Travel Hack of the Year: Germany’s Deutschland Ticket for Just 49 Euro Step-By-Step

In a move that’s revolutionized travel within Germany, the new 49 Euro Deutschland Ticket has made exploring the country’s rich landscapes and vibrant cities more accessible than ever. As your insider guide, I’m here to unravel the simplicity and the potential of this all-access pass that’s become a game-changer for tourists and locals alike.

Traveling through Germany was once a task that required meticulous planning and budgeting, with every journey from the rolling hills of Bavaria to the bustling streets of Berlin calculated and often costly.

The introduction of the Deutschland Ticket has transformed this experience, inviting one to indulge in spur-of-the-moment trips and spontaneous exploration, all for the price of a modest dinner for two.

Navigating the details can be a bit daunting with any new ticket system, especially one that boasts nationwide access. It’s also a little more complicated for foreigners than it needs to be.

But fret not—this article is set to dispel the complexities and reveal how you can trot across Germany with nothing but a single ticket in your pocket. Whether you’re a student on a shoestring budget, a couple on a romantic getaway, or a family seeking adventure, this travel hack holds the promise of unfettered mobility and endless discoveries.

Stay tuned as I dive into the ins and outs of purchasing, maximizing, and enjoying your Deutschland Ticket especially written for foreigners. I am someone that has had to work out how to buy this ticket from the opposite side of the world and then use it across Germany. I found guides on this topic to be outdated and not as helpful as they could be. Let’s fix that here!

I’ll tackle everything from understanding coverage areas to exactly how to buy it (more complicated than you’d expect). So, pack your bags and prep your sense of adventure; I’m about to take you on a journey through the heart of Europe.

Traveling to Germany? Click here to download your free Germany Trip Planning checklist. We’ll help you get ready for your trip! 

Introduction To The Deutschland Ticket (aka 49 Euro Ticket)

Imagine crossing through Germany’s enchanting landscapes and dynamic cities without the hassle of buying multiple tickets. The 49 Euro Deutschland Ticket makes this a reality, offering you unlimited travel on many forms of public transportation nationwide.

It’s your passport to freedom on buses, trams, and regional trains, whether you’re commuting, exploring, or simply enjoying the ride. You can use this ticket to travel between cities as well as within a city when you arrive.

It makes life super easy, cheap and convenient when you are traveling round Germany. However, it has its rules and limitations and that’s what you need to understand before buying to make sure it’s worth it for you.

The Deutschland Ticket itself is a government-subsidized public transport ticket. The individual transport companies, such as Deutsche Bahn (the train network), did not create this. They are basically implementing a government policy. This is why it can be confusing at times, and there are different ways to purchase this ticket. It’s also aimed at locals rather than tourists.

It costs 49 Euros a month which is why it’s often called the 49 Euro ticket. Kids can use it too, but there is no kid price. Kids under 6 are free however.

It is a monthly subscription and works on a calendar month. So if you arrive in Germany on the 20th of a month and depart on the 10th of the following month, you would need to pay for two monthly tickets if you want to use the Deutschland Ticket the whole time.

It provides unlimited travel on the forms of transport it covers.

Understanding What The 49 Euro Deutschland Ticket Covers

The biggest thing you need to understand is that the 49 Euro ticket DOES NOT COVER ICE/EC trains which are the long distance, high speed trains between cities. These trains can be incredibly useful for tourists and can save a lot of time, so be aware of this limitation. It also doesn’t cover FlixTrain or FlixBus.

You can take regional trains and these travel basically everywhere. They are just slower and you may need to take multiple to get between places.

You can read about the differences between the high-speed trains and the regional trains here to make sure you are happy with what the Deutschland ticket covers.

It covers most buses, S-Bahn, U-Bahn and trams. It’s great for getting around cities.

Privately owned transport, like the Flix options mentioned above, cable cars and more, are not covered.

This works across Germany and it’s also possible to go to some cities near the border in other countries such as Salzburg, Austria and Luxembourg.

How To Work Out If A Train Is Covered By The 49 Euro Ticket

This seems to be evolving all the time. The week before writing this article, I was able to select a train in the Deutsche Bahn app or on their site, click on “Train Information” and it would tell me if the Deutschland Ticket was valid on that service or not.

At the time of writing, this has disappeared. However, you can click on “Train Information”, scroll down and look for “Operator:”.

If this says “Fernverkehr AG” then it’s not covered. So look for this for trains you are considering.

Basically, though, if the train is ICE, IC, EC or Nightjet, it won’t be covered. Same with FlixTrain.

If the train number is RE, RB, S, U and there are some other random ones like Alex, Abellio and more, these are covered as long as they are publicly operated it doesn’t say operated by “Fernverkehr AG”.

Click here to check out more routes, prices and options on Deutsche Bahn.

When searching for trains on Deutsche Bahn app or site, you can also filter on “Mode of Transport”. Select “Local/regional transport only” or “Local transport only” (depending if you’re on the site or the app) to remove the ICE, etc trains. The items that appear here *should* be covered.

It can feel really complicated, but I just checked these things and I was fine in Germany.

