1.1 DB
1.1.1 Bahncard for those who like to travel or travel a lot, have a Bahncard.
Our students generally buy 25 cards or 50 cards, personal recommendation 25 cards, one is 25 cards annual fee of 41 euros, much cheaper than 50 calories of 127 euros, take two trains to easily earn back; the second is 25 cards is discounted tickets Sparangebot on the basis of 75% off, more than 100km of the journey can be as low as 21.75 euros, and 50 cards are on the basis of full price 50%, the ticket price may still be high.
There are four things to note when using 25 cards:
One is that the sooner Sparangebot is bought, the cheaper it may be;
Second, after buying Sparangebot, you must take this train, and 50 calories is a random train on this section of the day;
The third is to open the points service, save points when buying tickets, and fourth, if you don't want to use it, you must apply for a return card six weeks before expiration, otherwise the deduction will be automatically extended.
A few more words about points. 1 euro for 1 point, almost no matter what kind of ticket can be saved, whether it is online purchase, self-service ticket machine to buy, manual ticket purchase can be saved. Save up every time you buy a ticket, don't bother. I saved 1,000 points to exchange for an ICE one-way ticket, and I changed it three times, avoiding the high fare when I didn't get a discount ticket. I have also exchanged five movie tickets, and all German cinemas have exchanged 2D movie tickets for free, 3D plus a little money.
Then someone will ask how many tickets I have to buy to save 1,000 points.
Here are three tips:
One is that DB will launch a lottery at Christmas, starting on December 1st, similar to Adventureskalender, I go to draw every day, I did not win the prize, but DB gave me 3000 points;
Second, DB launches points games from time to time, please pay attention to the email notification, I easily get 500 points through a game;
Third, within a few weeks of buying a long-distance ICE ticket, DB may send an e-coupon by mail, which can be used the next time you buy a ticket, but there is a limit to the purpose and the lowest fare.
Also note that when you buy an ICE over 100km with a Bahncard, you automatically come with City-Ticket, and it doesn't cost much to get around the city.
1.1.2 OTHER DB products
In addition to buying peer-to-peer tickets with Bahncard, pay attention to other DB products, Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket in mid-week, Schnes-Wochenende-Ticket on weekends, state tickets for various states, multi-time tickets within the city, day passes, etc.
By making good use of different product combinations, you can get the lowest fares! Pay attention to the range of each ticket when combining, and ask the staff if you are not sure if you go to Reisezentrum or Info.
1.1.3 Make good use of manual services
Although under normal circumstances, buy a ticket and take the bus directly, do not have to deal with manual services, but in special circumstances, seeking help from manual services will avoid unnecessary losses!
I'll give you two examples of myself.
One time I came back from Munich and got a night ticket, but I was so happy that I forgot the time, and the night train had been running for several minutes when I arrived in Munich from Salzburg. I knew it was a mistake on my part, and that the train from Salzburg would not have been able to catch the night train even if it was on time. In this case, it is usually necessary to buy a full-price ticket again, but I went to Info with a glimmer of hope, the little guy was super nice, said that it was my mistake, and helped me change the ticket for free!!! I almost burst into tears and avoided the loss of more than two hundred euros.
The second is that once I arrived at the train station a lot in advance, I encountered a large-scale delay in the train, I wanted to sit and wait for my train at the beginning, and then I wanted to be compensated an hour late, I first went to Info to take the compensation form, and the result went to the staff and said, the last train was late and now it has just arrived, you hurry to sit. I sped to the platform, jumped on the moment the train closed, and arrived at my destination ahead of schedule on this late train...
1.1.4 Cooperation between supermarkets and DB Supermarkets such as Rewe and Lidl sometimes cooperate with DB to launch blank ICE tickets for 79 or 99 euros, which can be purchased if you happen to have travel plans!
1.1.5 Deutsche Bahn Pass
I have not used it myself, I have a friend who has bought a 99 euro pass that DB regularly launches, including 4 one-way passes, the departure and destination are filled in by themselves, and you can transfer halfway. It's still very cost-effective!
1.1.6 Payment by Credit Card
Starting this year (2016), there will be a handling fee for tickets purchased with a credit card for more than 50 euros. This unnecessary expenditure is completely avoidable.
1.2 Tur
In addition to buying train tickets from DB's channels, there is also a big artifact, which is L'tur!
It is possible to buy a ticket for 27 euros 7 days in Germany and 37 euros in Europe 14 days in advance! All we have to do is go up and swipe every day with this cheap ticket.
This kind of ticket should be noted, you can't use Bahncard, you can't change the refund, you must use a credit card (more on credit cards will be said later). But, it's really cheap!!!
1.3 Austrian railways
MyDealZ, mentioned by a close friend, is truly a magical site. As mentioned by a German netizen above, when he searched for train tickets to Munich during the Oktoberfest, he found that DB tickets were already expensive. Because Bayern and Austria border, he took the attitude of trying it out on the Austrian official website to search for train tickets from Germany to the German-Austrian border, which was very good! convenient! suitable! When searching, pay attention to try different destinations, such as trying outside salzburg, and trying the next few stops in this big city, it may be cheaper.
1.4 Return air tickets
Please order at a Chinese travel agency!
