LISTED: All the ways to get cheap Deutsche Bahn tickets this summer

Petrol and diesel prices remain stubbornly high as Germany, and the rest of the world, remains firmly in the grip of another energy crisis. And fuel prices are set to jump again at the start of July when the ‘fuel discount’ expires.

But while the cost of travel by car or plane has increased, the price of train travel in Germany and around Europe has become more affordable in comparison.

In an effort to keep passenger numbers up (and presumably also to generate a bit of positive press) Germany’s national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn (DB), is leaning into its current strategic advantage. 

To that effect, DB has recently announced a flurry of discount offers in what appears to be a bid to make 2026 the year of train travel.

Here are the latest discounts on offer so you can get your hand on some cut-price tickets to ride the rails.

Discounted Berlin-Hamburg tickets (limited time)

You’ll need to act fast to take advantage of this one: The offer is only available from Friday June 12th until Sunday the 14th (and only for up to 100,000 tickets). But you can book a cheap ticket now for a journey anytime from June 14th until December 12th this year.

After months of disruption on the high-speed Berlin – Hamburg connection, DB is marking the completion of the project by offering 100,000 tickets ICE journeys between the two cities at the discount price of €14.99.

A view of Hamburg’s main station. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Bodo Marks

Cheap last-minute tickets

In May DB introduced a new way for passengers to scoop up last-minute, cut price train tickets.

This isn’t so much a special offer for select journeys as it is a welcome tweak to DB’s ticket sales platform – and one that the more spontaneous travellers among us are sure to appreciate.

Basically, unsold tickets for trips on under-booked connections in the following week are now made available each weekend for passengers to purchase at sharply reduced prices, starting at €6.99.

And since BahnCard discounts still apply, card holders can get these last-minute tickets for even less.

Family ticket for summer travel

Here’s one for any families bold enough to plan a summer train-cation this year.

During the summer holiday weeks across German states – from late June to mid-September – up to five people can travel to and from their holiday destination on long-distance trains for €99.99 on a ‘family ticket’ (Familienticket).

For the record the offer isn’t limited to blood-relatives, but at least one child must be travelling in the group.

Note that because of this condition, the offer will only appear in the ticket booking platform when travellers tick that they’re travelling with children.

And just to give a sense of the potential savings: DB calculated that a journey by car from Hamburg to Munich currently costs over €200.

READ ALSO: Deutsche Bahn launches new family ticket for summer travel

Cut price BahnCards

If you travel on DB’s high-speed, long-distance (ICE, IC or EC) trains regularly, then you can save quite a bit on tickets over time by buying a BahnCard subscription.

And now DB is offering special prices on several of its BahnCards for various groups.

The best deals here are aimed at young travellers: Currently travellers up to 18 years old can get a ‘Youth BahnCard’ for just €7.90 for the year – as opposed to the usual €7.90 per month. (Note that children aged six to 14 can already ride Deutsche Bahn trains for free when accompanied by an adult over 15.)

There are also special prices on the BahnCard 50 (both 1st and 2nd class) for older travellers until July 31st.

Promotional prices are also applied to BahnCard offers for special groups including; travellers under 27, seniors over 65 and people with disabilities. 

Cheaper ‘flex fairs’ for adults under 27

Lastly, those under 27 can travel around Germany with a bit more flexibility for less by taking advantage of a 20 percent discount on all ‘flexprice’ tickets booked by July 31st.

DB offers tickets at three price points, each offering varying degrees of flexibility. These are; Super Sparpreis (cheapest and not flexible or refundable), Sparpreis (can be refunded for a fee) and Flexpreis (maximum flexibility).

A Flexpreis ticket allows passengers to take any train on the booked travel day, or cancel up to one day before for a full refund. It also allows passengers to use public transport at either end of the journey.

On DB, flexibility comes at a premium and these tickets are far more expensive than their ‘saver’ and ‘super saver’ alternatives. But for those under 27, these flexible tickets are a bit more affordable this summer.

Unlimited slow travel for €63 per month

Okay, this one is not really a special offer for the summer, but the Deutschlandticket is worth a mention here as it remains the cheapest way to travel in most cases (so long as you’re not really in a hurry to go somewhere far away).

For €63 per month, the Deutschlandticket allows travel on all of DB’s regional trains and buses, as well as public transit, including U-Bahns, S-Bahns, trams, buses and even some ferries in cities across Germany. 

Even for international trips, the Deutschlandticket can get you a fair amount of the way there – all the way to the German border at least. The catch here is that your travel is limited to regional transport, which is typically quite a lot slower than DB’s long-distance trains and often involves a number of transfers, which implies a higher chance of missed connections as well.

For some trips, such as Berlin to Hamburg for example, the difference amounts to just an extra hour or two of travel time. For cross-country journeys, however, it’s the difference between four hours on the ICE versus dawn till dusk travel on regional transport.

READ ALSO: Where Deutsche Bahn is adding international connections this summer