Limitations And Considerations

The biggest two limitations are that you can’t use this on the fast intercity trains and that the pass works for a calendar month.

This means if you are visiting Germany for a short period and it’s across two months, it may not be worth it for you.

Another big thing to consider is that on regional trains, you can’t reserve a seat. So you are relying on one being available.

Unless you are traveling at a peak time or to a big event (like Oktoberfest), I’ve been told that the train is unlikely to be full and you’ll most probably have a seat. So this shouldn’t be a big deal.

In my experience, I found trains could be full for short sections outside of this time and were busier on weekends. If I didn’t find a seat, it was only for a short time.

The bigger issue was being able to put my suitcase near somewhere I could sit. There are often luggage racks above the seats but that’s not so useful with a big suitcase. With ICE trains, you can pay extra to reserve a seat next to a luggage rack.

However, many times the trains weren’t full at all and I could put it on the seat next to me. Otherwise, I sat at open areas in the carriage where I could have my bag next to me like in the following photo.

Another consideration is that you also need to remember to cancel this ticket. Or you’ll keep getting charged monthly.

A huge win with this ticket isn’t just the cost saving but that it makes life far simpler. It can be a big time suck arriving in a new city and needing to work out how to get a ticket for the local transport. It is so nice to arrive with this ticket and just catch the local transport without worrying. All these little fares add up too.

Can Foreigners Use The Deutschland Ticket?

Yes, foreigners can. I have used this ticket without issue.

Should You Buy The 49 Euro Ticket?

Whether you should buy it or not really depends on your itinerary, dates and preferences.

If you are traveling between cities in Germany and relatively far distances then you may waste more time than it’s worth trying to use the 49 Euro ticket. You may be better off catching ICE trains.

If you are only visiting Germany for a week or two and it’s split over two calendar months, you may also find it’s not worth it. However, you really don’t have to use it very much to get to 49 Euros of value.

I recommend you go to the Deutsche Bahn website here and search for the places you want to travel between. Check out the differences in the ICE/high speed trains vs the regional trains and see if it’s worth it for you. Add up how much you will spend in fares too to see if it’s over 49 Euros.

Also remember you’ll save money on local transport within a city with this ticket too.

It’s also worth taking into account that ICE trains don’t travel between everywhere directly. Sometimes regional trains can be faster or comparable.

For example, I am traveling between Cologne and Kassel. Either option requires changing trains and the regional option only takes ten minutes longer. This is not a big deal for me given saving ten minutes and buying the ICE tickets would cost more than a month of the Deutschland Ticket.

There’s also the time saving with using the Deutschland Ticket everywhere without having to buy individual tickets, but then the downside of no seat reservations…

It’s really up to you.

I also want to give you one more option. This is to use a combination. I used both on my recent trip. I used the Deutschland Ticket the majority of the time. I went from Cologne to day trips to Aachen, Bonn, Düsseldorf and more. I then went to Kassel, Erfurt, Weimar and some other day trip options around Erfurt.

I booked a separate ICE ticket then to take me from Erfurt to Stuttgart to save a couple of hours. I then went back to using my Deutschland Ticket to day trip from Stuttgart, move on to Ulm, Nördlingen, Augsburg and to finish in Munich.

I also used it on countless local transport options within cities.

I also used an additional ICE ticket at the start of my trip to get from Frankfurt to Cologne. This saved two hours and after flying 30+ hours to get to Germany, it was money well spent.

I spent more on those two ICE tickets that the 49 Euro Deutschland Ticket, but it was still really not much money to see so much in Germany.

It’s amazing how much I saw with that 49 Euro Deutschland Ticket.

Click here to check out more routes, prices and options on Deutsche Bahn.

Exactly How To Buy the Deutschland Ticket

Buying the Deutschland Ticket can feel like the most complicated part! It’s a shame it’s not as easy as other tickets, but it’s not that hard either as long as you take it step-by-step.

The first thing I want to point out is that many guides online say that you need to buy it by the 10th of the month before you want to use it. So if you want to use it in May, you need to buy it by 10th April.

I saw no evidence this is still the case. In fact, when I was buying mine on the Deutsche Bahn site, it seemed like I could buy it immediately for the current month.

And one of our readers has since commented here that they were able to buy the ticket after the 10th.

Also remember that this is a monthly subscription. So you will keep being charged monthly once you set it up until you cancel. Make sure you keep reading for how to cancel below. Don’t skip this step!

Buying the 49 Euro Ticket On The Deutsche Bahn Site

I bought my ticket on the Deutsche Bahn site since I use this app a lot when traveling in Germany and I wanted everything together. It also felt the most official and trustworthy to me.

However, to buy it on this site, you can’t use a credit card.

You have to access to an IBAN which is a European account number. You have to give Deutsche Bahn this number to pay for your ticket. It’s basically setting up a direct debit as this is a monthly subscription.

If you already have an IBAN, skip the next section.

How Do You Get An IBAN?

I use Wise. Setting up an account here is very easy. It’s a super handy account and I already had one as it’s great for traveling and converting currencies.

You can sign up for free here. You’ll need to verify your identity but it’s safe and easy.

