
@@papst7377 Aah, I see
I don't understand what kind of tickets you're buying. FlixTrain between Gothenburg-Stockholm starts at 129 SEK (around 11 Euro). Granted, this price goes up, but unless you're booking the day before departure it shouldn't cost more than maybe 229 SEK. Then there's MTRX operating the same route which has nicer trains and tickets starting at 99 SEK (around 8 Euro, less than the flight example you gave), and can be found for that price if you book early enough. SJ is more expensive, no doubt, but it shouldn't cost 100 Euro unless you're booking it very late. If you're early enough it can definitely be under 50 Euro even with SJ, especially if you're willing to take the slower double decker trains.
I'm going to have a trip with Flixtrain from Frankfurt to Berlin this month, and that's kind of remarkable that you don't have that much trains at all on this route, so that even on Saturday there are only three or four trains scheduled (unlike DB, where you've got an ICE almost every hour). But as I at least suspect the thing is that Flixtrain is something more ment for a vacation travallers, not for business journeys, so the delays can be tolerated just because there's not so much at stake.
My favorite Flix Train experience was just when the train was about to pull into the platform, a platform change was announced and about 60 people had to go down an escalator, through a tunnel and up another escalator. I sprinted over to the platform and barely made it on the train, it didn't wait for people that were slower and just drove away 😃
I've lived the same with DB trains. Actually a friend missed her train and needed to stay in a hotel because it was the last one. It is fault of the rail network and stations, that are property of DB itself
The worst part of travelling with Flixtrain is the lack of AC. It’s already really horrible being in a full train for a couple hours during summer, but now imagine the same thing without any air conditioning
Yeah, doesn’t sound fun
Well, the windows open so a long as the train is moving fast-ish, there is wind in the cabin which is making it pretty bearable. Also during Corona you can be sure that the air is exchanged during the summer it strategically placed yourself behind a window. If only the reservation tool would show you if you have one of the windows that do open. Not indicating that is a real bug.
Oh if you think thats the biggest concern lemme tell you something really quick... These trains also dont have particularly good heating... and Flixtrain have started using them on a route in Sweden. Y'know up in cold Scandinavia!
Also in early 2022 Flixtrain was actually about to sign a huge contract for brand new train coaches. They'd all be built by a Russian manufacturer called Transwagonmash. However just a few days after this planned order was announced, Russia invaded Ukraine and so the whole deal fell apart within hours of that happening.
@@drdewott9154 Maybe Flixtrain should buy from a Chinese manufacturer like CRRH instead? (if they want them really cheap, that is)
I had a roundtrip with Flixtrain Last year. It was not specifially cheap, like twice the price for the cheapest DB ticket on the same route i ever had but still 35 % cheaper than DB at the same date. Planned duration was one hour longer than with DB.
Outward run was fine, weather was not so hot and the train was on time.
But return run was terrible. They let the people enter and then told there was a damage on the train. It was a hot day and it was even hotter in the train. You could not open the windows, only tilt up two latches in the ceiling.
They announced that we have to wait another 5 to 10 minutes over and over again. In the end the train left 90 minutes late. They didn‘t sell water and in the toilet there was no water either. It was very hot in the train throughout the trip. After 8 hours i was exhausted and lucky to leave the train alive. In the meantime there where some discussions with some guests on the train regarding the validity of the tickets and complaints in general. The police was called and some guests had been arrested. I think it was mainly because some people refused to wear the face mask which made breathing even harder with the hot humid air and no air conditioning in the train.
Afterwards i claimed a compensation. Flixtrain answered to me according to their logs the train was on time. Compensation was refused and i put 1 star ratings on the Internet.
Some people may be lucky with Flixtrain. I do not recommend them.
Btw. few months ago a deadly Flixtrain accident happened here in my city. The train was going despite a door was still open. A man fell out and got killed. This should not happen in a well-maintained trained with door sensors and safety mechanisms working correctly.
I used to take the Flixtrain quite regularly on the route Düsseldorf - Hamburg and while the wagons are noisy, its nothing you cant get rid of with some good pair of noise cancelling headphones. Since theres no AC, I would never take those trains in Summer tho.
I only had one major delay, for which Flixtrain was not to blame tho, because somebody tried to throw themselves in front of a train. And Flixtrain even gave me a 5€ coupon for my next trip, even though it wasn't their fault, which means by my next trip to Hamburg, I only had to pay 4,99€ for the whole journey!
