Travel flexibly with the flexible fare ticket

Enjoy a stress-free journey on any train on the day of travel

Advantages

  • Travel on any train: Flexible choice of train on the day of travel
  • Cancel free of charge before the first day of validity
  • City-Ticket included free of charge in 130 towns and cities
  • 25% discount with a BahnCard 25 or 50% discount with a BahnCard 50 
  • Children up to 14 travel free of charge when accompanied

Frequently asked questions about the flexible fare ticket

Prices vary according to route, booking and travel date, and are valid for a single journey within Germany.

With the flexible fare, you are not bound to a specific train. A ticket for an ICE or any other long-distance train of the ICE product class lets you use all long-distance trains (e.g. ICE, RJ, RJX and IC/EC) on the booked route and day, as well as local and regional trains (e.g. IRE, RE, RB and S-Bahn). A ticket for the IC/EC product class lets you use all IC/EC trains on the booked route and day as well, as local and regional trains (e.g. IRE, RE, RB and S-Bahn).

Note: If you want to use an ICE train with your IC/EC ticket, you will need to buy an upgrade. The price of the upgrade is equal to the difference between the IC/EC fare and the ICE fare for the route of your ticket.

Yes. The City-Ticket is included free of charge for you in 130 cities. The "+City" on your ticket indicates that the City-Ticket option covers your start and destination stations.

  • Single journeys of less than 100 km:
    The ticket is valid on the day indicated on the ticket.
  • Journeys over 100 km:
    You must begin your journey on the day specified on the ticket. You can interrupt a journey if you like and continue at a later time, such as the next day, as long as the start and destination stations remain unchanged.

  • Tickets for return journeys under 100 km:
    For the outward and return journeys, the date specified on the ticket applies
  • Tickets for round trips over 100 km:
    You must start the outbound or return journey on the day indicated on the ticket.
    You can interrupt a journey if you like and continue at a later time, such as the next day, as long as the start and destination stations remain unchanged.

    The validity period of your ticket remains unchanged

Yes.

  • You can exchange or cancel flexible fare tickets free of charge before the first day of validity of the outward journey.
  • From the first day of validity (date of outward journey), we charge a fee of EUR 19 per ticket for exchange/refund.

You can cancel your digital ticket free of charge within a period of 12 hours (720 minutes) after purchase, regardless of the specific offer's terms and conditions. Payment will be refunded in full.

You will receive a 25% discount with a BahnCard 25 and a 50% discount with a BahnCard 50.

  • Children up to the age of 5 always travel free of charge and do not need to be indicated when booking.
  • Children aged 6-14 travel free of charge when accompanied by a person aged 15 or over. However, they must be indicated in the booking. The ticket holder can bring up to four children per ticket.

  • Children up to the age of 5 always travel free of charge.
  • Children aged 6-14 pay half the adult fare.
  • Children aged 15 and over pay full price.

Flexible fare tickets are available up to 6 months before you plan to travel. Please observe the timetable changeovers in June and December

As of 1 January 2022, it is no longer possible to buy tickets from train attendants on long-distance services.

However, you can book a digital ticket on long-distance trains up to 10 minutes after departure (even if delayed). There is one condition: the train must travel for over 10 minutes between the station where you board and the following stop.

  • Second class: second class tickets do not include a seat reservation. You can purchase a seat reservation with your ticket or separately at a later point of time.
  • First class: first class tickets automatically include a seat reservation.

Yes, you can book the flexible fare Europe for international services.