You then need to open a Euros bank balance. You’ll then have a European IBAN. You’ll need to add money to this which you can do from any currency. Wise will walk you through it. It’s all easy, I promise 🙂

How To Buy Your Deutschland Ticket?

Once you have an IBAN, it’s straightforward to buy your ticket on the Deutsche Bahn site.

Go to the site and create a user account if you haven’t yet.

I recommend you do the following steps on a computer and not on your phone as buying the ticket is only in German. It can be easier to get your browser to translate on a computer. You’ll need your smart phone handy too for the ID verification as well as your passport.

You will also need the Deutsche Bahn app on your phone logged into your account to load your ticket into.

Once you’ve got all this, go to Deutsche Bahn here, go to “Tickets & offers” in the menu and select “Regional offers”.

Find “Deutschland-Ticket” and click the “Select now (in German)” button.

If you don’t speak German, get your browser to translate to English. You can now select which month you want the ticket to start and then click to enter your personal details.

Here, you will have to enter an address in Europe. I entered the address of my first hotel which was fine.

There is some more information to enter including your payment details.

Once the buying part is done, you need to verify your identity. This was easy enough but it took a long time to load when I first tried to the point of timing out several times. I started to panic, but eventually it worked 🙂

I was able to easily transfer to my phone for this step and had to take photos of me and my passport. It was verified quickly and the process was done.

I immediately received an email confirmation that I had signed up. Then a couple of minutes later I got another email with a link to load the ticket into my app. So within minutes of finishing, I had the Deutschland Ticket all set to use in the Deutsche Bahn app.

Note that this is different to what some outdated information says online. It doesn’t appear on the first of the month. It only took a couple of minutes.

The payment doesn’t come out until the first of the month that you are using it though. So 1 May for the ticket shown above and not on the day that I signed up.

Buying the 49 Euro Ticket With A Credit Card

I have read that it is possible to buy the Deutschland Ticket with a credit card but I haven’t done it myself.

Using the Bremen VBN Fahrplanner app is the option I have seen mentioned several times. You can try using this to buy via credit card.

Make sure you keep this app on your phone and have the ticket displaying in here while traveling Germany.

If you have used this (or another option) to buy the 49 Euro ticket, please let me know in the comments or email me and I can add your experiences here to help others.

How The Monthly Subscription Works

It’s really important to remember that the Deutschland ticket is not a one-off pass. It is a monthly subscription. You need to cancel it once you don’t need it.

Otherwise, you’ll keep getting a new ticket every month and will be charged another 49 Euros on the first of each month.

Making Sure You Cancel Your Ticket

It has to be cancelled by the 10th of the prior month. So if you are using this ticket in May only, you need to cancel it by 10th May so you don’t get charged again in June.

Exactly how to do this will vary based on the platform you use.

To do this through Deutsche Bahn:

1. Log in to your account.
2. Select your name in the menu.
3. Select “My Subscriptions”.
4. Click “Subscriptions portal”.
5. Click on the DB logo.
6. At this point, you need to add your Deutschland subscription to your account. Look at the email you received when you signed up and get your subscription number. You also need the postcode you used for your address which is in the same email if you’ve forgotten.

7. Enter these numbers plus your date of birth.
8. You’ll then see your Deutschland Ticket subscription in your subscription portal. Select it. Translate the page to English if you need to.
9. You can then edit your subscription and choose to cancel it. This option translates as “Terminate”.
10. You need to select a termination reason and also what date you want your ticket to finish (which will be the end of the month). You can also change the email address where you’ll get confirmation of the cancellation.
11. Check the information displayed and click to Cancel.
12. You should get an email confirmation that it’s processed. I received this immediately.

If you used wise to set up this payment, you can also cancel the direct debit from within wise.

How To Use The Deutschland Ticket

It’s simple to use. Just make sure you have it on your phone and have matching ID for the ticket name. Although no one ever asked me for my ID, but in theory, you need it.

You will need to show this to any inspectors and may need to scan it sometimes.

I felt a little weird initially just hopping on everything, but it’s the way it works 🙂

You aren’t allowed to use a print out of the ticket, and technically you shouldn’t use a screenshot. However, I have heard from plenty of German people that you will be able to use a screenshot of the ticket on your phone if the wifi/phone coverage is not working when you need to show it.

So I recommend you take a screenshot of your ticket on your phone and keep this available.

Final Thoughts

The 49 Euro Deutschland Ticket is an excellent option for traveling Germany. It’s crazy good value and can save a lot of money and time. I very much appreciated having this ticket. It worked beautifully.

However, it does have some limitations (like no high speed trains and seat reservations) and buying it can feel difficult. You also need to be careful that you cancel it!

For many travelers, it will be a great option though and does make traveling Germany even better. I hope this guide has helped you navigate the 49 Euro Deutschland Ticket.

Learn what apps you should download for your trip here. Read about the different trains you can use this ticket on here. If you are wondering what form of transport you should use in Germany, find our guide comparing all the options (including trains, buses, hire car and more) here. You can also find all our guides for planning your Germany vacation here.