They can get an internal discount ticket, generally including tax for only 500 euros +, can also bring two pieces of luggage, or fly directly!
I returned to China three times, the tickets were 560, 528, 515, the longest is more than two months in advance, the shortest half a month. And you can also add round-trip train tickets, rail &fly, blank tickets, the train is free to sit, as long as 60 euros round-trip, only 30 euros one way! Sometimes it's free!
Although you may buy cheaper ones from DB, in case the plane is delayed or the luggage is delayed, and you do not catch up with the class you bought, you will have to re-buy at the original price, I believe many students have this experience. After inquiring on the website of the travel agency, you will receive an email stating the flight and price, and the ticket will be issued after the transfer, and no credit card is required, which is very convenient.
1.5 Semester Tickets
As a student, you have a semester ticket, so check the scope of free rides and make good use of them.
The students of North Rhine-Westphalia are the luckiest, North Rhine-Westphalia is so big, there are so many cities, all the means of transport inside and outside the city can be taken! You can also bring one person for free on mid-week evenings and weekends!
Students in Lower Saxony are also lucky, with the state trains taking as they please, including Hamburg and Bremen; the city where the school is located, such as Wolfsburg, Goslar and Harzsberg in Brunswick, which can be free of charge; and perhaps transportation in other cities can also be taken, such as students in Buren can take S-Bahn in Hanover.
Regarding semester tickets, note:
First, don't covet your classmate's semester ticket cheaply, you are harming him, you may all be repatriated!
Second, you must not lend your semester ticket to someone else, preferring to pay for him to buy a ticket, otherwise you may all be repatriated!
Three, be sure to bring Aufenthaltstitel, otherwise you will be fined when checking your tickets!
Fourth, be sure not to take the ICE/IC express trains on the free road section, the first time you find out that the train crew may see that you don't understand anything, let you go, next time you may not have good luck, to make up the ticket! Especially the matter of borrowing semester tickets, I also heard about the way to deal with it, the person who took it said that he picked it up on the ground, and the person who lent it said that he lost the ticket, but it was two Chinese, would the Germans not know it?! Sometimes it's just a horse. Even if it is not repatriated, it will leave a stain, and it will be difficult to find a job in Germany or come to Germany again in the future.
1.6 Buses and hitchhiking
Traveling within Germany, in addition to railways, there are buses and hitchhikers.
Since the deptivity of the DB Protection Act in 2014, buses have been in full swing. Fares are cheap, and generally speaking, they are much cheaper than trains; there are more and more lines, and there are cars between major cities; the facilities on the car are getting better and better, there are toilets, there is Wi-Fi (although sometimes the internet speed is not good), and the Wi-Fi on MeinFernBus also has its own movie library, and it is free to watch German movies. The disadvantage is that it has a long time and is suitable for students who have less money and more free time. Even to neighboring countries you can take a bus, such as North Germany to Paris there is a night bus.
Here is a recommended bus search website, which can display the frequency of all bus companies, which is very convenient.
Fernbus Suchmaschine hitchhiking is also a cheap way, and in Germany, the safety of hitchhiking is not bad.
Disadvantages, one is that you can't do anything in the car, the vibration of the car is very strong, reading books and reading mobile phones will be very uncomfortable, listen to music at most, but sometimes the owner himself will put the music very loud;
Second, if the passengers in the car are only you, then you have the obligation to chat with the driver, which is not only a polite performance, but also to avoid the driver's driving safety decline after long-distance driving fatigue;
Third, drivers sometimes change the time or itinerary, or encounter traffic jams, which is more troublesome.
Now there is a new free-rider website called blablacar, the line is integrated in the bus search engine above, do not confuse it with the bus.
1.7 Low cost flights
Traveling in Europe, in addition to railways, the probability of using low-cost air transport is very high.
There is a small trick, when searching, you can change a few airports to try, for example, students in Lower Saxony have three airports to choose from, Hanover, Bremen, Hamburg, will search out different routes and fares.
Low-cost airlines sometimes cooperate with German supermarkets to sell discounted tickets on the official website of supermarkets.
Note that low-cost airlines generally charge for checked baggage, so it is best not to bring checked baggage, boys carry a school bag, and girls can bring a check-in box. In addition, the airport of the low-cost airline may be relatively far, and the take-off and arrival time is also relatively poor, so it is necessary to check in advance how to go and how to return to whether there is a car.
1.8 Car rental
Students with a German driver's license can rent a car and travel by car.
Search in advance for the price comparison, pay attention when searching with check24, there is no Sixt drop in the result list, you need to go to the Sixt to see. I have been using Sixt myself, mainly Because Sixt has low driving age requirements, many car rental websites require German driver's licenses to be held for more than 6 months, and its price is also fair. When returning the car, pay attention to see if the body is scratched, it is best to let the staff come over to do an appraisal, and then show you a Copy of Rueckgabeprotokoll, as long as it says that there is no problem, there is no need to worry about what the rental company will find and then deduct.
For students interning in large companies, there will be additional benefits such as unlimited mileage and free second drivers by presenting their company ID at the rental location. You can also register sites such as Mitarbeiterangebote or Mitarbeiterrabatte with a company email address, which cooperate with car rental companies and offer discounts.
In fact, not only car rental, many merchants on the website offer discounts for company employees.