Thank you Shrek
I've also had a few problems with Flixtrain, but I doubt that the problems necessarily come from Flixtrain. Of course, the app is a disaster. Even customer service can't see where the trains are, which urgently needs to be improved.
But I once stood in Stuttgart and waited for the Flixtrain. The train was visible the whole time and was within sight of the station. Suddenly the track was secretly changed. This was not shown on the display board, there was just a barely understandable announcement. 5 minutes later, an older SBB train arrived, the display board still showed the Flixtrain. About half of the people boarded this train and didn't realize that it was the wrong one. After the train had departed, the track change was also shown on the display board and the Flixtrain was allowed to enter. We then left with an hour's delay. According to the train attendant, the train was not allowed to enter the station the whole time. If that wasn't intentional on the part of Deutsche Bahn....
Unfortunately, there was later damage to the overhead line (i.e. detour). Nevertheless, the arrival in Berlin was only 45 minutes late. With Deutsche Bahn that would easily have been 3-4 hours. The reason for this is probably that Flixtrain has a relatively long waiting time (buffer) at each station and can therefore easily compensate these delays.
Ultimately, you get what you pay for. I just booked another trip at very short notice (3 days in advance): price EUR 14.99. With Deutsche Bahn there were no trains under 60 EUR.
Lol, I paid for the "extra seat" feature on a FlixBus in the US. The bus stopped in a college town and I got out to get some snacks at a nearby gas station. When I returned the entire thing was completely full- including the extra seat I paid for!
Same happened to me in the flix train.
I got lucky when I tried FlixBus but yeah, they totally don’t honor reserved seating that you PAID for
I forgot my suitcase (!!!) on a flixtrain and because it was flixtrain, not Deutsche Bahn, no one at the station could help me and no one could let anyone know I left it on the train. Was quite difficult to get it back - all I had was an online form, a "please don't send any inquiries about this" and a lost & found company that disappeared completely troughout the process - but I was super lucky. A few months later they shipped it to me (for around 50 EUR, if I remember correctly).
Want to make clear - all my flixtrain journeys have been great up to now, forgetting my suitcase is on me :'D
I love Flixbus / Flixtrain!
It's a cheaper alternative to the DB and it's mostly on time.
I also have a guaranteed seat and don't have to worry all that much during travel.
I’m still wondering how Flixtrain managed to get an approval by the EBA (Eisenbahnbundesamt) for their carriages. From what I got told and also saw is that they don’t have an AC installed which makes the carriages more lightweight = less power consumption = lower price for a route at DB Netz (the company which manages the whole railway network in Germany). Another reason why they have a lot of delay (especially on this route) is because some of their trains don’t have a working ETCS system (a train control system) and therefore can’t use the fast route from Halle to Erfurt (VDE 8). And it’s more than obvious that Flixtrain has kind of a lower priority on the rail than any other trains like from DB, DLB or any other private railway company. Maybe I missed smth. but it explains much about how they can be so cheap. Anyway, Thanks for this great video Tom!
You often mentioned the ‘Neon’ locomotive but actually on your journey it was a pretty new Vectron type which was actually mainly black!
By Vectron!
It's because it was either a very recent or more likely a short term lease from European Locomotive Leasing (ELL) those do not get the operator logo on them, only long term leasing let's you have a custom design. It was a pretty recent Vectron though, if I saw right through the motion blur the registration number sas above a thousand.
I had very bad experience with FlixTrain, and I'll never take their service again. It was the same route as you have taken but that time it was 2 hours late. The seat was uncomfortable especially with someone sit next to you, no air conditioner in the summer and it was super hot in the cabin. The most ridiculous thing was I contacted them for the delaying many times. Each time they gave me a different answer from 90 to 98 minutes (25% ticket refund) and never admit it was delayed for 2 hours (50% refund). I would rather take DB train with doubled price for the comfort of the long distance travel, and most important, DB is at least honest.
....the "pre Blackforest increase in Green Space outside" is actually called "die Bergstraße" and is certainly worth a separate visit.....
Nice video about Flixtrain! "Book the seat next to you"-system has been available on the Swedish MTRX-trains between Stockholm and Gothenburg since they started in 2015.
what sucks about the flixtrain car refurbishment is the non-tilted luggage space (so when it's packed, bags can fall off in a curve) and the non-reclining seats.
Flixtrain... the good:
- you have a guaranteed seat when you buy a ticket. Not so with Deutsche Bahn, where it costs extra - and if your train is cancelled, your seat reservation is gone. In high-traffic hours, when passengers are *standing* in the gangway, it can be a big hassle to find your reserved seat! Flixtrain carries only as many passengers as there are seats. End of the story.
- flawless Wifi
- dirt cheap in the low-traffic hours
The bad:
- no possibility whatsoever to buy a snack or drinks on the train
- it's cramped (100 seats in a Flixtrain wagon, compared to 70-85 in other trains)
- bad connections to Bavaria
I choose Flixtrain when I have a pocket book with me to kill the time. Also, when I have a day off and want to explore a German city on the cheap. Also, my body height is below average...
You just travelled 900km in 7,5 hours? That's amazing!
zoom zoom zoom
About six weeks ago I took a Flixbus from Paris to Amsterdam. Horrific service, a hostile driver and his offsider, real snarly. He told me I couldn't have two bags (I had paid for two bags). I said "but I paid for two: how can I get this checked?". He said: "Ten Euros for the second bag". I took the mnoney out but told him I wanted a receipt. Quelle surprise, then he didn't want my money but he made me EMPTY the smaller bag onto the ground and carry it on empty.
They were also rude and extremely abrupt to other passengers.
The bus had many vacant seats. I emailed Flixbus saying the driver tried to solicit a bribe but I am sure nothing happened.
I often travel by bus and it's usually very good, with other companies.
Flixtrain looks so much nicer than any American train I've travelled.
As you have discovedred, the lcoos are incredibly loud. Not sure if the carriages have aircon now? But when I travelled they were old IR stock and the only option was to open the window and OMFG my ears were literally ringing afterwards. I dont understand how it can be legal to run trains that loud in the EU.
I am so happy to see a British RUclipsr making a video in Germany without somehow having to weave in a WW2 narrative.
The reason for the ceiling waves is simple. The coaches were IR Inter Regio Coaches before. They were designed in organic Design. So it‘s art, the ceiling wasn‘t changed when coaches were refurbished.
The price for Deutsche Bahn from Berlin to Basel would be between 100 and 200 Euro and the delay probably would be much bigger.
Yeah I was really conservative saying 2-3x the price hahaha. But I have seen some leipzig-Zurich DB fares for like €35 to be fair, but way in advance with a BahnCard
That's totally wrong, a second class DB Ticket in an ICE from Berlin to Basel costs 39 euro, with a youth BahnCard just 29 euro and takes one hour less, while also providing a much nicer ride.
DB also runs multiple services daily, so if you train is delayed too much you can use a different connection.
DB also gives you money back for delays even if you do take train.
And no, DB trains do not have higher delays, they run on the exact same infrastructure after all, and when there's problems with the trainset, DB can avoid delays by just running a different trainset which they frequently do, which Flix cannot do because they lease just a few trains.
@@mx338 Hm, I checked my price at the Bahn site on the internet. No idea where you got your price from.
@@JakobFischer60 Because you are looking for the ticket for today, isn't it? Then it would be ridiculously overpriced. On the other hand, what they are referring to is the Sparpreis, which is the price you would get if you plan ahead, even a week before or so.
@@leokoo167it's 200€ for literally every day during the next few weeks. You won't get a price anywhere near 40€ for that route unless you book like half a year prior.
Very nice video, Tom. The price was right, for sure. Flixtrain seems to be like Ryanair on rails. I would have thought that they were the same parent company, especially the way they charge fees for everything, except the toilet. Cheers.
Flixtrain has recently applied to start service in the Netherlands. I'm very curious to see how punctual their service will bee seeing as the Dutch rail is veeery densely scheduled. Honestly, I wouldn't care if they where an hour late if they could take me all the way to the other side of Germany from Amsterdam for under 20 euro's
Just don't expect any AC in summer, that was my only issue with the carriages.
8€ !
Dudes, 8€ for what, 750km ?
That's awesome !
Bro I would do anything to ride one of those flixtrains! I am from Romania and I swear, if they moved their company and trains to Romania, they would only be getting 5 star reviews
my mum always drives with it and its pretty cheap so its fine.
the main problem is honestly that DB just not integrage it in their system so if they have to change plattforms it wont show on the signs and is rly confusing
it always feels like db trying to screw them over
It's not screwing them over. They just have to pay for it and if they don't want to then they have to get this information out to their passengers over their own platforms (Flix App, SMS etc.)
I've travelled quite a lot from Berlin to Darmstadt now, mostly using the FLX10 route, the same as you. First of all, I've got to say that the Berlin Hauptbahnhof has a great layout, especially compared to stations like Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. I am not a geek, but as far as I know, a lot of my delays with Flixtrain were the Deutsche Bahns fault, one time they had a good hour delay - on the train they told us that the rail management people mistook the train for a cargo train.
As with pretty much anything, there's always up- and downsides between one and another. The greatest pro of Flixtrain is definitely the price, you can travel very far for a small coin. My personal greatest downside of Flixtrain is the comfort. The DBs ICEs offer much more space, not just at the seat, but also in the aisle. For comfort, the DBs ICEs are pretty much always climatized, so travelling during summer is quite a bit more comfortable.
All in all, Flixtrain is a great competitor to the DB. If the price difference between DB and Flixtrain isn't so big, I'd probably take the DB just for the comfort, but as Flixtrain is often much cheaper, I'll definitely keep using them.
Also had a huge delay of 2 hours one day with them, I contacted their customer support by e-mail for a refund (as their passenger rights state). The customer support was very nice and I got my money back within two days. But I won't deny that some people may have had different experiences with the customer service, but I can only share what I experienced :)
I'm not sure if that's still the case, but with FlixTrain it used to be that the first two coaches are "reserved seats only" while the rest is "sit where you like" - which would explain why the extra seat reservation basically always works.
Flixtrain is HELL! We had a ticket for a connecting train. Started our journey in Warsaw, Poland with DB and then ~3 hours to change onto Flixtrain. Enough time for a nice lunch. Well... 2 days(!) before our journey, they changed the departure time by nearly 3 hours so our time to change trains wasn't 3 hours but 3 minutes! After the journey Warsaw--Berlin, there was no way, we get this train. And with 10 minutes delay, we roll into Berlin station, but the awesome Flixtrain app said, it's already gone.
To our surprise, it was not gone, so we nearly died while sprinting to the other platform with huge luggage. Putting aside, that I fell down the stairs while hunting down that stupid green train, nearly destroyed my knees and also destroyed my laptop and a ridiculously expensive camera lens, we actually got into the train and to our seats. THEN, they announced a delay in the train, while the app still said, it was gone on time. And the whole journey, the only thing, the train dude was doing, was complaining and ranting about how bad DB is, when we had to wait for other trains, stations, and signals.
It's a shame, I cannot sue them for being stupid and for running for their train... Will never ever use these Grinch services ever again!
the problem is, people dont really sue carriers and dont demand their rights.. like at the US, there people sue everyone around for even small things
@@vladimiradoshev5310 Yeah, I mean, I definitely do not want to see US level of suing in Europe. And also, like I said, I cannot sue them for my own stupidity. I learned my lesson, to not trust them, their app, & their trains.
Re. no paper towels in the train toilet, it's always a good idea to carry pocket sized disposable tissues, and hand sanitiser gel, whether you are travelling by train, coach or even car. I've had to use both the hand sanitiser and tissues on a Flixbus from Brussels to London as there was neither running water nor paper towels, or toilet roll, in the loo. In France at many of the ''aires'' which are just parking laybys on the motorway, the toilets were inexplicably locked, and I had to just pee behind the back...many others hadn't just peed there though which was a bit gross.
Great video. Tom you were lucky not to take the Flixtrain in the middle of summer heatwave, 32 degrees outside and even more inside without any air conditioning was not a nice feeling for 5 hours on the rails. But I feel there could be a nice mini series out of Flixtrain experiences 😀
yea I avoid travelling in peak season for a reason! 😩
The price is impressive even thought. Going literally through german for 8 bucks. Like back with the 9 Euro Ticket. But with DB monopoly. They will never allow Flixtrain any significant margin on the market.
I am a regularely long distance train traveller in Germany and i must say that the comfort or better non comfort of flixtrain seats are only for short 1 - 2 hours journeys to use.
I did a trip about 6 hours from Berlin to Cologne and when i left the train at my final destination i felt like a folded paper sheet.
I also have a Bahncard 25 and when i book early enough in advance i can travel long distances by DB with ICE trains for 19,90€ or 29,90€ in the 2nd class. For long distance trips i would always take a ticket from DB !
€8.99 in the UK will get you approximately 30 minutes on a train. If you’re lucky. Standing. And delayed. Or cancelled.
I've ridden Flixtrain several times and it's always been good, I'm just irritated every time where my seat is because it's a bit strangely signposted.
But in general I think the performance is very good for it's price.
The Spanish carrier, Renfe, has the "neighborless" seat reservation option. This is a Covid thing, allowing someone to socially distance after the distancing regulations were done away with. I booked this option when I went to Spain in 2021 out of an abundance of caution during a time when Covid was still very much a real concern. I wouldn't do it now however since Covid is more or less a thing of the past.
Today I was getting a train, and it was so late that the departure board started flashing 'CORRECTION', then revealed that the NEXT train was coming in first because the first train was late.
I have used flix trains from Leipzig to Berlin a few times and always been fine.... I just wish they ran more services.
The cars are old DB material. If you look up "inter Regio Express Interieur" you'll see why the ceiling looks like that. Also, they didn't update the cars for some years which is why there so many bad reviews about the cars.
Yeah until 2020 the coaches they used were basically unmodified. Back then Flixtrain simply incorporated existing startup rail services under their umbrella, like the "Locomore" an "HKX" trains and used the exact same rolling stock. However they ended said contracts at the end of that year, partnered up with new companies, and began strict guidelines for how their rolling stock should be, hence the newer design we see now. It aint perfect though. Like what was mentioned, the coaches are fairly noisy, and they're not fit for all purposes. Flixtrain for instance use the same coaches on a route they've launched in Sweden, but they're ill equipped for the cold Swedish winters, with poor heat insulation, making the insides about as warm as a kitchen fridge.
I have just arrived back from spending a month in Germany on a DeutschBahn 15 day Flexi Rail pass. I haven 't travelled by Flixtrain but we did have a great experience with FlixBus. We travelled on many trains around Germany, using mainly the ICE trains for the long haul trips and a mix of the RE trains, We had to contend with strikes, and had trains that were cancelled or delayed, others were re-routed, or the platforms were changed at the last minute resulting in people rushing to a different platform or trains that arrived without the carriages that we had reserved seats on. These problems were not just with the Flixtrains. The DB app was not always up to date either.
I am from Germany but I have actually never seen a Flixtrain.
So very interesting video to me.
Yes Erfurt is beautiful.
Great video Tom. And your usual funny comments.
I went from frankfurt to berlin. I wil give it 5/5. Had the friendliest ladie keeping the carts clean. An we were not late.
Watching this while traveling with a good old Hungarian MÁV train. This makes me jealous.
Having hour long delays is pretty much standard with Deutsche Bahn. The infrastructure is broken.
Flixtrain was better than it was first introduced. Their carriages were all in the original state with big comfy seats in compartments of six and fully-openable windows. They even had 1-2 carriages with beds in every compartment - super relaxing to lay there, looking outside the window with fresh air coming in. During the pandemic they branded their whole fleet and redesigned the interior, now we’ve got no more compartments, which kind of take away the vibe Flixtrain used to have…
I didnt even know Flixtrain had bad reviews. So far all my experiences with them have been great and mostly actually better then DB. Maybe a sample size problem though. I used Flixtrain 4 times by now.
now imagine a full Flix Train with that many broken toilets 🤣
Few months ago i took the same trip on ICE and the train had 2 hours delay and then got canceled by Frankfurt forcing me to look for a hotel to sleep or wait inside the station for 6 hours and take the train the next day 🙃. So i dont believe that flix train is worst that DB
you talk about the green colour of the trains which is kinda nice while wearing a squeaky orange hat and jacket hahaha
As an Argentine I just calmly watched my train review video until 9:59 when It hit me that you had LA CELESTE Y BLANCA PAPÁ VAMO MESSI
Just nice to randomly find someone wearing the three stars
Worn by a British person too 😁
I traveled with FlixTrain multiple times and nearly every time the seat reservations had been cancelled since they had less wagons than planned apparently, so we didn't have a seat for multiple hours in an completely overfilled train.
We got a Flixtrain from Dusseldorf back to Köln because it was like €7 and thankfully it was only a 20 minute journey. Couldn't do any longer with no leg room or air con on a 30° day.
FlixBus has the reserve seat next to you option also where I think it likely works a little better as there are less seats per bus rather than a whole train
Love your humour! Great review.
Never had problems with them.Travelled many times from Dortmund to Berlin and back.
True the coaches are old and not so spacy ,as on DB German railways.But you get what you've paid for.Reservations works,punctuality also works and the price is unbeatable...
Thanks for this report, it was very funny. Don't forget Green green gras (George Ezra) and Green door (Shakin Stevens) for your playlist! 🙂
I don't understand the hate. I traveled from cologne to hamburg for 15 Euros. That's amazing.
Yeah, we had reserved and paid for a seat, with the tickets clearly saying that we had reserved these seats, but two people "stole" these seats and the staff claimed that we didn't pay for it so refused to help us, so we ended up searching for a place to sit, and since there are no screens showing if someone reserved, had to hope no one would take it from us. The aisles are ridiculously narrow, there is not enough headroom, the trains are not climatized (have fun in summer), the ride is bumpy and uncomfortable, and if you pay in advance the ICE ticket isn't much more expensive.
I can recommend FlixBus as a semi reliable, but ridiculously cheap way of getting around europe, but not FlixTrain.
I travelled with Flixtrain from Cologne to Hamburg for a weekend. I haven't had any issues, we even arrived sooner in Hamburg than planed.
On the way back there also was no issues.
I had issues when i travelled with DB from Cologne to Würzburg (and back)tho. I had to take a whole different and more complicated route and wait at Frankfurt main trainstation for almost an hour in the middle of the night bc the ICE with a direct route back to cologne was cancelled .. and that whole journey together cost me, i think, around 260€
I have traveled with Flixbus three times (pre Covid-Time) and would never do it again! Twice I waited over 2-3 hours in the morning in the cold and rain for a bus that started in Italy and went to Germany via Switzerland! None of the Flixbus employees on the bus spoke a word of German and hardly any English! Seat reservation was total crap as hardly anyone stuck to it. Especially not the people who came from Italy!
BTW: At that time, Flixtrain did not offer a route from Karlsruhe to Düsseldorf! No idea if they do now! I still wouldn't travel with them anymore, even if they cost next to nothing!
This is fine and crazy cheap except for the broken toilets.
Try some 2nd class trains in eastern Hungary. These are full of 50+ years old crap where the toilet is never broken because it's just a hole above the rails.
I used Flixtrain once, and it was completely fine. It was cheap and fast. The only thing that is a downside is the missing climatization. But that is only a problem on sunny days.
On my way back we had to stop at a random station for 2,5 hours but only because some people outside were throwing stones at the train. So nothing that the company is responsible for.
You gotta keep the price in mind... Deutsche Bahn often is really bad too, so it is not like they are way worse
I love the inclusion of the German-review-isms like complaining that the review system requires you to rate something at least one star or those specific idioms like "once and never again / einmal und nie wieder" that I read more frequently in reviews than I hear said by people in real life.
I should’ve used that train!!!! I needed to make that same travel from Berlin-Basel, so I bought the DB $85 train 🚆
Now I know!
0:30 - hm, i allways loved to travel with flixtrain, pre-corona. i love those old trains, i consider them way more comfy than the modern ones here, and the price alone made it so inclusive.
The issue with Flixtrain is that the Deutsche Bahn has the monopoly on the railway. They decide who goes first and since Flixtrain might become a competitor, they will do the most to block potential competition.
We had this expectation that German trains are the standard how wrong we were every trains was at least 30min late
I traveled on FlixTrain before as a connection to my Flixbus ticket to Berlin from Essen Hbf. Scheduled arrival was at 7:00 but the train arrived 2 hours later at 9. The train made quite a lot of stops at sidings along the way (I assume because DB gets priority), and I ended up arriving in Berlin at 17:00 from what should've been 12:30. Missed a class that day, to which my professor amusingly replied "Well hey, welcome to German railways!". But hey, at least it was cheap! The carriage and seating weren't really bad too.
Overall, still looks compareable / better than vast majority of trains we have in Poland :D
Flixtrain is a far far improvement over "HKX", the service it replaced. Yes, the seats are hard and simple and the train is bare-bones, but it's meant to be "ryanair on rails", it's just meant to get you from A to B quick and safe, and they do that.